Lord of Destiny (The Dragon Demigods #6) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,52

me. Nausea rolls through me. We’re moving but stationary. It’s the weirdest sensation. I haven’t teleported with Star in years. Seconds later, the ground is back beneath my body. I’m grateful I’m lying down, or I would have fallen. My head is spinning. My stomach is still rolling. Saliva fills my mouth, and I swallow it down, breathing hard. It takes ten more seconds for things to stop spinning.

“Star,” I push out.

“Stay where you are.” She goes down on her haunches, smiling at me. I’m reminded of how beautiful she is. Long, blond hair, gorgeous blue eyes the color of a winter’s day. She’s all graceful limbs. Star has full lips and a wide smile. Her eyes still look sad. “The dizziness will be over soon.” She works on my bindings, starting with the ones tied around my wrists. They can’t be silver-infused, or she would not have been able to teleport me.

I nod. “Nearly there.” I move to a sitting position, my head spinning a little again. “How did you know I was there?” I clutch my head.

“I overheard some of the guys talking with Jackson.”

I sigh. “You’re still with him.” My breathing is ragged.

She nods. “Don’t say anything. I don’t want advice. So long as he doesn’t take a mate, I’m going to…at least try to make it work with him. You never know.”

I do know! I want to tell her that he’s using her, but I hold back. Deep inside, she knows. She’s not stupid. A dragon shifter would never mate an abomination like one of us. It’s crazy to think it. No, Jackson will take a mate soon. It won’t be Star. Maybe then she will see reason and leave. I look around us. I’m in a forest under thick trees. It’s dark and smells musty.

“Where are we?”

“I wasn’t sure where to take you.” She shrugs. “I didn’t want to go near the humans.” She gets this quizzical look. “I wasn’t sure who the male is they captured at the same time as you.”

“What?” I shout. It feels like all the air has left my lungs. “Stephan is alive? They brought him in alive?”

Star nods. “Who is this male to you?” She sniffs me. “You’re not together.” Star can’t scent him on me, so she knows we aren’t sleeping together.

“I know him. He’s helping me. A friend,” I finally say because it’s simpler. “Can you help him?”

She shakes her head, looking afraid. “I don’t know where they’re keeping him.”

“But you can try to find him…please, Star.”

She pushes out a breath. “I can try, but I can’t teleport too often without it tiring me out. Even if I do find him, I’m not sure I’ll have enough strength to bring him here. If he’s in one of those silver cages…” She shakes her head.

“Please try. They’ll kill him.” I’m confused about why they even brought him in. Maybe they plan to torture him for information before they kill him. I wouldn’t put it past Tarek and his men.

Star holds my gaze for a few seconds and then nods. My heart races as I watch her disappear. Star can only teleport so many times before her energy depletes. Even if she finds Stephan, there’s no guarantee she will be strong enough to transport him back here. If they find out she is helping us— I don’t want to think about that. I doubt that Jackson will be able to help her if they find out what Star is up to. I feel useless.

I wrap my hands around my legs and shiver. I’m in a T-shirt and nothing else. I’m not cold. I’m fearful for Star, and even more so for Stephan. I say a silent prayer.

15

Stephanus

Pain.

Splintering, mind-shattering pain pulses through me. It hurts like fuck when my bones start pulling back into alignment. It’s a long process. I grit my teeth and groan. I try to take in my surroundings, but it hurts too fucking much to move. It hurts to breathe. To think, even. My head is throbbing. My right eye is swollen shut. I can taste blood. My arms and legs are bound. I’m not sure why someone would bother to tie me up. I’m not going anywhere for a while.

My only consolation is that they took me with them when they took Raven. She must be somewhere close. I need to heal so that I can rescue her. I have to get us out of this situation. I couldn’t tell what those dark shapes were.