Chapter 52
“He has some balls showing up here,” Ronan snarled.
“Or a death wish,” Declan muttered.
Sweat gathered at the base of my spine at just the thought of Connor. The boy I’d thought was my friend. But he hadn’t given a damn about me. He’d only cared about himself. About power and clout.
“We have to let him up,” Dash said.
Trace whirled on him. “Have you lost your mind? The second he gets up here, he’ll scent Leighton.”
Colt’s jaw ticked. “He’s right. If we don’t let him up, Connor will go straight back to Patrick and tell him that we have her. At least this way, we can stall him.”
“This way we can get some answers,” Trace growled.
My stomach pitched at the way Trace would get those answers, but I knew we didn’t have a choice.
“Let him up,” Colt clipped into the phone.
“We’ll have to move quickly the moment he’s inside,” Declan said.
The guys nodded in agreement as we hurried into the entryway.
Dash turned to me. “You should wait upstairs.”
I pinned him with a stare. “I’m where you are. Don’t try to leave me out of this.”
He sighed and pulled me into a hug. “At least stay back until we have him under control.”
I nodded, stepping into the shadows of the hallway just as a knock sounded on the door. I swallowed hard as Colt opened it.
Connor stepped inside. He used to look so boyish and innocent to me. Now he looked like a manipulative snake. “Hey, guys—” His words cut off as his nostrils flared.
He moved to bolt, but Ronan and Declan were too fast for him. They lunged from either side, taking his arms as he kicked and squirmed.
“Trying to go somewhere, Con?” Declan asked.
“I, uh, you got her back. That’s great.”
I stepped out of the hallway. “I got myself back. No thanks to you.”
Connor’s eyes widened. “Leighton, I…”
“Save it,” Trace snapped, purple flames swirling around him. “I’ve been waiting to get my hands on you.”
All color drained from Connor’s face. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Colt’s eyes turned gold. “There’s always a choice. You just chose wrong.”
“Why?” I croaked. “All I ever did was be your friend.”
Hatred flashed in Connor’s expression. “All you did was give me a few pity conversations. You don’t know what it’s like. Not to have a bond. An anchor. A mate. I’m nothing.”
“I know exactly what it’s like. I’ve been alone for most of my life. Kicked around. But I would never take that out on another person.”
He huffed out a breath. “It seems like it all worked out pretty well for you. Living in this mansion. All your fancy powers.”
Ronan’s fist slammed into Connor’s stomach. “She’s been through hell.”
Connor coughed and spluttered. “You’ll never be able to stop him.”
Declan hauled Connor back to his feet. “The hell we won’t. Tell us where Patrick’s keeping the dark ones.”
Connor snapped his mouth closed, not saying a word.
Trace stalked toward him, purple fire playing between his fingertips. “It’s going to be fun to break you. I think I’ll start with your fingers and toes. Maybe a tooth.”
Ronan grinned at Trace. “Pulling teeth makes the mouth swell, harder to speak then.”
“Good point,” he agreed. “Maybe I’ll take his balls. He’s not a man anyway.”
A wet spot appeared on the front of Connor’s jeans.
“Gross, man,” Dash said, wrinkling his nose. “We just washed the floors.”
The purple fire surged from Trace’s fingertips. “Want to have a conversation or should I start having my fun?”
Flames flew toward Connor’s face when he didn’t answer.
“Okay, I’ll tell you!”
I leaned back on the couch, pulling my legs up to my chest. Everyone was quiet as we waited for Colt to return.
Connor had told us where the dark ones were being housed on dragon lands.
He’d told us which members of the horde were in on Patrick’s machinations.
But he’d maintained that he didn’t know when or where Patrick would strike.
Declan had said that his father would never tell someone like Connor his plan. Trace had wanted to try torture, but Colt had intervened, calling Saoirse and Darius instead.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and Colt appeared, shoving his phone into his pocket. “We’ll keep Connor in one of the cells below for now. Once we’ve taken care of Patrick, we’ll transfer him to The Assembly.”
He spoke about taking care of Patrick as if it were going to be the easiest thing in the world. Only it was anything but.
“You have to let me help,” I whispered.
“No,” Colt snapped. “We’re not risking it.”
I leaned forward on the sofa in the lounge and pressed my thumbs into that spot on either side of my nose where a headache was forming. Then I looked up at him. “We don’t have much time. How long until Patrick knows Connor is missing and just decides to strike?”
Everyone was silent because they knew I was right.
“She can do it,” Trace said quietly. “She’s an anchor. She always has been, and she instinctively knows how to root our abilities.”
“You heard Dash tell us how risky it would be,” Ronan argued. “Are you honestly willing to chance that?”
“And what happens if we don’t chance it?” Dash asked. “We all die. Because at some point, Patrick is going to unleash that mutant army of his, and nothing will stand in its way.”
Declan shook his head. “We have others standing with us.”
“It won’t be enough,” Trace shot back.
I pressed my thumbs harder and harder into my brow bone. This argument could go on forever. Round and round until we were at each other’s throats without making any progress.
“Stop,” I whispered.
Even though my voice was barely audible, all talking ceased.
Colt turned pain-filled eyes in my direction. “Don’t make me do it, LeeLee. Don’t make me watch you die.”
That agony ripped through me, pulsing and twisting. I shoved to my feet and crossed to him. Lifting my palms to his stubbled cheeks, I stared into those hazel eyes. “You’ve given me more in a matter of months than I could’ve hoped for in a lifetime.”
“LeeLee,” he croaked.
“I have to do this. I have to give us a fighting chance. I’ll practice with Dash before he casts the spell. I’ll train with Saoirse to handle the new magic. I’ll do whatever it takes to get me there. You know that I’ll fight with everything I have to stay with you.”
A single tear slipped from Colt’s eye and slid down his cheek.
I swiped it away with my thumb. “I love you with everything I have.”
He leaned forward, his forehead dropping to mine. “From the moment we met. In this lifetime and the next.”
A sob tried to break free, but I shoved it down. I let Colt breathe me in for a moment, and then I straightened, turning to face the rest of the guys. “How do we get anchor bound?”