Sora latched onto his arm, his grip tight enough to be painful. The hope renewed at those words was dizzying. “How close do you need to be?”
“My personal best was 600 kilometers, and I’m one of the best in my clan at this. Sahan said he disappeared just outside of Prague. I say, let’s go to Prague, pick up Ravi’s trail from there.” He gave Sora a quick smile, although it looked tight and forced. “We’ve lost too many mates as it is. We won’t see the two of you suffer that loss. Alric, how many can you spare?”
“If you really think a single dragon is staying at home when Ravi’s been taken?” King Alric shook his head. “Then you’re mistaken. We have a destination of sorts, let’s go.”
Sora had never been so glad to hear those words. People started racing out, calling to each other, and only sometimes by phone. He was practically on their heels, ready to race out with the rest of the rescue party.
His mother’s hand stayed him, although she was practically vibrating with the urge to move, as well. “Don’t forget your bag, he might need medical attention.”
A disturbing thought, but a good reminder. “I’ll fetch it.”
“And, Sora, promise me. No matter what happens, don’t be rash.”
Sora couldn’t even manage a smile, didn’t try. “Sorry, I can’t promise that.”
“No,” she said, understanding. “I don’t suppose you can. Let’s focus on bringing Ravi home. You two owe me grandchildren.”
“We want four, you know.”
Her eyes lit up for a moment. “Four? Really? Oh, in that case, we definitely need to get him back quickly. And you two bonded. I’ve waited quite long enough for grandchildren.”
The vision of that future scene danced quickly through his head. Sora wanted it so desperately that, for a moment, he could barely breathe.
“If I have my say, we won’t have to wait very long at all. Let’s go find Ravi.”
“And kick some Jaeggi ass.” She nodded in agreement, then spun on her heel, stalking out of the room. “They don’t know who they’re messing with, clearly.”
That, at least, brought a smile to his face. No, the Jaeggi had no idea the fury they’d just unleashed. It wasn’t just the Burkhards they were tangling with, not anymore. And Sora would take great delight in proving it to them.
Ravi woke to the sounds of screaming. He was only partially grateful they weren’t his own screams. The sounds were sharp and shrill, wrung out from great pain. They seemed to echo and bounce off stone, coming from both men and women.
They didn’t sound familiar at all, which was a small consolation. His clanmates weren’t the ones screaming in pain and terror.
One person’s cries were cut off sharply, and a chill skittered down Ravi’s spine. He knew, without anyone needing to tell him, that the person had died. Another person who had been screaming let out a whimper and then fell silent, too.
Slowly, Ravi peeled open one eye and then shut it again as pain lanced through his brain. The room he was in was dark, but it didn’t stop the throbbing that was hammering against his skull.
What?
Where was he?
How?
Charles Bridge. Thomas Jaeggi. A trap.
Ravi’s eyes popped open as the memories poured into his brain like a raging river rushing through a narrow gulley. There was no escaping it. He and Sahan had followed Thomas Jaeggi to the Charles Bridge, where they’d walked straight into a trap.
Had Sahan escaped? Reached Burkhard Castle safely?
Ravi clenched his teeth against the rising feeling of panic. Sahan was incredibly fast. He’d escaped the Jaeggi and he was telling Ravi’s family what had happened. Alric knew.
Oh god. Sora knew.
His mate knew the Jaeggi had attacked him.
That was what had pulled him back toward consciousness. Not the screaming. He could feel his mate’s pain in his chest like a gaping wound. Sora was in pain and terrified that Ravi was dead.
Closing his eyes again, Ravi concentrated on the ball of angry emotion, trying so damn hard to follow it back to its source. He focused on his love for Sora, trying to send back feelings of reassurance and love. Trying like hell to tell Sora that he was alive, at least for now.
Some of the pain dissipated, and Ravi could breathe a little easier. He could only assume that Sora had felt him, knew he was still alive. Now they just had to figure out where the hell he was.
Ravi wasn’t about to wait around for others to find him. He needed to get to them. Ravi looked down to find he was completely naked in the small concrete room.
And, holy shit, he needed some fucking clothes!
Looking up, he discovered his wrists were bound in iron manacles chained to the ceiling. The chain was just long enough that he could balance on the balls of feet, but he couldn’t stand flatfooted. What the hell! He’d better not be in some creepy Jaeggi sex dungeon because he was not down for that kind of nonsense. He had a mate now, dammit!
Trying to move his aching head as little as possible, Ravi carefully spun in place to get a better view of his surroundings. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see. Bare concrete walls painted white. The same white paint was on the floor, which slanted slightly to one side where there was a small drain in the corner. Yes, that had to make it so much easier to wash blood off the walls and floor—it could all flow straight into the drain.
Dragging his gaze away from the ominous drain, he looked over at the large metal door, which had a small opening near the top. There wasn’t much to see through the opening except for more concrete walls. Those didn’t look painted, though.
His dragon stirred, but rather than expressing outrage and anger, it whined and sounded pained. Yes! He’d shift. Ravi called on his dragon, and it pushed once before both he and his dragon shouted in pain. It was like he’d jammed his big toe in an electrical socket.
No shifting. Shifting was bad, painful, evil. The damn Jaeggi must have placed some kind of spell on the manacles to keep him from shifting.
Ravi took a deep breath, intending to soothe the poor creature, when he realized that the air smelled stale. As if there was no airflow.
As if there was no wind. No breeze.
Because he was fucking underground.
Oh no. No. No. Nonononono.
A wind dragon couldn’t be stuck underground, away from the touch of the wind. It was the source of his strength and power. It was a part of his very essence.
Panic slammed into him hard, and he struggled to breathe. He needed to get out of here, now.
Here Ravi was, strung up like a pig for slaughter, his wrists in magical cuffs that bit into his skin, keeping his arms well above his head. The cuffs were looped around a pole stretching the length of the room and kept him on his feet. There was no room for his knees to bend without his shoulders taking the brunt of his weight, and not much room to maneuver. He was in danger of losing circulation to his arms if this kept up much longer. Ravi flexed every minute or so, sometimes lifting up with his arms, trying to keep them from falling asleep.
And, clearly, things were going to get much worse. Shuffling footsteps echoed down the concrete hall, and Thomas’s ugly mug appeared in the little window just before a metal key was jammed in the lock.
The door opened and Ravi was facing two buffoons with their lecherous smiles. While naked.