Page 39 of The Dragon's Warlock

“You’re probably right. I know this is hard to relive. Is that why you were crying?” He took a deep breath. “Because I watched you sob, Diem. That woman had to have meant something to you. When we get back to West Virginia, Kirin might be able to help answer the question of who she was. I know it’s not the answers we are looking for right now, but this is something—information about your past that might give us an idea of who your parents were.”

“There’s more,” she whispered.

He nodded for her to continue.

“After he killed the woman, the bear ripped off the door to our side of the truck. And he grabbed Kayda. I yelled for the bear to stop and jumped out of the car and hit the bear's leg. He turned his black eyes on me, and he pushed me down. I thought I would die. When he held me down, his nail punctured my side.”

She dropped the side of the robe to show the scar. It was faint. He could barely see it. When he brushed his fingers over it, pain shot through his head, and he screamed. The world went black for a second, and then a vision came to his mind.

Kael came to him and said they had to go immediately. Seconds later, they were transported to the Denver mountains. Cold air brushed against his skin. Darius, the corrupt alpha of the Colorado clan, paced in the snow.

On the ground lay a small girl with blood pooling around her. Gideon didn’t stop and ask questions—he ran to the girl and pressed his fingers to her side.

Kael and Darius argued to the side. Once Gideon had healed the young girl, Kael said they were taking the girls back to West Virginia. After that day, he’d never seen the girl again.

Fuck.He hadn’t protected her from Kael sending Diem into the main world. The human world.

“Gideon!” Diem was yelling.

He opened his eyes to see her staring at him.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Your scar triggered a vision.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t talk about it yet. I need time. Go take a shower, Diem.”

When she stepped out of the room, Gideon reached for his burner phone and turned it on. He’d shut it off when they arrived, hoping that would help clear his mind. A flood of messages came in the second the phone was on.

He didn’t look at them. Instead, he scrolled to Kirin’s number and waited for him to answer. “What the fuck, Gideon? I’ve been trying to reach you for two days.”

“Diem and I are in Costa Rica.”

“That’s where Garth said you were going. Then he shipped Ursula to West Virginia. I have enough shit going on. Do you know how crazy that woman is?”

“Yes. I hope you have her locked away.”

“Of course, I do. I have Arrow working on trying to figure out what she wants with the dragon scale.”

Kirin would know that the dark magic used with the scale had to be extremely dangerous, not only for Ursula but for Diem as well. But that wasn’t the reason Gideon was calling.

“I think I might have a lead on Diem’s sister,” Gideon said.

Kirin went quiet, and Gideon looked at the phone to make sure they hadn’t become disconnected.

“What did you find?” Kirin asked in a low voice.

Gideon had found another reason Diem shouldn’t like him. The memory was so close to the surface. He could still feel the blood on his hands. “When I touched a scar on Diem’s body, it triggered a memory. She has a link to Darius Klin.”

Kirin whistled on the other end of the line. “Are you sure?”

The image of Kael putting cuffs on Darius flashed through his brain. The two girls huddled together before they left. More memories flooded in, causing his head to hurt.

“What’s going on, Gideon?” Kirin said.

“Sorry. Something is triggering memories to come back. And it hurts.”

“You need to get back here fast. Lucy can help you with this.”

“We need to find Darius.” Gideon sighed.

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