“Rage!” his mother yelled.

I sucked in a deep breath and gathered my magic, preparing for an epic blast.

“Careful, Nai,” Elaine shouted at me, shaking her head. “If you kill Declan’s guards, he’ll have one more reason to ask Surlama to break the shield oath and then kill you.”

Break the shield oath … can he do that?

I gulped, unsure what to do now. Did I protect us by fighting the guards, or go for the selkies who were creeping closer?

Rage shifted into his wolf instantly and bared his teeth at the selkie warriors.

“Stop!” Elaine shouted to the advancing guards, her voice deep and commanding. “Protect us from the selkies. That’s an order.”

The guard pulled his sword and pointed it at Rage. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’ve got different orders.”

He looked to his right at a huge beefy dude. “Get the prince. At all costs.”

Shit.

Elaine growled low in her throat, and I knew we were screwed. Try to fight a hundred royal guards or half dozen selkies? My gaze jumped from Rage’s mom to the selkie who’d commented about the royal family reunion. He advanced on me quickly. I was distracted between the two foes and who needed my help more, Rage’s mom or Sadie and Audrey.

The selkie nearest me curled his upper lip, and I didn’t like the glimmer in his eye. I decided he was the bigger enemy right now as the guards were further away, and it looked like we were going to have to retreat back into the water. There was no way we could fight off these many royal guards. My magic thrummed just under my skin as if begging me to release it.

Rage’s wolf spoke into my mind: ‘Get selkies. Try another way to get to Justice and Noble.’

‘Read my thoughts,’ I told him and prepared to blast these water creatures back from where they came.

“Look out!” Audrey yelled, and I spun to see a selkie lunging for me from behind. Rage snarled and dove for the selkie as I sprinted forward, plunging myself between my mate and the warrior.

Pain lanced through my arm as the blade of one of the warriors gouged me. It was there quickly and then gone. I whimpered, knowing I’d caused my shields more agony. Yanking the blade from my bicep, I brandished it as my blood dripped down the cold steel. “If you touch him, I’ll gut you,” I growled.

“Come with me willingly, and no one gets hurt,” the warrior said.

I pulled my lip back in a snarl. “Never.”

And that’s when the female selkie I hadn’t noticed before began to sing.

How many Mariah Careys are there?

Before I could do anything, a hard thwack landed at the back of my neck, and pain laced through my skull, spotting my vision. Someone approached holding a black bag, and I sucked in a breath just as he or she tossed powder right at my mouth. I inhaled the acrid cloud, and a cough erupted from my lungs. My mind went hazy, and a random thought popped into my brain.

If only Kaja and her sisters were here.

“Kaja,” I mumbled drunkenly.

The image of my bestie appeared, sitting in the living room with Nell and Rue—and she turned to look at me as if she’d heard me yell her name. Then, my mind, and the world, went dark.

Chapter 6

Warbled voices entered my consciousness and I groaned. My first thought: How am I knocked out when I had the shield bond with Noble, Justice, and Rage? I remembered the powder. Some type of magic? Probably from Dark Row. Did Justice and Noble pass out too?

I shifted my weight and realized my hands and feet were restricted. Yanking my arms, I growled when I realized my efforts were futile. Not only were my hands tied behind my back, but they were tethered to my ankles. My wet clothes clung to me, not sopping, just damp. How long had we been here? My eyes flicked up to the setting sun, and panic filled me. We’d been knocked out all day. No. No. No. Too much time was passing.

Rage…

At the panicked thought of my mate, I heard his familiar groan next to me.

“They drugged us with a spell powder,” he growled.

Like me, Rage was hogtied. We sat propped up against the stone wall of a dark cave. Firelight sliced in from the entrance, giving us just enough light to make out our surroundings. Pressing my ear to the rock behind me, I noted the sound of softly lapping water against the stone from somewhere distant outside.

“Rage, we were out all day. How long do we have left to save Honor?” Panic threatened to fully seize me.

Rage leaned forward, and I peeked behind him, at his watch. Craning my neck, I took in the cold hard reality.

We had twenty-four hours to save Honor’s life or he was gone forever.

“Why didn’t they kill us?” I wondered, trying to change the subject and hoping Rage wouldn’t ask me how much time was left. I think he knew…

Rage leaned his head back and swallowed hard. “They must want something. They didn’t seem very organized, not like the times when they attacked before.”

True. There weren’t many of them, and it had seemed like they’d happened upon us by chance.

Footfalls from outside echoed into the cave, and Rage and I fell silent.

“What do you mean you’ve captured a prince?” a deep male voice rumbled.

“We were patrolling off the shore of Dark Row, and I smelled him—a Midnight heir. Got his mate too. They have identical fated mate marks.” I recognized the a-hole’s voice from a few hours ago. At some point, I’d find a way for payback.

One of them sighed, a deep Mother-Mage-give-me-patience kind of sigh. “You idiot, kidnapping royal family members needs to be cleared with King Ozark. You can’t just go rogue and do whatever the hell you—”

“They’re awake,” a female selkie said, her voice carrying musical inflection as if she were more used to singing than speaking.

I jerked my head toward the other corner of the cave opening and glared back at the two slitted eyes staring at us.

Sing, biatch. I dare you.

“Thank you, Melody,” the first man said.

The female backed away, and a heartbeat later, a tall man with broad shoulders stepped into the mouth of the cave, temporarily blocking out the firelight. He drew near, and with the shift of light, I took in his thick stature. Dressed in black army fatigues and a black wife-beater, he looked down at Rage and then to me.

“Where are our friends?” I asked, trying to assess how many people we needed to save. If Audrey and Sadie were caught, I’d never forgive myself if they were hurt. Same with Rage’s mom.

The warrior in front of us glanced to the other selkie. “Chinook?”

“The queen was pulled to safety by her guards,” the asshat who’d knocked me out said. “The other two wolf girls fled in their canoe like chickens.”

Relief washed through me. As much as I wanted to defend the girls, neither of them would care what a selkie thought.

The tougher-looking warrior stepped closer to us. “Get them up, Chinook.” The male’s jaw tightened as he stared at us. “I need to take you two to the king and see what he wants done with you.”

The dude paled but nodded, crouching down and cutting the zip-ties at our feet.

I struggled to get up with my arms still behind my back and my left leg numb when the dude reached down and yanked me skyward. Rage was hauled up next, and then we were walking.