The hour and a half that it takes for Alex to gather all the necessary information is somehow the longest hour and a half of my life and the shortest all at the same time. It drags on but is also over far too quickly. We all head downstairs to get ready to leave and meet the others.
“Okay, so Darrien and Aaron will stay here with you guys and we will call you as soon as we have them.” Bellamy announces his plan confidently. I make eye contact with Megan who looks just as sceptical as me. Does he seriously think we’re going to just sit here and wait?“Yeah, no. That’s not going to work for me. Bellamy you can’t seriously think we’re just going to sit around here and wait. We’re coming with you.” I argue. Bellamy shakes his head adamantly.“Absolutely not. It’s not safe.” He refuses. I roll my eyes.“It’s not safe for you either.” I point out. Bellamy crosses his arms and stares me down.“You can’t fight.” He argues.“I don’t need to fight to be useful. I caAs I approach the house, I can see neighbours peering out their windows at us. I give one of them, a kid, a cheerful little wave before he ducks back behind the curtain. I guess the door breaking was a little loud and this is a bit of a weird situation. I’m surprised the police haven’t turned up yet. Not that they would do anything. A Shifter Alpha has complete authority over their Shifters. If Bellamy wants her in jail or something, all he has to do is parade her up to the police station, prove who he is and tell them how long she should be put away for. I swear, the only reason the different races don’t all have separate prisons is because they just don’t need them that often. When you add magic and other impressive abilities, most people who commit serious crimes go down swinging and end up dead, like Tristain did. If he had dropped it then he probably would have just been locked away. It’s one of the reasons the MRO doesn’t like having Unknown magics around. No faction is respon
I startle at the new thread, then freeze. I probably look ridiculous and I’m fairly sure I’m alternating between staring at my own chest and Cheryl’s. Ugh, I probably look like I’m staring at my own boobs. I have got to stop. I'm too stunned to speak and I vaguely notice that Bellamy has taken over the interrogation. Asking who Cheryl is working with and where Kiara is being kept. She refuses to give any kind of useful answer. I do zone back in a little when I realise that Bellamy is trying to use his whole Alpha thing to force her to speak.“Tell me where Kiara is.” He demands. But before he can finish the sentence, Cheryl slams her eyes shut and presses her lips together, flat out refusing to speak any further. I guess closing her eyes somehow stops Bellamy’s Alpha thing from working. That’s different I guess? I really ought to find out how it’s meant to work since I can actually do that to some extent. Or at least I managed to do something with it when Tristain was in the mid
I wake up feeling groggy and I just know that I’ve slept in late. If I did dream, I don’t remember any of it which honestly is kind of a relief because I needed rest so badly. Bellamy isn’t in bed beside me, so I assume he got up at a more normal time. He must be exhausted, because I’m still tired and I obviously slept in longer than he did. It’s strange that I didn't have visions of Kiara, then again those visions seem to make me tired and use energy, particularly when I interact with her. So maybe I just didn’t have enough energy to manage it. I spend at least fifteen minutes lying in bed trying to force my brain to wake up. Okay, that’s enough. Apparently I’m not going to feel better or more awake than I do now. A shower might help. I climb out of bed, tripping over the blankets as I go, and head straight into the ensuite. I don’t think at all, just strip off my clothes and step into the shower. I turn the hot water on first and absolutely freeze as I wait for it to heat up. Fina
I consider this new information for a few minutes while Bellamy eats another serving of eggs on toast. Actually, he seems really hungry. Did he wait for me to eat? “Cheryl being able to avoid your commands is… inconvenient. But I suppose if you’re going to go around killing and kidnapping, it makes sense that you would practise something like that. Plus obviously she taught Tristain some weird tricks too.” I think aloud.“What do you mean by that?” He pauses eating. I tell Bellamy how everyone was frozen in place at Megan’s wedding. Much like Cheryl was, at least they were until I interrupted. Bellamy looks fascinated and pleased. “Well, people did report being frozen in place, but I didn’t realise that you were the one who freed them, although it does make sense. You should be able to order them around the same way I do, we are equally dominant after all. It just might take a little practice.” He considers. I scrunch up my face.“I’m not sure I want to be able to
“Lady, can you tell me your name?” She asks quietly. She sounds like she doesn’t actually expect me to answer. Which is fair I guess, I’m not even exactly one hundred percent sure that I can. My head is aching. But that’s the question she asked and I am going to do my best to answer. It takes me a minute to manage it and I watch as Kiara’s face falls even further with every second she doesn’t hear from me. Finally I succeed“Ryann.” For a second, I don't think it worked. Kiara doesn’t react and I sigh through my aching head and prepare to try again.“That’s a nice name. Ryann… I didn’t want to believe it, I was hoping I was wrong but… I’m pretty sure that my mum and dad are dead. They weren’t moving when I was taken away. I was hoping they were just asleep or under a spell but… if that were true they would have come to get me by now. Daddy would have gotten me out of here and then probably locked me up in a tower like some fairytale character to make sure that no one ever ge
My thoughts turn back to the tracking spell that Cam made for us. I am officially desperate enough to try anything. I can’t leave Kiara there anymore.Ryann- The tracking spell you gave us. How well do you need to know the person you’re tracking? Is it based on how long you’ve known them? How much time you’ve spent together? How much the time is valued? Cam- Well, it is based more on the emotional connection between two people. So usually people who have strong emotional connections ARE people who have spent a lot of time together, but there’s no requirement. As long as both parties are emotionally close the spell should be able to latch onto that.Ryann- So what if theoretically the two people had never met in person, but there was a strong emotional attachment regardless? Cam- You mean yourself, don’t you? Look, I can’t guarantee that the spell will work for you. I mean, with all the effort you’ve put in I’m fairly sure that your emotional attachment is close eno
It’s another long night of watching Kiara sleep. It’s boring, but also kind of soothing because at least if she’s asleep I know that no one is hurting her or traumatising her any more than they already have. I sort of zone in and out. Sometimes watching her and sometimes properly sleeping myself in blissful blackness. I wake up properly and I can immediately tell that it is WAY too early to be up. With a groan I roll away from Bellamy and grab my phone. Ugh, it’s not even five am yet. This is disgusting. But I went to bed so early there is no way I am going to get back to sleep. Bellamy hasn’t woken up and is still sleeping heavily. I think he didn’t sleep as much as I did yesterday so he probably needs it more than I did. I decide to use the time to sneak downstairs and look at some of the emails from Shifters asking for assistance. I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time on them the past couple of days. I get out of bed, careful not to disturb Bellamy and I stop to pull on a pair
The drive back to my old home is quiet. We’re all kind of anxious. Bellamy, Darrien, Megan and I all ride together. Apparently some of the others are going to meet us there. No one even bothered arguing that Megan or I shouldn’t come this time. I have to use the spell and Megan used the same argument as last time. I think with all the security coming with us, with the team is probably the safest place either of us could possibly be. We pull up to park and unsurprisingly, there is a large group of Shifters all sitting around while Maggie moves between them all offering what looks like cake and cookies. It seems she has already distributed cups of tea to everyone as well. I hop out of the car and she beams at me. “Ryann! It’s lovely to see you. I hear you’re going on a bit of a magical scavenger hunt looking for that missing girl. I’m sure you’ll do well, but there’s no harm in making sure that everyone is well fed before you go.” She cheerfully offering me the plate. I take a co