The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,65
like it had been grand once upon a time, with tall turrets and an imposing entryway, but it had fallen into disrepair. The stone was crumbling, most of the windows were missing, and the heavy wooden doors were splintered and worn.
“Allow me,” Levi murmured, spreading his arms wide and flattening the long grass, clearing our view.
“Hiram and Seff with me,” Ezra ordered. “I can hear movement in the house. Oren, Levi, Shira, you scope the property. We know the Castells have an affinity for caves.”
We nodded our understanding before splitting up, Nerio letting out a long, obvious huff behind us. I didn't know what he was expecting. For me to sit on the sidelines and watch, probably.
Finding the makeshift jail turned out to be easy. A trodden path led from the house to a wooden cellar door fifty feet away. My stomach churned uneasily looking down at the heavy wooden door, the few cracks in it the only source of air. There was an undeniable stench coming from the ground and it didn't smell like death. Knowing there was someone alive in what was essentially an underground tomb was almost worse. Death would have been a kindness.
Oren shifted one hand into a talon, slicing through the heavy metal locks on the door and ripping it off its hinges, tossing it away.
“Gently,” I chastised him softly. “You'll frighten them.”
My other three mates appeared at that moment. Ezra threw down an ancient fae female on the ground, and I winced as I heard her bones break. She was bound in vines of Ezra's creation, but Seff walked up to Nerio, holding out his hands expectantly until Nerio reluctantly handed over magic-blocking cuffs. Gods, don't make it easy for us or anything. Corvus threw Nerio a filthy look.
Surprising me, Hiram jumped in to cuff the old woman, rolling her onto her front and holding her in place with a knee in her back, his mouth set in a grim line. It warmed something in my soul to see him getting his hands dirty with the rest of us, and judging by the approving look Ezra was giving him, the rest of the flight was pleased too.
“Seff, can you give us some light?” I asked reluctantly, tipping my chin at the unnaturally silent hole in the ground. Whoever was in there did not want to draw any attention to themselves. Seff nodded, opening his palm to reveal a ball of fire that he slowly lowered into the entrance, illuminating the tiny space below. I swallowed down the bile that rose in my throat, focusing on the sickening burn of it going back down to stop myself exploding into my dragon form in anger.
A fae child lay on the ground, staring up at us with abject terror in his unnatural eyes. It was difficult to determine his age. His ragged clothes showed protruding bones and a sunken stomach. I dropped to my knees at the edge of the entrance, trying to keep my limbs from shaking so as not to scare him more.
“It's okay. We're coming to get you out, okay? We're going to get you help.”
He said nothing, just stared back up at me mutely. His eyes were like nothing I'd ever seen — flickering between gold, silver, and bright blue. It was hard to look away.
//Storm fae. Probably where Glendower got the storm magic he used to kill Ffion's fathers.// There was no emotion in Ezra's explanation, but a quick glance around the five of them showed how tense they were. The old fae moaned from behind the gag of vines, still rolling fruitlessly around on the ground.
“Enforcer,” Ezra commanded, looking at the one who wasn't guarding Logan. “Give me the medic bag and take this.”
He nudged the groaning old fae with his foot, none too gently. The Enforcer jumped into action like Ezra was a fully fledged Councilor, handing him a sturdy leather bag and dragging the fae roughly off the ground. I didn't care where she went, so long as she was out of the kid's field of vision when we got him out.
“Can we come in there and get you? I swear none of us will hurt you,” I asked, a hint of desperation in my voice. I didn't want to frighten him, but seeing him lying there was riding all of my protective instincts and I had to get him out. He nodded his head ever so slightly. That was all the go-ahead I needed.