Page 55 of Coerced

I heard him murmur something in the background and she giggled again. Rolling my eyes, I said good-bye and hung up.

They didn’t need a third wheel.

#

Gemma

When John popped back with Kyo, Kerry briefed him quickly and we all watched as he looked over the statue first, walking around it slowly. Frowning, he came around to the front again and touched one hand to Amanda’s stone cheek, then closed his eyes and stood that way for a few minutes.

“Should we—” I started to say when he lowered his hand and stepped back.

“Demons came, led by the shadow of a prince,” he said. “They were looking for something and thought they could make her help them find it. When she wouldn’t bend to his will, the prince imprisoned her as a warning to others and to take her off the chessboard. He didn’t want a miracle worker to get in his way.”

“Do you know what the shadow prince was looking for?” Travis wanted to know.

“No.” Kyo shook his head. “That knowledge is guarded, unless you don’t mind if I damage her.”

“Don’t you dare!” Glowing blue, Clem stepped closer to the statue and put himself between it and Kyo.

Startled, Kyo took a step back, and I bit back a smile as I put a hand on his shoulder.

“Any ideas on how to free her?” I asked.

“Not really.” Giving Clem a wide berth, he reached up and touched Amanda’s cheek again. “But I can show you exactly what happened and maybe that will help.”

He held out his hand and I put mine in it. Immediately, a woman’s cultured voice filled my mind. I closed my eyes to focus better. Amanda’s thoughts became mine and ranged from menus and books to Clem’s face as a much younger man. So many poignant memories poured through the connection until something I never expected made me gasp.

Oh my goodness.

Opening my eyes, I saw Kyo’s face was grim and he gave me a quick nod. It wasn’t our secret to share, but it didn’t seem right that no one would ever know the truth of it, either. I glanced at Clem, unsure what to do with this new information.

Then Kyo found what he was looking for, and I shoved everything else to the back of my mind as I watched the shadow prince performing the petrification. I tried to memorize every detail to share with Travis so we could reverse-engineer a solution.

When Kyo released my hand, I staggered, but Kerry was there to catch me. I leaned against him, feeling strangely exhausted.

“I never want to do that again.” I scrubbed my face with my hands, then looked over at Kyo. “Thank you for coming. I know we surprised you, dragging you out here with no warning.”

“No problem.” He grinned. “At least it got me out of Ms. Fey’s class!”

#

Kerry

While Travis, Kyo, and Gemma planned, the rest of us gathered together to plot our own strategy.

“If they free her, the prince will know.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “They’re spiteful and have long memories. He’ll come after her, and he’ll want to know who freed her.”

“We’re back to a prince again,” Maddy said. “The shadow prince who hurt Kerry at Midsummermustbe the same one who petrified Amanda. Kyo said she has something the prince wants. What if Reilly’s Master is the same prince? Reilly may have been researching this item and where it is.”

“He could have been researching anything.” Tara shook her head. “We don’t know enough to make that connection yet.”

“We could ask him.” I liked that thought.

“Who?” John narrowed his eyes at me.

“Argaud. We know where he is, right? And he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

“And why would he tell us anything?” Maddy rolled her eyes.

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