Page 51 of Dragon Unhinged

Princess, are you home? Are you home from school?

I wait a breath or two, hoping for a quick response. Hoping for a chance to see her before this fresh hell comes to pass.

Declan? Are you okay? You sound worried.

I love that she can sense my emotions so clearly, even though our connection is so new, and I want to bask in that, but I can’t. Not until we find a way out of this shit.I am. They’re getting us ready to go out again. Something’s different, though, and I don’t know what to expect.I focus on scrubbing layers of grime off, wishing I could take my time, get back to the glory of who I was before I got kidnapped. Wishing I could take Brianna back to my old home, to meet my brothers, my sister, even my parents.

I think my mother would’ve really loved her. My father, not so much.

I wish I could talk to him, to find out why he and the other Elders were so opposed to human mates, why they kept us separated from this world for so long.

Then again, if humans are willing to hold shifters captive, make them suffer like I’ve suffered, maybe there was some truth to keeping our distance.

I can try to find out what’s going on, try to get you more information. There’s a small chance my father’s listed something in his calendar, or I might get my brother to talk. Whatever it is, I’m not surprised I haven’t been invited. I think they both still believe I’m oblivious to the three of you.

I fight the urge to smile, knowing the guards are probably watching.Only if you can find something easily. I won’t have you getting into trouble on my account.

Ewan rolls his eyes at me, telling me silently that I’m doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that I’m talking to Brianna.Your infatuation with your mate is sickening, dragon. I do not wish to throw up in this shower.

If we weren’t being watched, I might’ve thrown a bar of soap or a washcloth at him. But since we have an audience, I just school my features and focus on washing my hair.You’re just jealous you don’t have a mate to distract you from your time alone in these cells.

I do hope your mate is as true as you believe her to be, and I do hope she finds a way to rescue us all from this hell. But I cannot put all my faith in a hope that doesn’t feel real. I refuse to even consider that I might have a mate out there, someone waiting for me to find her, when the world is as fucked up as it is now.

I hate how little I can do to help Ewan, how little I can do to help Kayden. We’re all at the mercy of humans who don’t care about us, except in regard to the amount of money we can make them.

All I can hope is that whatever new torment we’re in for tonight, Ewan and I both come back without more wounds, more trauma than we already have.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

BRIANNA

My stomach has been in knots off and on all day and finding out that Declan’s being sent off again tonight pushes it over the edge. I barely make it into the bathroom stall before retching up the little bit I’d managed to eat at lunch.

How could they be taking him away again? If they could just wait a couple days, I’m sure Ellie and I can find something to help him. If not a way to get him out, at least a way to help protect him, give him an edge to come back to me unharmed.

“Brianna? You in here?” Ellie’s voice calls into the bathroom, like she’s leaning into the doorway, not fully inside with me yet.

“Yeah.” I groan it out, leaning against the stall wall, wiping my mouth with toilet paper. “I think I’m the only one in here.”

I hear the click of a deadbolt sliding into place, and then Ellie appears, holding up a delicate hand-carved wooden chair with a velvet-covered seat. The details carved into the wood almost glow golden in the dim light.

“Come on, sit down. You’re not going to do yourself any favors leaning on anything in here.” She gestures for me to sit inthe chair that looks so out of place. “You ran past me so fast. I wasn’t entirely sure it was you. Are you okay?”

I shake my head. “They’re prepping Declan to go out tonight. He said something’s different, but he didn’t say much more. I should’ve stayed with him. I should tell my father what’s going on. Maybe I can convince him that shifters, supernaturals in general, aren’t our enemies. Maybe if he realizes that they’re all around us, he’ll come to his senses.”

The look Ellie gives me is sympathetic, but I see the knowing spark in her eyes. “After what happened in Vegas, I don’t think anyone doubts that we’re here. And if he’s holding three shifters captive, he’s not going to change his mind just because his only daughter is in love with one of them. In fact, I think it would make him put Declan in a fight he knows he wouldn’t return from.” She tilts her head at me. “You are in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Are you kidding? He’s more than I could’ve possibly asked for, and he says I’m his mate. How could I not love him?” I lean my head back against the chair and close my eyes as another wave of nausea threatens to make me run for the toilet again. “If we can’t reason with my father, then all my faith is in you. You realize that, right?”

“Yeah, about that… Don’t get mad.”

“Mad? Why would I get mad?” I peek at her through my eyelashes, not willing to move yet. If she can’t help me, if we can’t get Declan, Ewan, and Kayden out of that basement, they’re going to end up dead. I know it in my gut.

“I’m not entirely sure I’m going to have the magic to do this alone. I might need reinforcements, and I put out a call to my brother. It sounds like the tourmaline king has been looking for your dragon.”

“We have to get them out of that basement, Ellie. I don’t care how we do it.” I pull out my water bottle and take a swig, tryingto swallow the taste of fear and bile. “You don’t happen to have a way to move invisibly through my house, do you?”

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