Chapter Twenty - Two Ivan
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ivan
Iwoke up to darkness. I couldn’t see that much around me but could feel that I was sitting on a cemented floor.
A musty dankness filled the air. My surroundings felt cold and damp.
I was most likely in a small room in a cellar.
I’d been kidnapped. It was actually kind of embarrassing.
I’d gone down without a fight. Not my style.
This was no coincidence. It seemed whoever was after me had finally succeeded.
The sound of the door opening and approaching footsteps focused my attention. I stood up, readying myself for a fight. “You should have killed me when you had the chance,” I called out into the dark. “Because now I’m going to end your life.”
“Such big talk for someone who doesn’t have the upper hand,” came a familiar male voice.
The space was suddenly illuminated, and I could see I was definitely in a cellar but in some kind of alcove behind bars with only a pallet on one side and a bucket on the other.
And on the other side of the bars was Jullian and a vaguely familiar man with tanned skin, curly white hair, and purple eyes.
Of course, this Jullian fucker would be behind all of this.
I crossed my arms, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me worried. “Where am I?”
Jullian clasped his hands behind his back, eyeing me with those sickly yellow eyes, a smug look on his face.
“You are back in the fae realm. You took a while to find since crossing over to the humans, but all of your inquiries about looking for a cure for your memories gave you away. Not that smart of you.” He waggled a thin finger at me as if to scold me.
I balled my hands to my sides, containing my anger.
I could bend the bars apart and rip his throat out, but first I had information to learn.
Aaron always said I could be a little hot headed.
Someone else told me the same, but I couldn’t remember.
That bothered me, not knowing, but it didn’t matter right now.
What mattered was understanding why they were after me, why they hadn’t killed me, and what they planned to do.
Then I would kill them both. I pointed to the other man. “Who’s this asshole?”
The purple eyed man growled and took a step toward me.
Jullian shot out an arm across him, and the man paused.
So, Jullian had the power here. Although he looked almost like a corpse come to life, people seemed to love following his orders.
I wasn’t sure of his strength, but I was sure of his influence. Or, rather, money.
Jullian lowered his arm, an arrogant smile on his thin lips. “You don’t remember? You’ve met him before. This was Jalisa’s fiancé before you interfered. Jacob.”
I gave him a blank stare having no idea what he was talking about. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jacob chuckled. “If I’d have known it was going to be this easy, we could have gotten those witches to do the spell before they even got married.”
Jullian kept his gaze on me as if studying my reaction. “What’s done is done.”
My agitation was growing, and my patience was lessoning, not a good combination. “Who is Jalisa?”
“No one important to you. Not anymore.”
That wasn’t true. I knew it. My mind went back to my journal.
I’d read several pages this morning, but already my memory was cloudy of it.
I dug my nails into my palms, welcoming the pain.
The distraction from the frustration of not knowing.
I didn’t have the upper hand here, and I had no understanding of why I was in this situation. “Why the fuck am I here?”
Jacob took a step forward. “Because you’re always in the fucking way!” he spat. “We had a plan. We were going to be a part of an oligarchy. Change the rules.”
I snorted. “You tell the court that? I’m sure the king and queen would love that.”
Jullian cut his eyes at Jacob. “You speak too much,” he said in a low voice before focusing on me again. “You are here because you must be detained. We will make the court believe that you are gone and resume our original plan with Jacob’s marriage.”
I arched a skeptical eyebrow. “You think you will keep me here?”
Jullian gave me a patient smile. He really thought he had nothing to be worried about from me. “Your family will take care of your whereabouts.”
I stilled. “My family knows I’m here? They let you do this?”
Jullian gave a gallic shrug. “Some. Some are part of our plans. It is the only reason you’re alive. Otherwise, we would have killed you on the spot.”
“You’ve tried. Several times.”
Jacob rolled his eyes as if what I said was insignificant. “And yet, you survived. It was all for show. To ensure you had no idea who was after you. If we really wanted to kill you, we would have. Although I think some were a little zealous in their attempts to harm Jalisa.”
I frowned. That name again. Every time I heard it, my heart panged as if it had meaning. Once again, my mind went back to the journal, but I recalled even less of what I’d read that morning. It gnawed at me like a dull pain that I couldn’t ignore. “Who is she?”
This time Jacob sneered at me, enjoying my predicament. I might kill him before Jullian. Although I didn’t know him, I found his presence irritating. He also seemed rather stupid. “Don’t worry about it, you idiot maggot.”
His anger toward me seemed uncalled for. I was the one kidnapped. I wanted to bash his face into the cement floor. Several times. Until he was dead.
Jullian sighed. “Do not antagonize him.”
Jacob sneered. “I’m not afraid of him. I can’t see what she ever saw in him.”
Jullian raised a hand, faced scrunched in exasperation. “Say less, please.”
I wrapped my hand around the bars, and a bone deep ache pushed through me, causing me to jump back. I shuddered from the pain, my fingers curved as I pushed through the agony.
Jullian smiled, but it was filled with arrogance. “What you just felt was our ward on the cell. You are a dragon; I am no fool.”
Ivan, are you safe? A female voice rang out in my head. Had that ward gone to my mind and made me hear voices?
“What?” I called out loud.
Jullian sighed. “I said you cannot possibly think you will get out of this cell so easily.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but the head voice called out again.
Ivan, it’s Jalisa. I know you don’t know who I am, and that’s okay. I’m not mad at you for not knowing who I am or that you left in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. Or that you went and muted our mate bond. I’m not mad at all, you jerk.
I struggled to keep a straight face so that Jullian and Jacob wouldn’t know I was hearing voices or whatever this was. Are you sure you aren’t mad because it kind of sounds like you’re mad. And did you say your name was Jalisa?
Yes! Do you know me?
My heart panged again, and I clutched my chest, turning away from the others. I don’t remember you. I’m sorry. But I think we’re married?
It’s okay, and yes, we are. Look, I know where you are. Some old mansion in the countryside of a Nodoorian town. I’m guessing you aren’t there on vacation.
I snorted. Good guess. I was taken by Jullian and some asshole named Jacob.
Apparently, some members of my family are behind the attacks on me.
Us, I’m guessing. But I don’t know who. I’m guessing it’s a group of them.
There’s some type of rebellion, and they have witch help. There’s a ward I’m behind.
I heard Jalisa curse in my head, and there was a familiarity to it that brought a smile to my face for reasons I didn’t understand.
Okay, we are coming to get you. Aaron and some others are joining me.
You and I can work together to get the ward down with our mate magic.
Just don’t let them know we’re connected. Hopefully they don’t know we’re mated.
I walked back to the bars, careful to avoid touching them but close enough to work at the magic.
Magic rushed through me, greater than my own.
It felt almost intoxicating, the rush of power.
The woman was fast. Was her name Jamie? No, Joanne?
Damn it, I couldn’t remember. I clenched my jaw as I continued to push the enhanced magic against the ward. How could I forget so fast?
Jullian was still talking. Lucky me, he liked to hear himself talk, but I had learned enough. “So, your plan is to keep me here until my family comes to get me. Who will it be, exactly?”
Jacob rolled his eyes, picking at his teeth with an index finger. “Like we’d tell you.”
Jullian kept his arrogant eyes on me. “What your family chooses to do with you is not of my concern. We only require you to remain out of the way of our plans, for good. Killing you would be best, but we made an agreement.”
Who in my family would put me in this situation?
Would my father do this? My sisters? No, I didn’t have the energy to waste on those thoughts.
I had to keep it focused on the ward. I could already feel the magic pushing through.
This ward was tough, but not as strong as I thought. A witch wasn’t behind it. Good for us.
Jullian took another step closer to the bar.
If the damn thing wasn’t warded, I could have reached past it and strangled him.
“You have always been beneath us, latching on to those in the elite class. First Aaron, now Jalisa. If you’d just stayed away, you would have been fine.
Now, look at you. Whatever your family does with you, it’ll involve you being far away from here. You’ll never see your friends again.”
I gritted my teeth, chuckling as I continued with my magic. “It was already going to be that way, you fucking idiots. I was in the human realm, starting a new life. On my own.”
Jullian stilled. He hadn’t known that I’d parted from Jalisa. He side-eyed Jacob, who had a confused look on his very stupid face. “Why did you separate from her?”
“Because I couldn’t remember her. Your rank magic was working. I was staying in the human realm. I even had a new place and a job. On my own. So, this was a waste. I hope it cost you a lot of money to pay someone to grab me for no reason.”
Jacob made a pfft sound. “We don’t believe you.”
“Fuck if I care. It doesn’t make it any less true.”
The ward magic shifted, penetrating through my hands. It was more like a painful iciness that radiated upwards before dissipating. However, it was a good pain because it meant the ward was down.
Jullian looked down his long thin nose at me, his irritation almost matching mine. “It’s unimportant now. Better you under our control than roaming free, risking ruining our plans again. Hopefully they keep you caged like the animals you dragons are.”
I grinned wider, my teeth elongating, and it pleased me to see Jullian grow paler.
He moved to step back, but he wasn’t fast enough as my hand shot out between the bars, my fingers wrapping around his throat.
I then reared my arm back, bringing him with me and bashing his head against the bars.
“I will eat you alive, you dried up fucker,” I said in a steady voice.
Jacob pulled at him, as Jullian gripped at the bars, struggling to get away from me.
I watched in crazed delight as blood poured down Jullian’s forehead.
His cries were like music to my ears until Jacob got the upper hand, punching me in the face.
It felt like I was hit by a sledgehammer, and I dabbed at my nose, infuriated by the blood now on my hand.
I hated to admit it, but he was strong. The smell of an earthy smokiness hit me, and I could have punched myself for not catching it before. He was an alpha.
I kicked at the bars, and they creaked, weakening. A sudden clamoring above briefly paused me. Running and yelling?
Lady? I said in my mind
Oh wow, yes, lady here. Replied the woman. Or Jalisa. And yes, we’re here, and there are a lot of others welcoming us. Give us a little bit of time to get to you.
Jullian and Jacob are down here with me in the basement. I can take care of them.
See you in a bit, Mister, she replied in a sardonic tone.
I tried not to let it affect me that she was annoyed by my lack of memory. I didn’t blame her.
Jullian, grasping at his reddened throat and bleeding head, looked up to the ceiling. “What is going on up there?” He looked over to Jacob, whose purple eyes were giving off an unnatural, yet oddly familiar glow. “Take care of him, and if he gets out of hand, kill him.”
Jacob frowned, eyes remaining on me. “I thought we were supposed to keep him alive?”
“If the bastard gets out of hand, then we will have no choice. I’ll deal with this family if it comes to that. Now, I need to see what’s happening up there.”
I stayed still as I watched Jullian leave. He would be easy to kill. Jacob, the alpha, was my focus now. When I heard Jullian open a door from somewhere I couldn’t see and close it, I smiled back at Jacob. “Looks like it’s just us two.” I rolled my shoulders back, extending my claws.
Jacob didn’t look the least bit phased. Instead, he took a step forward and bent the bars, surprising me. “I think we both know you aren’t getting out of here alive. I don’t like loose ends. And you are a loose end,” he stated as he stepped inside my makeshift prison.
He was a bold one. Time for him to learn a lesson. I ran at him, retuning the punch he’d given me earlier. He barely moved.
Right, so maybe this wasn’t going to be so easy.
I took another step toward him, encasing my hand into ice to strengthen my impact, but before I make another move Jacob opened his mouth, releasing a wind so strong I thought I was trapped in a wind tunnel.
My body lifted, and I was slammed against the back wall, momentarily impaired by dizziness.
When I could focus again, Jacob was standing in the center of the room, but this time he had white feathered wings that were close to fully extended. They were almost the size of his body, and I knew without a doubt that I was looking at another dragon.
A wind dragon.