Buildings everywhere had been abandoned, half scorched. Houses were quiet, families on the run, and our resources destroyed.

  The rivers ran black in color and the farms were filled with dead crops. The dark forest and the mountains that remained too cold for anybody to live there seemed to be the only things within sight that remained unharmed.

  We finally headed back to the ground, and the shift from beast to man was back to feeling empowering instead of agonizing.

  Lykem shifted back as well, staring at me with his signature smirk. The dragon was one of the fiercest warriors I knew, but he often annoyed the shit out of me with that grin.

  There was little that could shake my friend. As irritated as I wanted to be with his overly happy demeanor, I was sometimes jealous of his ability to put walls up and keep out all the dark shit I often held on to.

  “Feel better now?” he asked, stepping closer to me.

  “No,” I grumbled.

  His responding chuckle didn’t help my sour mood. “Great. So, do you want to tell me more about this mate you mentioned before losing your shit?”

  I didn’t want to talk about Dawsyn. Not yet. Not until I understood what the hell had been happening here and how that information might help me find her.

  “You first,” I said. “Where is everyone?”

  They couldn’t all be dead or missing.

  “There are about a hundred of us in the caves beneath Rock Point,” he answered, and I promptly cut him off.

  “Where are the others?” Our realm should have had thousands of people right here in the main town with another thousand living remotely.

  The grimace on his normally jovial face didn’t ease the rage inside. “They’re either dead or trying to survive on their own in the mountains and will be dead soon. We gathered as many as we could, but there wasn’t much warning before the worst of the attacks began. Your uncles were among the first to die.”

  The ache in my chest intensified. “And my grandmother?”

  “None of us have seen her,” Lykem answered. “I went to her house myself, but she was already gone. I would have sent for you, but our numbers were already so few, I couldn’t risk losing anyone else.”

  “How are you surviving in the caves?” I asked. “Isn’t it freezing there right now?”

  He shrugged and smiled again. “With enough dragon fire, anything can be warm enough. Plus, the snow melt from the extra heat is giving us clean water, which is something we didn’t have here in town any longer. A group goes out every other day to hunt for meat.”

  Looking at him closer, I could see not everyone was eating as they needed to be, including my friend.

  “So, that’s what happened, but what are you doing about it?” I asked, glancing around at the dying farm we’d landed by.

  This time his laugh was dark and defensive. “We’re surviving, Cillian. You might have buried your uncles, but I’ve dug more holes than one should in an entire lifetime. For the old and young and all those in between.”

  My hand clasped his shoulder. “I’m sorry. If I’d known…”

  “We know you would have been here,” he said, then smiled again. “So, about that mate?”

  Of course, he wasn’t going to let that go. Though, this time I was okay with talking about her, because nothing he’d said had given me any ideas as to where I needed to start looking for Dawsyn.

  “She’s a wolf shifter I met at the academy where I was searching for information.”

  He gaped at me. “But if she’s not a dragon shifter…”

  I knew what he was already thinking, and I wasn’t ready to rehash that rage.

  “Someone took her and our bond broke, but in the process, they left someone else alive,” I said. “My mate’s best friend. He said something that made me feel confident that she was brought here.”

  “She’s not with us,” Lykem replied, “but she might be in the dark forest.”

  I tilted my head. “I thought you said you’d searched that area and found nothing.”

  “But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to find.” He glanced behind us in the direction of said forest. “We’ve all heard the stories about the dark magic in those trees. As we grew older, we’d assumed the tales to be lies, but what if they weren’t?”

  “What are you saying, Lykem?” I’d thought the dark forest was something more as well, but filled with magic? How could nobody have done anything about that all these years?

  “When I’ve been in there, I get this sense we’re missing something right in front of our faces,” he answered. “Like there’s a realm within our realm that we can’t see, but if you’re really looking, there are low vibrations that prove something or somewhere is out there.”

  If Dawsyn was hidden within another realm, I wasn’t sure how I would ever find her, but that didn’t mean I was going to give up.

  “I’m going to head there,” I said, turning away from my friend. “You don’t have to come with me. I know you have people to protect, but I can’t give up on my mate.”

  He stepped to my side. “You’re my oldest friend and the only person I can consider family any longer. I’m not letting you do this on your own.”

  My chest ripped further open at his words. I wasn’t sure how he wasn’t losing his shit, but I’d take his steadfast support.

  Anything to get me back to Dawsyn.

  “Let’s go then.”

  Chapter Six

  DAWSYN

  Two days had passed since I’d been brought into the dungeon of the underground bunker. Silence had been my only companion. Well, that and darkness.

  Am I not company enough? my wolf retorted.

  You know what I meant.

  Yes, I’d had my wolf and my wolf had me, but given I mostly considered us one in the same, we were truly alone here.

  I was trying to be grateful that Knox wasn’t trying to get me to be his mate in the many other ways I’d envisioned, but it was hard not to be frustrated.

  He’d seemed so hell bent on taking me, yet wanted nothing to do with me. None of it made sense.

  He’s trying to break you, my wolf said. He’ll come for you when you’re at your weakest and can’t tell him no.

  Like hell was I going to let him get his way. I had come here on my own—sort of—and I was going to leave on my own.

  The only positive was that the cell I was being kept in had warmed several degrees since our arrival, so I didn’t have to remain in wolf form the whole time.

  I laid on the mattress, staring into the nothingness around me, wishing I could hear even the drip-drop of a leaky faucet at this point.

  My hands folded over my stomach, ignoring the grumbles of hunger beneath them, and I closed my eyes, wishing for sleep to pass the time by.

  It wasn’t long after that when my eyes popped open, as if a bubble around me had burst.

  I was out of the bed and on my feet with my hands out in the blink of an eye.

  A woman’s laugh echoed in the darkness. “Brave girl. You’re ready to fight what you do not know.”

  “Traitorous grandmother,” I quipped in return. “You chose the wrong grandson.”

  I could hear her snarl, but still couldn’t see her. “You know nothing about what I’ve chosen.”

  At least I had my confirmation that she was the Nannio Cillian had spoken about before, even if Knox had tried to deny it previously.

  “That might be true, but I’ve come to know Cillian and he never would have done this to his family.”

  “We’ll see about that,” she muttered. “Take this.”

  Something slid across the floor, bouncing against my shoes. I didn’t dare bend down to pick it up. She could use the distraction to attack me, and I wasn’t going to make any stupid moves while I was in here.

  “It’s not poisoned,” she added. “We want you alive. For now.”

  Oh, how I wished I could see this woman.

  “Why should I believe you?” I asked.

  She scoffed. “You shouldn’t.”

  I heard a door shut and waited for the silence to return, but instead, I could hear her retreating footsteps. Then another door slammed closed, followed by several locks being engaged.

  I waited, standing there frozen in place, and the only other thing I could hear was the wind blowing in from somewhere. Hopefully somewhere I could escape out of.

  My shoe nudged the tray at my feet, and I bent down, feeling around blindly. There were two rolls, some sort of red meat based on the smell, and a bottle of water.

  I shoved a mouthful of bread between my teeth as I opened the water, listening for the safety seal to break. Not that it would assure me I wasn’t going to die from eating or drinking any of this, but it was a small reassurance, nonetheless.

  What do we think of the grandmother? I asked my wolf.

  That she needs to die, she replied. She smells like death.

  I’d missed that, but I wasn’t surprised. If she’d chosen Knox over Cillian, then I assumed her hands were covered in blood.

  She at least wasn’t lying about the food, my wolf added. Nothing tastes or smells off, but she either didn’t know there was a shield over the room or forgot to put it up. I’m not sure which is worse.

  Why can’t either be good? I asked. At least we can hear something other than silence and each other.

  There’s more wrong with this place than just being a prisoner here, she replied. We can’t trust anyone.

  That I could agree with, but we were going to have to get people to trust us if we were going to find a way out of here.

  Another day later—according to my wolf who could apparently tell the time without needing a clock or the sun—it didn’t matter that the little bubble around our cell had been burst. There were still no other fucking sounds.

  I was hours from going insane when Nannio, also now known as Psycho Granny, returned. Though, it annoyed me to think of her as a grandmother. Someone who could trick their grandson into abandoning their home just so she could further sabotage things didn’t deserve such a title, which was how I ended up thinking of her as The Psycho.

  She entered my cell for the second time, still invisible in the darkness, and slid another tray over to me. I’d kept the first one, tempted to beat her to death with it, but decided it was time to see just how cocky she felt.

  If these people truly thought they had me right where they wanted, they’d have no problem telling me things they didn’t want others to know.

  “Why did you turn on Cillian?” I asked, picking up the tray and biting into the roll.

  She didn’t answer at first. I heard the hinges on the door creak, thinking she was going to leave, but then she paused. “I didn’t turn on him.”

  I snorted and nearly choked on the bread. “Right. Because when you sent him to another world, stopped talking to him, and then stole his mate, that was you being on his side.”

  “I didn’t steal you.”

  “Yet, you also haven’t let me out. Guilty by association.” At least, that was what I was convinced of.

  She didn’t respond, so I asked another question. “Why doesn’t Cillian know about Knox?”

  “Because he doesn’t need to,” she answered.

  “But he’s going to,” I said confidently. “Cillian will come for me.”

  “He won’t find you, even if he knows you’re here,” she replied, not sounding as sure about her words as I suspected.

  “Why is that?”

  “Because Knox made sure of that a long time ago.”

  Before I could ask another question, the door slammed shut and her retreating footsteps sounded. I didn’t bother to yell at her. I merely enjoyed another meal in the dark. What was the point of being pissed-the-fuck-off right now? Being angry wasn’t going to improve my situation. In fact, it was likely to make it worse.

  After another three days, my skin was getting itchy from not being able to run with my wolf. In total, six days had passed since I’d last seen Cillian. Since Beatrix had started her research and promised not to tell my parents about what I’d told her unless things got worse.

  I’d spent a lot of time thinking about my family when I wasn’t thinking about Cillian or how to escape this hellhole.

  My parents were never going to let me leave the pack again. Of that I was certain, but I was also certain that between my family—including those not blood-related—and my mate, I wasn’t going to die here.

  And because of us, my wolf added.

  Obviously, we’ll be the true heroes. I laughed. But our family won’t give up on us, and knowing that makes me not give up.

  The Psycho had returned every day, once a day, with the same meal of steak and rolls and a water. My energy was returning, and I was slowly learning more about this place with each question that I asked.

  From what I could gather, Knox had created this place years ago. He was older than Cillian and very fucking vengeful. Little did big brother know, he’d just given his little brother the same vengeance.

  My heart ached from missing my mate, and not the one I’d been forced to choose. Funnily enough, there wasn’t a single part of me that ached to be near Knox.

  I thought even with chosen mates that there’d be some sort of draw toward each other, regardless of how much I despised him, but the fact that he’d stayed away since bringing me down here proved that neither of us wanted the other.

  Lucky fucking me.

  It was near what I’d become accustomed to as bedtime when a bright light shined into the hallway and I heard Knox’s voice.

  “Then, we’ll drain his blood,” he growled. “Either way, I want his magic and if he won’t give it, then I’ll take it.”

  Another door opened, and I stayed frozen in place, afraid to make a noise and miss whatever was happening in a cell near mine.

  “Good evening, Darius,” Knox cooed. “I’ve come to collect your monthly payment.”

  “I’m done helping you,” another man responded. “You’ll have to kill me.”

  Knox clicked his tongue. “Oh, old man. Don’t tempt me with a good time.” The sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed through the dank area. “Give me what I asked for.”

  Knox’s voice was no longer cordial, and my skin crawled just knowing how close he was.

  “No,” the man responded.

  Three more punches and the sound of breaking bones filled my ears.

  “That’s enough or he really will be dead,” The Psycho said.

  Huh. I didn’t realize she was there as well.

  “Make him cooperate, Estelle,” Knox spat, then added, “or it will be your blood I come for next.”

  I heard the slamming of another door, but then a wrestling sound.

  “Don’t fucking threaten me, boy,” The Psycho a.k.a. Estelle hissed. “I’m the only reason you’ve gotten this far. You need me.”

  He laughed darkly. “I don’t need anyone.” Footsteps sounded closer. “Speaking of need…”

  Mother shittery shit.

  I laid my head down on the bed, evened my breathing, and turned my back to the door. I couldn’t see much in this kind of darkness without ambient light, but that didn’t mean the dragon couldn’t. Cillian and I had never really discussed what he could and couldn’t do or how similar we might be.

  My door opened, and there was a beat of silence before Knox whispered, “Sleep well, Little Wolf. It’s almost time for you to come out and play.”

  I stayed perfectly still, refusing to allow my body to react in any way, and it paid off.

  The door closed once more, and then the bubble was back.

  I no longer heard the sound of retreating footsteps or voices.

  We were back to the dark silence, but my motivation to get the fuck out of that cell had just gone up.

  All I needed now was for The Psycho to return, and I was finally going to act.

  Chapter Seven

  CILLIAN

  I’d searched that fucking forest day and night, barely stopping to sleep. The entire area was doused in magic, making it so that nothing stood out, which meant everything had to be checked.

  My dragon had flown over the area for hours, and I’d spent even longer walking through the dense trees. There’d been moments where I’d sworn that I could sense something deeper, but everywhere I looked, there were only trees. Nothing to tell where they were hiding or how I could get inside.

  It was the morning of the fifth day since Dawsyn had been taken, and I was being forced to eat food I didn’t want before I made up my mind on what I was going to do.

  My short time with Dawsyn at Mystics Academy had shown me that my mate had plenty of people who loved her and cared about her wellbeing.

  River had to be awake, and Beatrix would likely have tried to reach out, which meant her parents probably also knew she was missing. If I didn’t want them to hate me more than I already suspected they would for putting Dawsyn in this situation, then I needed to let them know what was happening.

  Only, I’d been putting it off because there was nothing to fucking tell them.

  My mate was gone. I had no idea who had her or how I was going to find her. That wasn’t something I wanted to admit. Even if our bond was currently severed, she was still mine to protect, and I’d failed.

  “Easy, bro,” Lykem said from across the counter. “You don’t want Greta to see you bending forks. She’s already pissed she had to take on feeding everyone.”

  Greta was from the Crimson clan. Their line of dragons were known for their tempers, but also thrived on taking control. I wasn’t surprised that she’d been in charge of food dispersals when I arrived at the caves.

  The plate in front of me was carved from the trees and polished by hand. The silverware was forged by members of the Emerald clan—dragons who excelled in creation and the reason we’d survived so long in Drago on our own.