Page 55 of Enchanted Shadows
I inhaled deeply. Three long pulls. In through my nose, out through my mouth. I didn’t know who exactly was to blame for this, but it was safe to say that it was probably a loyalist. One that did not deserve another chance.
As I turned to the north, I picked up speed. Half of the front of the barracks was blackened, but the fire was thankfully out, and the wood of the front deck was still there, just charred.
Miles found me immediately. “I came to help, but the team already had it out.” He lowered his voice to whisper and leaned in. “One of these jackasses locked the back exit though, Raikes. There wouldn’t have been a way out.”
Between the Enchantments being used and the two lanterns the women had, I was able to see everything.
Under a tree sat three men wrapped in three different colors of magic. Two were men from the party in Savaryn. The third I didn’t recognize, but it was safe to say he had been there somewhere also.
Registering all Miles had informed me, I moved.
I wasn’t sure if I walked or flew, if my Enchantment had rallied on my behalf and gotten me there faster, but I knew that my fist collided with Bram Stirling’s face seconds later. That didn’t make me feel even a little bit better. So I wound back and fired again, into his barely healed nose. He crumpled around the magic holding him, gasping and groaning with pain. I moved to swing a third time but was intercepted before I could.
As Miles put himself in between Bram and me, pushing at my chest, the prick on the ground had the audacity to say, “We only wanted to play with them a little.”
Miles tensed. “Then why was the back door locked?”
“I didn’t do that!” Bram yelled.
That was the thing with men like this, nothing was ever their fault.
“That was me. Thought maybe we’d get to swoop in and save the day.” Molly’s magic wound tighter around the man she hadpinned down as she learned that bit of information, causing him to cough.
“So let me get this straight.” My voice went low and promised death in a variety of ways. “You thought you would scare them within an inch of their lives, disregarding the fact that they could have actually gotten hurt, and then you were going to swoop in and play savior for a problem that you yourselves started?”
Their silence was answer enough. I moved fast, spinning around Miles and going back for Bram again.
“I didn’t really want her to get hurt,” Bram pleaded.
I was not exactly feeling merciful in that moment. What kind of men derived their joy from scaring women like that? So, I did the only logical thing I could. I kicked. Hard. I just so happened to connect with some ribs. If they broke, I wouldn’t lose a minute of sleep over it.
Miles was trying to separate us again, but all I saw was red.
I’d been waiting for this. And finally, on the one night I head to the castle to be with the people I love most, they made their move. A move that very well could’ve gotten the women killed. This was no longer a game of cat and mouse.
“Uhh, some help?” Miles asked as I struggled against him.
Emric was there too, both of them pulling me away from Bram and the other men.
Emric’s voice said to me calmly, “They’re going to the mountain, Owen. All three of them.”
I heaved a deep breath, then my sister was there, wrapping her arms around me and holding on.
I wasn’t particularly done with Bram and his friends, I knew I could get free of Miles and Emric if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to fling Wren off me like I had with Miles and get her hurt in the process. More hurt than she already was.
“Owen,” she begged. “Please. This is my fault. It’s all my fault.Don’t kill him.” Her voice caught. “Don’t lose your job and everything you’ve worked for. It’s my fault.”
Her guilt brought me back around to my senses. I put my arms around her and hugged her back, though my muscles were still tense, my magic begging for a fight. “This isnotyour fault, Wren. Your sneaking out to see Bram last time might have been. But this? This is no longer wanting to scare a group of women. This was done out of insecurity. Jealousy. Out ofhate.”
Sam moved in, putting an arm around me and one around Wren. Jaya did the same. Jessina. Remy. Fern. Even Zara. All of them but Pippa, Molly, and Vivian who were busy pinning the men down with their Enchantments.
“What the hell is this?” I groaned about to tell them to get off me.
“Nothing fancy; we call it a group hug,” Sam offered. Before I could answer, she quickly added, “So Zara felt something was off and alerted us right away. We knew they were there and hid. We let them start the fire, because if we would’ve just caught them before they did anything wrong, they would’ve gone free.”
If I didn’t have three women at my back, I might have stumbled at her words.
“Youallowedthem to start the fire?” I asked from around my disbelief.
