Reaching Retribution (The Prophesized Series) (14 page)

“You can’t go after him. Not yet,” he tells her.

“He knew who I was,” she says as she turns around and looks up at Bragden. He still has a hold of her. “He killed the only family I ever knew. I need to go after him. I can’t let him get away again,” she pleads with him.

“If you go after them, either Ryanne or Liam will get killed. Is that what you want?” he tells her.
She sighs and leans her head against his chest, dejected. Incendia is a little under a foot shorter than Bragden. I imagine that’s what Ryanne and I look like together.

A loud boom echoes from downstairs, shaking the entire house. I reach out and steady myself on the wall. “Stay here,” Tom tells us as he
and Colin walk down the stairs. We all turn and look at each other, confused as to what just happened.

Last n
ight was amazing. I sat with Ryanne outside and under the stars, and we talked about our future for the whole night until we both eventually fell asleep. This morning, she’s gone.

Tom returns, shaking his head. “They’re gone.”

“Just like that?” David asks. Larkin and Kyril both cuss. We all turn and look at them. “What?”

“While we worked for Dravin, there were these rumors swirling around that Dravin had found a
mage named Zahtri. A mage stronger than all other mages. If they have him, it’s not Dravin we have to worry about,” Larkin says. “He’d be able to transport large groups like that quickly.”

“Why haven’t you mentioned this before?” I ask.

“It was just a rumor,” Kyril answers.

Colin walks
back into the hallway. “Well I’d say that we’ve got some planning to do.”

Bragden reaches up and pulls his
necklace off. Natalie and Emma gasp. Incendia tears her eyes from Colin and turns toward Emma and Natalie. She follows their eyes up to Bragden’s hands. She instantly starts backing up from Bragden, who’s still holding her. Bragden tightens his arm around her waist and hands her the necklace.

“I can’t take that Bragden,” she tells him.

“I already took the necklace off, Incendia. If you don’t accept it…” Bragden trails off.

“You
big stupid man. I’m not worth protecting!” she hits him on the chest. Bragden pulls her against him. She gasps as she collides into him and looks up at him. Without hesitating, Bragden crushes his lips to hers. Incendia tries to fight him, but when Bragden’s hands moves into her hair, she stops and kisses him back.

I draw my eyes away.
Natalie walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. I place my arm around her shoulder and take comfort in her embrace. “We’ll get them back.” She looks up at me. “We have to.”

Bragden pulls back and hands Incendia the pendant necklace again. “Now take the stupid necklace.”
She glances down at the pendant and back up at Bragden—a dazed look still in her eyes. She doesn’t say anything, which causes Bragden to act himself. He moves her hair aside and clasps the necklace around her neck.

Incendia pokes Bragden in the chest when he steps
backward. “If I get killed and you die because of it, you have no one to blame but yourself!”

“Duly
noted,” he says with slight amusement.

“So, what are we going to do
now?” I ask. Natalie removes her head from my shoulder and turns to look at Tom and Colin. Both Natalie and I just had to watch someone we love be carried away by Dravin.

Tom looks
toward me and shakes his head. “If we stand any chance of getting Ryanne or Liam back, we need more help. It’s time to start calling everyone. We’ll still need more people though.”

“We have to
go out and find more people while Dravin has Ryanne?” I say. Natalie clears her throat. “And Liam?”

“They’re not going to try anything yet. Ryanne just proved that she’s stronger than he is. He’ll be a little weary around her. He needs to change his plan if he wants any chan
ce of standing up to her. The only thing that worries me is this Zahtri mage,” Colin says.

“You’re really willing to risk their lives? What if we get more people and this Zahtri
has already killed them? Then everything we’re about to do will be for nothing,” Natalie says.

“We have to stop Dravin a
nd now apparently Zahtri. Ryanne’s not weak. She’s proven herself so many times. She may look small and fragile, but she’s not and you know that. She’s fully capable of defending herself, and you know Liam will do everything in his power to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. Ryanne knew what she was doing when she went with them. You have to trust her,” Tom tells us.

I hate it when he’s right.

Incendia turns toward me. “Colton, Ryanne’s a beast. She won’t take any crap from them anymore. We’ll be closer to getting her back if we rally more troops. Now, quit your pouting and man up.”

I can already see that
Incendia’s going to be trouble. Colin claps his hands. “Let’s do this then.”

I slam into the wall as the Gadramick who was guiding me throws me into yet another cell. “Esh, you don’t have to be so forceful. I already said I would go willingly,” I mumble. Liam is thrown into the same cell, so they obviously aren’t worried about us escaping.

When I hear the sound of the lock turning, I turn
toward Liam. “You shouldn’t have volunteered to come, Liam. This isn’t the Hunger Games. We might not make it out of this,”

“
Both Peeta and Katniss made it out of the Hunger Games,” Liam retorts.

“But we’re not book characters…or movie characters for that matter!
I highly doubt you’ve read the books.”

“
I’d rather suffer here with you than from miles away knowing that there is nothing I can do. I knew what I was…well not in its entirety, but for the most part, I knew what I was doing when I gave you that pendant. What’s going on here, Ryanne? Why didn’t you bother fighting? You could have taken them all.”

“Dravin’s not their leader. He doesn’t run the Gadramick’s. He’s
taking orders from someone else,” I tell Liam as I sit down, back against the wall. I’d already undone our handcuffs. The metal is still on our wrists, but they aren’t connected anymore. “I had a vision. In the vision, I fought and everyone was killed. I watched everyone be killed by something…I didn’t see who or what it was, but I couldn’t risk it.”

Liam sits down next to me and rests his head against the wall, “Dravin’s just a figurehead?”

“Yep, he’s basically the queen of the Gadramicks.”

“I resent that,” Dravin says
as he storms into our cell. I remain seated and just stare up at him. “Just because you know our little secret doesn’t mean anything.”

“It doesn’t?” I ask him.

“No, because your little posse doesn’t know about him. How can they defend themselves against something they don’t know about?”

“
You said you’d leave them alone.”

“
I’ll leave them undisturbed for now, but you didn’t give a time span to follow. When the time is right, I will lead an attack. Your group has caused too much trouble for me lately. They need to be taught a lesson.”

I stand up and glare at him.
“I swear to you Dravin. If I find out that you attacked them, I won’t hesitate to fight back. I can see it in your eyes. You’re scared of me now. You know I’m more powerful than you, but you don’t want your men to see it. You still need them to follow you. What are they going to do when they find out it’s not even you they’re working for? Hmm? That you’ve been lying to them this whole time?”

“Do you think they’ll honestly care that it’s not me in charge? Do you think they’ll change their minds? They
’re still fighting for the same goals. Nothing has changed except for who is calling all the shots.”

“I don’t know what’ll happen
, but we can easily find out. Is
that
part of his plan?”

You stubborn, annoying…
I tune out his thoughts when the cursing starts. I smile at him because I know I’m right. An image of him punching me is projected in my mind. I drop to the ground right as he swings his fist out. Liam jumps in front of me before Dravin can attempt to attack again.

“I wouldn’t try that again if I were you.”
Dravin warns me, but stares at Liam for a couple of seconds, before turning around and quietly leaving the room. Liam bends down and helps me stand. “Do you always have to egg him on? Do you like getting slapped?”

“No, I don’t have to, but where is the fun in that? And of course, I don’t like being slapped. It
hurts and makes my face swell, but someone has to stand up to him. No one has ever gone against him. He’s a good leader, that’s why he was chosen for this, but he’s leading for the wrong reasons.”

Liam leans back against the wall and crosses his arms. “You’re going to be a good leader, Ryanne.”

“I don’t want to be a leader. I just want all of this to end,” I tell him as I walk over to him and rest my shoulder against the wall next to him.

“Fate rarely calls upon us at the moment of
our choosing,” Liam tells me as he angles himself toward me.

“Tran
sformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” I mumble. “You know Colton quoted that to me when I first met him.”

“We’ll get back to them, Ryanne. You’
ll see Colton again,” Liam pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me.

“And you’l
l see Natalie again,” I promise him as I hug him back.

Of
course he has his hands on her.

“
Wow, you move on quickly,” Adam says as he walks into the cell. I step away from Liam and move toward him.

“What do you want Adam?
”

“Dravin requests your presence, Ryanne. Alone.”

“Why? He just stormed out of here angry at me.”

“Just follow me,” Adam says as he turns around and head
s toward the door. Liam grabs my arm to keep me from moving. “If you come willingly, we can avoid the cuffs. No one will hurt you if you behave.”

“I’ll be okay,” I whis
per to Liam. Liam looks between Adam and me, but releases his grip on me.

“And no one will touch Liam?
” I ask as I step toward Adam.

“You’re boy toy will be safe,” Adam says
with a sneer, while opening the door of the cell. As I pass through the doorway, I look over my shoulder at Liam and give him a small smile. I don’t know what’s going to happen right now, but hopefully Liam will remain as safe as he can get while inside this compound.

“What does Dravin want with me?” I ask Adam. I try to make a mental note of where we’re heading, but all the
hallways look exactly the same.

“
He just wants to talk.” An unfamiliar emotion moves through me. I turn and look up at Adam, trying to decipher what he is feeling. He’s facial expression is neutral.
Keep your mind blank. Keep your mind blank.
He’s chanting to himself.

“What are you trying to hide Adam?” I stop in the middle of the hallway and cross my arms. I’m not going any further until I know what is really going on.
Adam keeps walking, but stops when he realizes I’m not following.

“I’m not trying to hide anything,” Adam
says as he turns and faces me.

“Liar. You keep chant
ing “keep your mind blank,” so forgive me for thinking that you’re hiding something.”

“You’re forgiven. Now come on.” He turns around and continues walking down the hallway. I remain
frozen in my spot. Adam stops midway down, hangs his head, and groans. He turns around and walks back to me. “Do you have to make everything so difficult?”

“Yes, it’s kind of my specialty. Now what are you hiding?”

Instead of answering me an emotion I recognize crashes into me. I step back and gape at him. “No freaking way.” He turns his back to me and continues down the hallway again. I shake my head and follow him. There’s no possible way. “You can’t be serious,” I say to him as I catch up.

“I wish I wasn’t,” he mu
mbles as he takes another left.

“
I don’t understand.”

“
People do crazy things when they’re in love,” he whispers to me as he picks up the pace. I have to jog to keep up with him.

“That is no excuse. Did you even feel any bit of guilt for what you did to me?” I ask as I run in front of him and stop. He stares down at me for a couple of seconds before looking at something over my head. I look behind me
and watch as a Gadramick walks past, eyes zoned in on me the entire time. Adam takes a step closer to me and glares at him, giving him a silent warning. When he’s out of hearing range, I look back up at Adam, waiting for him to respond.

“Not at first
. It was all fun and games at first,” he tells me with the shake of his head. I still don’t understand.

“When did it stop being fun and games?”

Adam steps around me and grabs the door handle. Opening a door, he gestures for me to go inside. I stare at him for a couple seconds, before heading toward the door. As I walk past him, he whispers. “When you told me you weren’t afraid of death.”

I stop and stare up at him.
That happened a while ago…before I healed Colton. Now that I think about it, all the confrontations after that moment with him seemed strange. He didn’t seem to fight back outside of Jane’s house—not enough to cause any damage. I didn’t hear him when I was pulled into the dream world either. I knew he was there, but wasn’t as involved as he was prior to that incident. “Well come in. Don’t just stand in the doorway,” Dravin says. I look away from Adam toward him. He’s sitting behind a desk, watching me.

“What’s going on?
” I ask him. Without saying anything to either of us, Adam turns around and leaves me alone with Dravin.

“So impatient.
Sit.”

I heed his command
. Even though I know that Dravin’s not the one in charge, I know that I’m still in trouble here. There’s two mages against a whole compound of Gadramicks. I can only push my luck so far. “What’s this about?” I ask.

“
I need to take another blood sample from you. I’d rather you cooperate with me so I don’t have to give you more dormirako.”

“You want me to give you permission to take my blood to see if you can extract my magic?” I ask. “Are you crazy?”

“I don’t think it’s possible for your magic to be extracted anymore, but we have to run one last test. Since we were able to find you, your enchantment is no longer up. For some reason, Zahtri wants you alive. Now, I’m not one to listen to authority, but he’s one that even I don’t want to go against.”

“What if I say no?”

“Then we’ll have to get creative, now won’t we?”

I stare at Dravin. I don’t really see a way around this. Giving them some of my blood will give me a little time to come up with a plan on how to get out of here.
“Fine.”

“Really? Just like that? No arguing?”

“I may be stubborn, Dravin, but I’m not stupid.” Dravin watches me for a moment, before calling for Adam.

When Adam walks into the room, Dravin te
lls him to take me to Dr. Arden. When I don’t move, Adam grabs my elbow and pulls me out of the room. I yank my arm away the second we get out of Dravin’s office.

“I can walk on my own. Everyone is always dragging me place
s when I’m fully capable of walking myself. I’m not some helpless weak girl, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” he says as he leads me down the halls
again. I jog to keep up with him. I try to read his mind again, but he’s repeating the chant again.

“I think I l
iked the jerky, aggressive, and overly cocky Adam better than this silent, brooding one.”

“
Believe me, I liked him better too.”

“Why are you working for the Gad
ramicks, Adam? Honestly.” Adam stops outside of two glass doors. On the other side, people wearing white labs coats are rushing around. Everyone is holding something: a syringe, needle, stethoscope, etc. It’s obvious that they are testing something.

Adam chooses to ignore my question. H
e opens the door to the lab and ushers me inside. I instantly recognize Dr. Arden in the crowd. He’s flipping through some papers attached to a clipboard. His dark curly hair is falling in his face. Adam places a hand on the small of my back and pushes me further into the room. When he clears his throat, Dr. Arden looks up from his clipboard and looks directly at Adam. His eyes quickly move from Adam and land on me.