Chapter Fourteen
TALEN’S POV
“Let him go.” I cock my head at the Outerlander as I take a slow step forward. “And no one needs to get hurt.”
Clenching my fists, I keep my face calm, but these fucking ambushes won’t stop, every one of them throws another evacuation into chaos and it’s only a matter of time before I'm going to lose my shit.
Boots scrape over dry earth as the Outerlander shifts back, one hand pressing the knife harder into the Innerland child’s throat while the other lifts a small piece of draconite between us. It’s no larger than a pine nut, but it’s enough to mess with any normal Innerlander’s Threads.
Luckily, mine aren’t normal.
Behind him, three more bastards spread out across the open clearing, eyes narrow, shoulders tight, all of them looking far too ready to turn this into a fight.
“Thomas—!” The mother screams, twisting hard against Luc’s grip, desperate to reach her son.
The father lunges with her, wild-eyed and shaking, but Luc hauls them both back before either of them can make this any worse. None of them have access to their magic, including Luc.
“We’re supposed to be in Moorsend already,” Luc grits out, shooting me an impatient look as the muscles in his arms flex under the strain of the parents. “Reya and Daz will be waiting. And if we’re not back before the Innerland patrol shift changes in twenty-seven minutes—”
“Not helping, Luc!” I snap, or maybe Cal does, I can’t bloody tell today. He’s in a terrible mood, no surprise there, and all I want is to get this evac done, then try and get out to see Lyra before the Census meeting this afternoon.
I didn’t get to talk to her after the briefing last week, and she hasn’t replied to any of my letters since.
I need to know why.
I can’t fucking think about anything else, and it’s driving me crazy.
“Let him go,” I repeat, my focus returning to the knife pressed against the young boy’s throat. “This is your last chance. Walk away, and no one gets hurt.”
“Why should we?” The Outerlander snarls, flashing a mouthful of missing teeth as he glances at the three others. “You lot are constantly killing us.”
How the hell Lyra calls the Outerlands home is beyond me. I hate this damn place.
Lifting my hands, I let the corner of my mouth curve. “Because if you don’t let the child go, I’m going to have to make you.”
“I’d like to see you try,” he sneers, raising the small piece of draconite between us. Its metallic sheen catches the afternoon light as a grin spreads beneath his patchy beard.
“Why are you warning them?” Cal growls. “Just end this.”
Locking my jaw, I force him down and return my attention to the scum in front of me, but Cal claws at the edges of my mind hard enough to make my eye twitch.
“Mum—!” The kid cries, eyes wide in fear as the blade dimples across the skin at his neck.
Poor little guy can’t be more than seven, and I’m pretty sure he’s just pissed himself.
“If you don’t hand him over, I’ll kill all of you,” his father threatens, hurling his weight forward.
Luc grunts and drags him back before he gets himself killed, but the movement loosens his grip on the mother.
She sees the opening and takes it.
“Thomas!” she screams, tearing free and racing for her son.
“Grab her!” The toothless Outerlander barks.
The boy sobs. His father shouts after her. Luc curses and lunges too late.
Metal sings as three more blades slide free.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Lifting my right hand, I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose as my left hand flicks out. The heavy thud of four bodies hitting the earth follows a heartbeat later.
Exhaling through pursed lips, I stay there a moment, letting the tension drain from my skin and when I open them again, Luc is already standing in front of me waiting.
“Really?” he huffs, lifting a brow. “You should have just killed them.”
“It’s taken months just to get some of them to sit across from us without reaching for a blade.
Killing four of them isn’t going to help us gain their trust.” I look around at the unconscious Outerlanders sprawled across the earth.
They’ll be out for a few hours at least, but they’ll be fine.
“If we want these ambushes to stop, if we want their help, then we have to extend the hand first.”
Plus I have enough blood on mine already.
Still, a muscle ticks in my temple. Because if it had been Lyra here—if it had been her in danger—there’s no doubt any of them would still be breathing.
Luc grumbles but doesn’t push, probably because he can see how fiercely gold my eyes are blazing, Cal simmering just beneath the surface. So we both turn and head over to the quivering family, crouched in a huddle together in the middle of four unconscious Outerlanders.
“It’s okay,” the mother whispers, rocking her son in her arms as tears stream down her face. “It’s okay. We’re safe now. We’re all safe.”
“How... how did you do that?” The father stammers as we stop in front of them. “My magic was gone, but yours just…” His voice trails off as his head shakes.
I almost reply, Because when I was a cocky, reckless sixteen-year-old, I nearly got myself killed and my dragon made the ultimate sacrifice by merging his essence with mine… But instead, I settle for, “It’s complicated.”
Colour slowly returns to his face as he stands, and the fear and panic that had gripped him moments ago give way to fury.
“You assured us we would be safe,” he shouts.
“I assured you I would do everything in my power to keep you safe,” I correct him, keeping my expression flat. “I know you’re scared and angry, but we need to keep moving—”
“A dragon!” The kid below us blurts between snuffles, pointing over my shoulder. “Oh… there’s two!”
My head whips around as two dark shapes sweep overhead, one red, one green, the downdraft from their wings punching through the clearing and scattering dust across the bodies at our feet.
“Any chance they’re ours?” I ask Cal, glancing at Luc, whose expression tells me he’s asking JC the exact same thing.
“No,” Cal states. “And they’re not unbonded either.”
Shit.
“Serrane’s scouts,” I mutter out loud.
“But we’re fine... Right?” Panic returns to the father’s voice as his focus jumps between his wife and son. “We just look like we're being Reassigned, they won’t target us?”
“Yeah, well, Serrane put a stop to Reassignments a few weeks ago, after he realised people weren’t showing up where they should. And two Citadel officers in bright white uniforms, standing over four bodies with a very Innerlander-looking family of three? Suspicious would be an understatement—”
“Goldie… where's the draconite?” Luc cuts in.
The rhythm in my chest kicks up, as I start scanning the bodies. We're sitting ducks out here if we don't find it, as I'm currently the only one with access to my Threads. But it’s tiny and almost every damned stone looks identical.
Luc’s eyes widen, both of us realising the same thing as Serrane’s two dragons circle back in our direction.
“Run!” I yell, hands moving fast as I haul the mother up and shove her and her son to their feet. “We need to get away from the draconite. Now!”
Damn, the kid’s scared shitless and barely standing.
Before he can stumble, I scoop him up, locking him against my waist, and break into a sprint.
“I thought Cal had the Veils up?” Luc pants beside me, matching my pace as we tear across the clearing, desperate to put distance between us and the draconite.
“Sorry, was a bit distracted,” I shoot back between breaths, tightening my hold on the kid as he clings to my shirt. “Kind of focused on the child being held hostage.”
I don’t tell him I was also thinking about Lyra.
Glancing over my shoulder, I curse when I see the parents are already falling behind.
Then I turn forward—
A wall of fire erupts in front of us.
My boots skid hard through the dirt, toes slamming into the caps, as I wrench myself to a halt, the kid crushed against my chest, heat blasting over us.
The red dragon circles back, but a blur of purple shoots from Luc’s shoulder as JC launches into the sky, expanding into her full, monstrous form and giving chase after it.
“Are your Threads back yet?” I shout over to Luc.
“Not enough for a dragon!”
Fuck.
Still holding the kid, I Spinning around, we race and bolt the other way. I grab the mother as we hurtle past, dragging her with us while Luc catches the father and shoves him forward.
“Reya and Darren?” I ask down the bond, lungs burning.
“I have tried to send word, but the draconite is interfering with my ability to communicate with their dragons.” Cal grumbles as my foot catches on a stone.
Goddamn it.
Bracing my core, I manage to keep my feet beneath me, but I’m so focused on keeping the mother upright and the kid locked against me that I don’t see the green dragon until it slams down in front of us with a ground-shaking thud.
The impact reverberates through the ground and up into my knees, forcing me to stumble and loosen my grip on the boy. He slips from my arms, but I shove him behind me, planting myself between him and the dragon.
“Everyone behind me,” I order. “Now!”
Air Threads tear from my hands just as the dragon’s flames blast toward us, the force of it crashing into the shield I’ve dragged around us.
My arms buckle under the pressure, boots skidding through the dirt as the heat forces its way closer, but I grit my teeth, loosening my hold on Cal and letting him bleed through.
Not all the way.
There’s no time to shift. By the time I did, the family behind me would be ash.
But I can take enough of his power to hold the line.
The second my guard drops, Cal's power surges through my veins, pulling every inch of my skin taut. Blood pounds in my ears beneath the sheer pressure of it. It's almost too much to bear, but I widen my stance, lock my jaw, and let it loose.
Channeling everything I have into the shield in front of me, I feel it swell beneath the force, straining to contain it, until it finally gives way and explodes outward in a brutal blast that slams into the green dragon.
The stream of fire dies instantly.