Page 67 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

“What the fuck is going on?” River asks, “It has been a really long fucking time that I have seen Coen smile like that, and why didn’t I have a problem with him touching Neith?”

I shrug, “I have no idea. I would say it’s because Coen isn’t a threat to me, but Ahren isn’t either, and you didn’t like him touching me, so I really don’t know.”

Griff interrupts, “Wait, Coen can’t be the dragon that you were telling me about.”

I frown, “Why not?”

“You said that your friend was the youngest dragon to have reached that status in flying combat,” Griff says.

“Yeah,” I nod. I’m confused about where he is going with this.

“Neith, Coen can’t fly,” Van says, “he can’t shift.”

“What!” I exclaim. “What the fuck is going on here? What the fuck have those fucking cunts on that other team done to him?”

“Nothing, he’s chosen to be on that team,” Reed replies although he frowns like he doesn’t quite believe it.

“Fucking bullshit. There is something extremely wrong. I’ve known Coen for nearly a decade, I used to hang out with him all the time at the keep, he’s really good friends with Draith. He told me I needed to knock him out because he couldn’t stop, not wouldn’t, but couldn’t. Something is very wrong.”

“Shit,” Raiden curses. He looks at the guys, “It would make sense.”

Griff nods, “It would. He was always supposed to be on our team. It shocked all of us when he chose to be on the other team when we graduated.”

“There’s only one problem with that though,” Doc starts.

“He’s right. How would they have gotten Coen to do anything that he didn’t want to do?” River says.

“I don’t know how, but I intend to fucking find out,” I growl. I frown, “Wait, if you guys went to the magical academy with him, then you would have seen him shift?”

The guys share a look.

Evander nods, “Yeah, we did. Around the beginning of our last year, he just stopped shifting. They did everything that they could to try and figure it out but couldn't find a cause.”

My frown deepens, “I've seen him since then though? I haven't seen him for a few years, but I have definitely seen him at least three times since his last year at the magical academy.”

“Did you see him shift?” Doc asks me.

I start to nod and then frown, my eyes widening, “Holy fuck. No, I didn't how could I have not noticed that he wasn't shifting?”

River smiles slightly, “Knowing Coen he most likely kept you so busy and distracted that it didn't even occur to you that he wasn't shifting.”

“The fucking heist, and the cave exploring,” I growl, “the motherfucker knew exactly what he was fucking doing. He couldn't shift in either place.”

“The heist?” Griff asks, “Should we ask?”

I shake my head, “Probably not. It means he must have somehow managed to keep it from Draith as well, which might explain why he stopped going back to the keep.”

“Fuck,” Raiden exclaims.

“Should we tell Ty?” Ransom asks.

“Tell him what?” River replies, clearly upset about this whole situation, “All we’ve got is suspicions, and we went to him with suspicions when it first happened. They asked Coen about it, and he said that he didn’t want to be on our team. Ty can’t do fuck all if there really is something going on.”

I walk over to River and wrap my arms around his waist, holding on to him tightly, and his arms immediately wrap around me, his head resting on the top of mine as he takes a shuddering breath.

“We will sort it, I promised him,” I say firmly, as I step back looking around at all of the guys who look horrified.

“It’s just that we all knew that there was something wrong, but Ty had them all interviewed, he separated Coen from them and everything, and Coen said that he wanted to be on their team. If it turns out that he’s somehow being coerced, then that means he’s been on that fucking shit excuse for a team for years, Neith, years,” Doc says, his eyes troubled and his hands clenching.

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