Page 92 of Forging Bonds: Part One

“That’s hot,” I mutter. The guys all look at me with raised eyebrows, and I shrug, “What? It was.”

“I love that you think violence is hot,” Ransom grins.

“Yeah, it’s probably a good thing that you love that because I don’t think that I can change that reaction,” I admit.

“Don’t change,” Van replies.

I grin but don’t reply because if I do, it’s only going to send the conversation off on a tangent, and we were talking about something fairly important before I interrupted again.

River grins, “I could control my reaction if I had to, but right now, I don’t want to.”

“Fair enough,” Reed agrees.

“You guys go. I want to know if Coen is okay. If they let you, can you bring something back for me, please?” River asks. He looks around at the destruction of the room, “I should probably stay and clear this up anyway.”

“Alright, man, we aren’t going to be long. I don’t think any of us want to be around the Draconian Team for any longer than we have to,” Van replies.

“Agreed,” Griff grumbles.

“Let’s get this over with,” Doc says. “We’ll eat, check on Coen, and make sure that he’s okay, and then we’ll get out.”

“Sounds good to me,” I say. “I’m fucking starving.”

We leave River in the room, and I quietly ask the castle to keep an eye on him for me. I don’t like the fact that we’re leaving him here by himself, but River is more than capable of looking after himself, and with the castle's help as well, he will be absolutely fine.

We’re on guard as we enter the dining room, but the Draconian Team doesn’t acknowledge us at all, which I’m grateful for but probably has more to do with the fact that we have far more giant guards in the room with us right now compared to yesterday.

They are a very effective deterrent.

I frown and then share a look with the others as I realize that Coen isn’t in here.

We finish eating really quickly, the only reason why we were here was to see Coen and he’s not here. Evander quickly grabs a plate for River as we head out. Most of the Draconian Team have already left the left, leaving only twoof them behind. We leave in silence, and as soon as I’m out of the room, I breathe a sigh of relief.

“That was one of the most awkward meals I’ve ever eaten,” I say as we make our way up the stairs.

“Same, and we have no idea where Coen is. I don’t like that he wasn’t there,” Reed agrees.

“Neither do I,” Van agrees.

As we get to the top of the stairs, we run into one of the quieter members of the Draconian Team coming back down.

They spot us and start to move past us before deciding to stop instead.

He looks at me, “He should never have helped you. All it’s done is caused him more pain. Kylen has ways to make you obey.”

“What do you mean?” I ask sharply.

The guy shakes his head, his eyes widening like he’s said more than he was supposed to, and then rushes off, looking terrified.

“Well, that’s concerning,” Doc says, a heavy frown on his features. “It does make me wonder if Kylen is controlling more than one of them.”

“Let’s get this food to River. After he's eaten, we can see if he can pick up Coen's scent with his nose, and we'll try to find him. If he can't though, then we're going to have to wait and check on him at breakfast,” Raiden says, clearly not liking that we might have to wait.

“I fucking hate this,” I say.

Coen

Well, I certainly didn’t expect that.

---