Midnight Lies (Shifter Island #2) - Raye Wagner Page 0,33

eye. I decided he was the bigger enemy right now as the guards were further away, and it looked like we were going to have to retreat back into the water. There was no way we could fight off these many royal guards. My magic thrummed just under my skin as if begging me to release it.

Rage’s wolf spoke into my mind: ‘Get selkies. Try another way to get to Justice and Noble.’

‘Read my thoughts,’ I told him and prepared to blast these water creatures back from where they came.

“Look out!” Audrey yelled, and I spun to see a selkie lunging for me from behind. Rage snarled and dove for the selkie as I sprinted forward, plunging myself between my mate and the warrior.

Pain lanced through my arm as the blade of one of the warriors gouged me. It was there quickly and then gone. I whimpered, knowing I’d caused my shields more agony. Yanking the blade from my bicep, I brandished it as my blood dripped down the cold steel. “If you touch him, I’ll gut you,” I growled.

“Come with me willingly, and no one gets hurt,” the warrior said.

I pulled my lip back in a snarl. “Never.”

And that’s when the female selkie I hadn’t noticed before began to sing.

How many Mariah Careys are there?

Before I could do anything, a hard thwack landed at the back of my neck, and pain laced through my skull, spotting my vision. Someone approached holding a black bag, and I sucked in a breath just as he or she tossed powder right at my mouth. I inhaled the acrid cloud, and a cough erupted from my lungs. My mind went hazy, and a random thought popped into my brain.

If only Kaja and her sisters were here.

“Kaja,” I mumbled drunkenly.

The image of my bestie appeared, sitting in the living room with Nell and Rue—and she turned to look at me as if she’d heard me yell her name. Then, my mind, and the world, went dark.

Chapter 6

Warbled voices entered my consciousness and I groaned. My first thought: How am I knocked out when I had the shield bond with Noble, Justice, and Rage? I remembered the powder. Some type of magic? Probably from Dark Row. Did Justice and Noble pass out too?

I shifted my weight and realized my hands and feet were restricted. Yanking my arms, I growled when I realized my efforts were futile. Not only were my hands tied behind my back, but they were tethered to my ankles. My wet clothes clung to me, not sopping, just damp. How long had we been here? My eyes flicked up to the setting sun, and panic filled me. We’d been knocked out all day. No. No. No. Too much time was passing.

Rage…

At the panicked thought of my mate, I heard his familiar groan next to me.

“They drugged us with a spell powder,” he growled.

Like me, Rage was hogtied. We sat propped up against the stone wall of a dark cave. Firelight sliced in from the entrance, giving us just enough light to make out our surroundings. Pressing my ear to the rock behind me, I noted the sound of softly lapping water against the stone from somewhere distant outside.

“Rage, we were out all day. How long do we have left to save Honor?” Panic threatened to fully seize me.

Rage leaned forward, and I peeked behind him, at his watch. Craning my neck, I took in the cold hard reality.

We had twenty-four hours to save Honor’s life or he was gone forever.

“Why didn’t they kill us?” I wondered, trying to change the subject and hoping Rage wouldn’t ask me how much time was left. I think he knew…

Rage leaned his head back and swallowed hard. “They must want something. They didn’t seem very organized, not like the times when they attacked before.”

True. There weren’t many of them, and it had seemed like they’d happened upon us by chance.

Footfalls from outside echoed into the cave, and Rage and I fell silent.

“What do you mean you’ve captured a prince?” a deep male voice rumbled.

“We were patrolling off the shore of Dark Row, and I smelled him—a Midnight heir. Got his mate too. They have identical fated mate marks.” I recognized the a-hole’s voice from a few hours ago. At some point, I’d find a way for payback.

One of them sighed, a deep Mother-Mage-give-me-patience kind of sigh. “You idiot, kidnapping royal family members needs to be cleared with King Ozark. You can’t just go rogue and do