Kildare kept his eyes closed as the wagon swayed and rumbled down the street. His hands trembled. He could feel his feral side lurking close to the surface, but he forced it away. Collars didn’t prevent shifters from changing, but even dragon muscles couldn’t tear through the thick band. It would strangle a dragon before they’d completed the change.

He vividly remembered the first time he’d seen a collar in use. His mentor, Mell, had been of the opinion that harsh lessons were easier to remember. He’d taken Kildare to an underground baiting ring, where a shifter had been chained, collared, and taunted like a bear in a gladiator match. Until they’d forced him into a panicked frenzy, and he’d tried to shift.

Every time the man had dropped the change, gone back to human form rather than dragon, they’d jabbed him with spears. Even the most rational shifter would’ve been maddened by that. After two hours of the treatment, the man had gone into a panicked frenzy and fully shifted, clearly out of his mind.

Kildare remembered watching the iron collar dig tighter and tighter into the shifter’s neck, the man’s struggles becoming weaker and weaker until he’d collapsed, half-changed, skin and scales an unhealthy blue.

Scales pricked the back of his hand, and Kildare snapped his eyes open. He shook the memories away, looked up.

Sometime when he’d been lost in his memories, the other wagon containing only Snitch had left them behind. As he moved, trying to get himself a little more comfortable, the wagon suddenly swung into an alley.

His heart dropped to his stomach. What was happening?

Fir looked up, eyes widening. He turned from side to side, arching his back against the bars as he tried to look around the wood shielding the front of the wagon from their view. His fear was so high Kildare could smell it rolling off Fir, a sour stench that completely overrode the Alfaren’s natural forest-like scent.He stretched his leg out, gently tapping the side of Fir’s foot with his own.

Fir glanced over at him, and Kildare nodded. whatever was going on, they could face it together.

Fir nodded back, taking a visibly deep breath and calming himself.

The wagon lurched to a halt, and the guard hopped down from his perch. He was shorter than Kildare had realized, and as he came around the side of the wagon, the lantern light at the edges of the alley caught his face.

“Taoh!” Kildare felt a chill crawl down his spine. What was Basalt’s lieutenant doing here?

The Knocken gave them a big, gap-toothed grin. “Surprised? Lucky for you our informant in the city guard got to us in time, otherwise you’d be warming a seat in the city jail right now.”

“Why are you here?” Fir blurted out.

Kildare tugged at the restraints on his wrists. “All right, get us out of here, and—”

“Did you get the puzzle box?”

“No, but—”

Taoh folded his arms and leaned against the cage’s side. “First you convince me. Then you convince Basalt.”

Kildare swallowed. “Mock took the puzzle box and left us for the city guard. I don’t know who she’s working for, but I know Mock.” Or at least I thought I did. “We’ll be able to track her and get the box back for Basalt. Maybe even figure out who was trying to take it from Basalt.” Kildare glanced over at Fir.

Fir shrugged, glancing sideways at Taoh.

Taoh grinned. “I’ll step away and let you two discuss it privately, but if I were you, I’d hurry.” He turned and walked to the mouth of the alley.

Kildare glanced over at Fir. “What do you think?”

“Is there even a choice?” Fir hissed back. “We go with Taoh, or we get thrown in prison to rot our lives out. At least this way we get a chance.”

“But...”

“Rot the pox-ridden box, Kildare! I don’t want to go to prison again!”

“It’s go to prison or go talk to Basalt, gentlemen,” Taoh called. “Time’s a’tickin’.”

Kildare sighed, glanced upward at the roof of the building that overhung the alley.

“Is she gonna show up?” Fir whispered.

Kildare shook his head. “You realize Knocken have really good ears, right? Taoh has probably heard our entire conversation.”

Fir pursed his lips.

After a moment of quiet, Taoh turned, a big grin showing his square, stained teeth. “Are we agreed, gentlemen?”

“We’ll go negotiate with Basalt,” Kildare said carefully.

Taoh chuckled. “Good, careful choice of words.”

He climbed back up on the front of the wagon and clicked his tongue at the horse.

Kildare felt his stomach sink as the wagon lurched forward. He just hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

After a few minutes of the wagon squeezing through little back roads and alleys, they stopped again, this time in a spot where the alley widened a little behind some kind of storehouse. Kildare could smell fish and salt. They had to be close to the docks.

As Taoh climbed down from his seat, several men faded from the shadows. Kildare felt a tug on the chains around his wrists, and he was free from the wagon.

Taoh motioned him forward. Kildare hopped from the wagon. As soon his feet hit the cobblestones, something dropped over his head. He startled, and scales broke on the backs of his hands.

“Hey!” Fir yelled.

Kildare stopped himself, taking a long, deep breath. “It’s all right, Fir.” It’s all right, he repeated to himself.

The bag cinched tight around his neck, and someone gripped his arm, steering him away from the wagon.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

They won’t hurt us. We have a deal. Basalt wants that puzzle box. He’s not going to hurt the only people who know where his precious artifact is.

“We ready?” Taoh asked.

“Got ‘em both hooded,” someone replied.

“Good. Take them to the safe house. I’ll dump the wagon and join you there. Be wary.”

“Yes sir.”

Another hand gripped Kildare’s other arm. He remembered that all together, there had been four newcomers. Two for him, two for Fir. They propelled him forward, and Kildare felt a doorframe brush his shoulder.

“Keep going,” one of the men said quietly. “There’s a step down coming right...here. Good. Now watch your head. Okay, stop.”

The man continued to mutter directions in a low tone for several minutes, alerting Kildare every time he could have injured himself. On one hand, Kildare was grateful for the guidance—the last time he’d been hooded like this, he’d nearly broken an ankle walking down a set of stairs.

On the other hand...these guys were very experienced in this. Kildare couldn’t help but shiver at the thought.

A trapdoor creaked.

“All right, we’re gonna lower you down the ladder.”

“Got it,” Kildare said.

Boots thumped against wooden rungs. Kildare held his breath, trying to listen for other voices behind them.

Nothing.

“Where’s Fir?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” The guide’s grip on his arms tightened, and he pushed him forward. “Turn around. I won’t let you fall. Now take a step down.”

Kildare balked, bracing his feet against the floor. “Where. Is. Fir?”

“They went another way. Now stop acting like a child.”

Kildare ground his teeth. Normally, he wouldn’t be too worried. Every one of his team could take care of themselves. But chained and hooded, just like he was... It hurt to know there was no way he could come to Fir’s aid.

He turned, took a step, found the rung, and eased himself backward. Hands pressed on his legs, then his back, keeping him steady as he climbed backward down the ladder.

He probably could’ve done it on his own, but best to keep up the illusion that he was helpless.

Once his feet were solidly on firm ground again, he heard the trapdoor close and the sounds of the second guard climbing down the ladder. The two men grasped his arms again, leading him down a tunnel. It smelled of salt and earth and rotting wood. Exactly how safe was it?

Kildare pushed the thought from his mind. It wasn’t something he could control.

A door opened, and a rush of warm, salty air hit Kildare full in the face. Birds screeched somewhere nearby.

And another thing...just a wisp of a voice. Just a hint of Serene’s musky scent on the wind.

I’m watching, my love.

Kildare fought not to sag with relief. She’d gotten his message. This one hadn’t been sent very long ago, from the fresh-wind scent, and he closed his eyes as the wind swept around his shoulders. A flicker of a dark alleyway. Hiding. Not wanting to be seen.

She’d been there.

He’d thought it would be a relief once he’d heard from her...but now...fear and anxiety gnawed at his gut. Was Serene lying to him? Playing him? Was her message true, or was it just a way to calm him until Mock’s trail was too cold to follow?

You can’t lie in a wind message.

He’d heard that somewhere. One of his parents? One of the thieves who had raised him? Was it true?

He hoped so.

“Duck your head.” One of the guides placed a hand on his neck, forcing his head forward.

Kildare bent and felt another doorway, this one low and small. As he straightened on the other side, he heard a door close. The air around them felt still, though not stale. They were in a small room.

“Step up.”

He obeyed and felt stairs under his feet. Kildare stumbled up the stairs and was guided down a narrow hallway—too narrow for even two people to walk abreast. Another door creaked open, and he was pushed inside. The door clanged behind him.

“Hey!” Kildare started to spin around.

“Relax. Back up and let me get those chains off you.”

Kildare took several steps back and bumped into a metal grate. Hands caught his wrists and pulled at the chains. After a moment, the chains rattled and were removed.

Kildare stepped forward and yanked the hood off.

He stood in good-sized bedroom. The bed was stacked with several blankets, though he couldn’t imagine needing them in this heat, and there was a thick rug covering the wooden flooring.

“Any questions?” One of his guides asked.

He turned around.

The man stood on the other side of the metal grated door, winding the chain that had been around Kildare’s wrists into a neat coil.

“Where’s Fir?” Kildare demanded.

The man rolled his eyes. “He’ll be along soon.”

“When can I talk to him? Or to Basalt?”

“I doubt you’ll be allowed to talk to your friend until you meet with Basalt. And as for that—” the man shrugged. “Basalt won’t want to leave this issue sitting for too long, but he’ll want to be careful. It’s well known in the city that he has a taste for Alfaren art pieces. He may have to lie low today.”

Kildare nodded, trying not to look impatient. “And what about this?” He tugged on the slave collar around his neck.

The man shrugged. “I wasn’t given any instructions regarding that. You done?”

Kildare rubbed the back of his neck, but nodded.

Without another word, the man slammed a thick wooden door into place. Kildare heard a padlock rattle on the other side, then footsteps as the man walked away.

Kildare turned to one of the windows. The wooden shutters opened inward, revealing a thick, warped glass pane behind heavy iron bars. The pane’s latch undid easily, and he pushed it up to reveal a view of several empty wharves. A low morning fog hung over the harbor, the pink dawn light refracting off it. Even at this time of day, Kildare could already feel the sticky, humid heat rising into the room.

He plucked at the front of his shirt and turned away from the window. They couldn’t move for twelve hours anyway, but he hoped Basalt would meet with them soon.

Because now that he had a moment to think, the realization hit him hard.

Mock had betrayed them. Her team.

Kildare slumped to the floor, his back pressed against the wall. Fear, anger, betrayal swirled in his chest, making him feel as heated as the sunlight streaming in on him. He clenched his hands as scales broke out on his arms.

How could she? What had any of them ever done to her? By the mountains and the stars, they’d rescued her from a brothel. Sooner or later, she would’ve been sold for her virginity. It wasn’t like he’d ever asked anything from her.

Slowly, his anger faded. It wasn’t like he’d been an exemplary model for trusting his team. Maybe Mock had been afraid they were on the verge of dissolving. Maybe there was something she hadn’t shared, something that could have convinced her to—

“Kil!”

He looked up.

Serene clung to the bars, scales just fading from her cheeks.

Kildare scrambled up and grabbed her hands. He pressed his lips to hers, frantic need for her touch nearly drowning out everything.

“You came after me,” he whispered. “Thank Naran Ara, you came.”

She flicked his chin. “I told you I’d never leave you. Why do you always doubt me?”

“I’m sorry.”

Serene slipped a hand through the bars and stroked his jawline. He winced as she traced bruises and cuts.

“Mock betrayed us,” he mumbled. “She had another team. Alfarens. They knocked out Snitch and Fir and me, left us for the guards.”

Her eyes flashed. “The b—”

“No, don’t.” Kildare sighed. “There’s something wrong there. Why would Mock suddenly betray us? We’ve been a team for five years.”

“Either way, she and Snitch better hope I don’t find them before someone else does.”

“Snitch is out.”

“Snitch plotted with her!”

“Serene.” Kildare pressed his forehead to hers. “Despite what they’ve done, these are my friends. I’m worried that this may be my fault. What if keeping secrets from my team dissolved our bonds so much that Mock and Snitch worried I’d betrayed them? What if they did this out of fear?”

“Maybe they were never your friends, Kil.” She sighed. “All you want to do is rescue people. Darling, you are altogether too softhearted for this business.”

Heat flared in Kildare’s chest. “And that’s wrong?”

“No.” She quirked an eyebrow. “But it does make my job of protecting you a lot harder.”

He snorted a laugh and kissed her again. “What should we do?”

Serene moved her weight from one arm to the other. “I heard your discussion in the alley. Did you get my wind message?”

He nodded.

“Negotiate with Basalt. I’ll look for Mock. Send me a voice when you finish, and we’ll set up a place to meet. If you negotiate your way to freedom.”

He smirked. “You doubt me?”

“I doubt Basalt’s integrity. If you’re not free, I’ll break you out, and I’ll smash this entire building to bits to do it.”

This woman and her ferocity. He loved every bit of it. Kildare reached through the bars and curled a lock of her fire-red hair gently around his fingers. “Just be careful. Don’t get caught.” He tugged on his collar. “I don’t want you in one of these.”

Serene’s eyes darkened. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want to put you in that position.” She leaned in and kissed him quickly. “I’ll be back soon, my fire.”

With several quick motions, she swung clear of the window and scrambled out of sight.

Kildare tightened his hand on the window bars. It would be too long before they were united again.