Page 14 of Must Love Dragons (Sable Cove #4)

Kinsley had the absolute worst headache she’d ever had in her life. She opened her eyes and found herself in a strange place. She tried to remember where she was or what had happened, but her head was pounding, and she couldn’t think straight.

She was leaning against a wide metal pillar and the cuffs around her wrists were attached to a chain looped around the pillar. Her wrists were burning from the cuffs and when she tried to access her magic to cast a simple unlocking spell, she couldn’t.

Slowly, pieces of what had happened to land her in this place came back to her.

The house, the warlocks, the barrier she’d cast to keep Zay safe in the house.

She picked up the scent of saltwater and realized that she was in a warehouse that was just like the one that had been booby-trapped by the warlocks. So that meant they’d brought her back to the port.

There weren’t any lights on in the warehouse, but the sun hadn’t fully set yet, which meant the setting sun was letting in enough light so she could see. There were piles of trash, what looked like a broken-down maintenance truck, and wooden boxes stacked against the walls.

She heard a moan nearby and she twisted around until she saw a figure chained to a nearby pillar.

It had to be Rorik. Who else would the warlocks have chained up like that?

Relieved he was alive, she turned her attention back to her surroundings. There wasn’t anything close enough for her to grab to try to break the chain. Without her magic, she was a sitting duck.

Had Zay reached out to Delaney? The only way he’d get free of the house was with another witch breaking the spell. Once he was free, Delaney could track her. She didn’t know how long she’d been out, but hopefully, they were on their way by now.

Focusing on her magic, she tried to force it past the dampening spell the cuffs provided, but it was useless.

She was as magical as a human right now.

“Ah, she’s awake,” a male said as he came to stand in front of her.

He looked to be in his thirties, with windswept brown hair and a scar on one cheek that pulled the corner of his mouth up into a crooked smile.

“What do you want with me?” she asked.

“Don’t play dumb.”

“I’m not. What do you want with me?”

Others joined them, all males, wearing all black. They all had runes tattooed onto the backs of their hands, and she recognized the marks as dark magic that allowed them to perform spells any good witch or warlock wouldn’t touch with a thousand-foot pole.

The male who appeared to be the leader spoke again. “You prevented us from capturing the dragon, so we brought you with us to ensure that he’d come looking for you. We wanted him, but we’ll take you too.”

“Take me? What do you mean?”

He squatted down, his eyes gleaming darkly.

“We need his blood. The only reason we’ve kept his relative alive is because we knew he’d be searching for him.

” The male cupped her face, and she tried to jerk out of his hold but she couldn’t get away from his touch.

“We’ll use his blood to turn you to dark magic.

Your fire magic will be an incredible addition to our coven. ”

Horror filled her.

“Never. I’ll never turn to dark magic.”

One of the others smirked. “You don’t know how powerful dragon blood is. You won’t be able to resist the change.”

The first male finally let go of her and she rubbed her chin on her shoulder as a shudder wove through her.

She stared up at them. There were a handful in front of her, and she suspected there were more outside the warehouse, standing guard and watching for Zay.

“You don’t have to do this, just let me go. Please.”

“Nah,” the first one said. The others laughed and walked out, talking quietly about the spells they’d cast with Zay’s blood.

Tears stung her eyes, and she lowered her head, breathing through the panic that was clawing at her.

“Th-they’re selling our blood but they’re also amassing it for a big spell.”

Her head jerked to the side and she saw Rorik staring at her through bloodshot eyes.

He looked half dead.

Hollow cheeks, dark circles under his eyes, and an ashen pallor to his skin.

“I’m Kinsley. You’re Rorik?”

He licked his cracked lips. “Yeah. You know my nephew?”

“We’re truemates.”

His brow rose and he winced. “You’re a witch?”

“Good magic, I swear.”

His eyes closed for a moment, and he let out what sounded a hell of a lot to her like a death rattle.

Then he opened his eyes and said, “I know you’re good, Kinsley.

I’ve been with these assholes for days. They’re the ones who killed our people.

I wanted vengeance. I got captured. And then they hurt Zay.

I never meant for that to happen I just wanted revenge for what they took from me. ”

“I understand. Zay was really angry too.” She leaned her head back against the pillar and looked up at the beams that crossed from one side of the building to the other. “He’ll come for us.”

“I hope so. If they capture him, they’ll kill him and me, and they’ll turn you to darkness.”

She shivered. “Do you know what they want your blood for?”

“They’re selling it,” he said. “It’s worth a lot on the black market.

But they’re also storing it up.” He coughed hard enough that she swore she heard his ribs crack.

With a shallow wheeze, he continued, “There’s a large coven that controls a territory that’s rich in magical resources.

Some kind of mineral or stone that’s used to amplify magic.

They tried to take over, but the coven pushed them out, so they turned to dark magic.

They’re going to use our blood to wipe them out.

Power, money, dark magic that’s powered by dragon’s blood. They’ll be unstoppable.”

As Rorik’s last words hung in the air between them, fear gripped her. She was downright petrified for all of them. For Zay, for Rorik, and for herself, too.

She needed to break free, but how the hell could she do that when she didn’t have access to her magic?

Shifting against the pillar, she winced as the cuffs bit into her skin.

Her wrists throbbed, the metal burning her skin more the longer she was exposed to it.

She tried to call on her magic again, hoping for anything, even a tiny spark that might weaken the metal, but nothing happened.

Her gaze flicked to Rorik. He hadn’t moved in a few minutes. She could see he was still breathing, but he looked worse than he had before he’d started talking. If Zay didn’t show up soon to rescue them, she wasn’t sure how much longer Rorik was going to last.

Swallowing hard, she tamped down the fear licking at her spine and strained her ears for any sound behind the occasional shuffle of boots outside and a drip from somewhere in the warehouse. The warlocks were all outside, and while she could hear some murmuring, they seemed to just be waiting.

For Zay.

For his blood.

Pulling at the chain again, she accomplished nothing but an ache in her shoulders. There was no chance she’d break the chain on her own without magic. She couldn’t break free, she couldn’t fight, she couldn’t even help heal Rorik while her magic was dampened.

All she could do was wait.

And hope that Zay wasn’t walking into a death trap.