Page 68 of Ensnared

“They’ll want to send you back,” he says. “They’ll want you to come back, find out when his downtime will be, and get a message back to us.”

“Or you could take them that message,” I say. “If you could escape, you could tell them what I’ve told you.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “We all go together.”

“What’s your plan to escape?” I ask. “Just run as far as we can, hopefully get over their wall, and then hope the humans on the other side see you?”

He shrugs. “I’ll go back the same way I came.”

“Which is?”

“I can’t tell you,” he says.

“Because?”

“You’re ensnared. If he forces you to share information, it’s better if you don’t know.”

I can’t even argue with him about that, but it worries me. Is there any chance Axel might be listening in on us right now? I feel for my emotion thread. He’s focused on something.

Could it be me?

No, he’s also bored. That’s a color I associate with grey—a dark, smoky grey. He has work he does when I’m not with him, and I don’t know quite what it is at any point, but he finds a lot of it tedious and frustrating.

Once I’m reasonably certain Axel’s distracted and not listening in, I finish our conversation. “I’ve got to start doing some actual fighting with these people momentarily. But I’ve thought about it. Take the kids and get out of here. I have to stay—bomb or not.”

“You can’t,” Gideon says. “I can’t lose you.”

“If Axel’s right,” I say, “that bomb won’t kill them, and if that happens, taking me with you will lead him right to you, thanks to my bond. I won’t take that risk with my siblings’ lives.”

I can tell Gideon’s not done arguing, but I force him to help me drill the humans on some basic combat maneuvers. Weapons training is next. Gideon knows much more than I do about firing guns, loading, and unloading, so I let him teach them, reinforcing the things he says with commands.

With his help, I actually do more today than I ever have before in terms of making these humans into weapons that could be used against the rest of the world. Goodie.

“Alright, well, I think that’s it for today.” I’ve just released my people, and I’m nearly back to the house when I spot Penelope walking down the street. She doesn’t come much, but it’s usually a welcome break in my routine.

Only, this time, she’s not alone.

She has two other ensnared with her, judging from their fancy headgear.

“You’ve been summoned,” she says.

“Summoned?” I can’t help my smile. “As far as I know, the only Prince around here is already bonded to me.”

“The strike blessed have a princess, and her ensnared wants to meet you.”

Ah, shoot. That doesn’t sound good. I lower my voice, but I keep my face calm. “Hey, Gideon. Why don’t you go back to the house and if you see Axel, tell him where I’m going. Okay?”

At first, Gideon looks like he might argue, but thankfully, he doesn’t. The last thing I need is for them to drag him along, too.

14

Admittedly, I was a little naive when I was first bonded. It quickly became clear that any kind of insurrection I wanted to organize would have to be handled with more skill than I possessed. Training for MMA may have left me suited to deal with surprise dragon attacks while using a broken umbrella or a fire poker.

It did not prepare me to lead troops or create spy-like networks.

But perhaps meeting the other ensnared will be a good thing. Surely one of them, an older and wiser human than I am, will be planning a way to send the dragons home while mitigating the human death toll. One of them must be doing something, and if so, they can teach me. I could finally be of some help.

Also, I feel like I ought to warn them all about the nuclear attack.