Nadine Book 4

22. You Are Free

I get to the cave entrance and throw rocks away from it.

Kane and Tye are running at me. I see Tre coming at me from the other way. Marcus's eyes go red, and he throws the rocks.

After a couple of minutes, I can climb in. I throw a couple more rocks and slide my little ass right through them. I end up in the black cave. "DIPAK. OMAR."

"Over here, sweetheart. We're alright. It was the entrance that came down."

I run over to him and spin him around. He's ok.

Omar stares at me. "The dragon took over."

"We thought you were dead." I hug Dipak so tight I hear a bone break.

"We're fine sweetheart. Well we were. Who has healing power?"

"Me, Tye, and Kane."

"Nice to know."

Tre comes running in the cave. "YOUR ASS IS MINE." He points right at me. He's got red eyes. "DRAGON OR NOT, I AM BEATING YOUR ASS."

What happens next is fast. He sits down on a rock and pulls me over his knee. Then he starts spanking me hard with dragon strength. Over and over. He is not lying. He is beating my ass.

"CLIMBING INTO A CAVE THAT IS COMING DOWN?"

He spanks me harder.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THIS AGAIN. MOVE YOUR HANDS NOW."

I sob and try to get up. I get my hands out of his way though.

He holds me down and keeps spanking. "DO YOU KNOW HOW EASY THIS COULD HAVE COME DOWN? TO CLIMB IN LIKE THAT. YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED."

"STOP" I keep crying. I kick my feet.

"ARE YOU GOING TO THINK NEXT TIME?"

"YES"

He spanks me about 10 more times. Then he puts me on my feet. I stand there crying with red eyes.

Tye comes in and stares at me. Omar and Dipak are staring at us too.

Tre stands up. I try to hug him.

He grabs my arm and spins me. Then he spanks me again. "NO HUGS. YOU GO SIT OUTSIDE AND THINK ABOUT IT." I start sobbing. He spanks me again. "NOW."

I run out crying and sit by a tree.

I lay down on the ground and cry. That hurt. I wanted to make sure my mate was ok. He didn't have to spank me. I wipe my face off and heal my butt. Then I release the power.

I open my eyes, and I'm under a tree. I remember the cave coming down and screaming for Dipak. The entrance is open now. I run in. "DIPAK."

"Over here, sweetheart."

I give him the biggest hug. "I was scared when I saw the rocks. What happened? Why was I under a tree? Did I pass out?"

Tye smiles. "Your dragon broke in the cave. Tre beat her ass and sent her outside."

"I don't think that's how that works."

"It is now, sweetheart."

"Tre?"

"Sorry baby, I was mad. You're ok."

"You're mad at me?"

"No baby. I'm not mad at you or your dragon. She made a bad choice. Hopefully, next time she'll think first before she runs into something like a collapsing cave."

"Tre..."

"Yea baby?"

"You spanked a dragon?"

They laugh.

"Yes baby. I didn't even think about it. I was mad when she ran in. I beat her ass and sent her outside."

I shake my head. "I don't think you're supposed to do that."

"She could have got you killed. I would do it again."

-Dragon you here?-

-Yes-

-Did he spank you?-

-Yes-

-Are you ok?-

-I have more respect for him than I do the others now. I made a rash decision that could have cost us. He pointed it out to me. Rather harshly though.-

"Next time she makes a bad decision, she hopes you won't point it out quite so harshly."

He gives me a hug. "If it could get you hurt. I will beat her ass 10 times worse."

"But I'm still a good girl?"

"Yes, you're still my good girl."

I snuggle him. "What's going on in here now? Was this whole area even here before?"

Dipak shakes his head. "No. When we opened the box, it blew the entrance apart, but this whole area opened."

"Did you find anything here?"

Omar nods. "Yes, but nothing I can make sense of. I've summoned the herd. Hopefully they can help us out."

"Did anyone find anything else outside?"

"Blood and hair. It's going to have to be analyzed, baby. We're not sure."

"What are you thinking, sweetheart?"

"My brother was taken from our medical area by a magician. He's still out here somewhere."

"Babydoll, he didn't turn to sand. He died. You saw him."

"What if he was shapeshifted, Tye? What if you killed the magician and not him? Did he fly as a dragon?"

Dipak shakes his head. "We'll keep searching, sweetheart. We will have everything analyzed. I promise you that."

Omar watches me. "If he's not dead. Are you afraid of him?"

"Yes." I see a black rock. The other rocks are white. I put the glasses on and nothing turns blue.

Marcus steps beside me. "What do you see?"

"A black rock."

He moves it. There's a lever under it. Omar comes over. "It's not magical."

I reach over and pull it. The wall in front of us moves. It's opens like a hidden entrance.

Dipak pushes it open. We freeze. We are staring into a room with vampires hung from the ceiling by chains. They look dead. Like they haven't eaten in months. None of them are moving. They're naked. Their skin is sunken in and like leather.

I walk in slowly.

"Say it out loud princess."

"There are 10 bodies suspended from the ceiling. All appear deceased. Like they starved to death. Their skin is sunken in. I can see their ribs. None of them are wearing clothes." I touch one of their feet. "Skin feels like leather. Some have other injuries. I can see the skin ripped apart on some of them. One is missing a leg. It appears to have been removed below the knee before death. It was not regenerated."

"There are boxes over here."

"Don't touch them, Tye. He rigged the entire entrance to come down with that box and key. He can do a lot of damage with boxes."

"There's 1, shackled to the back wall. This one seems different. More taken care of. This one is a female. The only female. Can one of you go get me some blood please? She shows no external injuries. She appears to have starved to death like the others. Her skin is like leather as well. Also sunken in, and I can see her skeleton through it."

"This one is different princess."

I go over to a male body with Marcus. "That doesn't seem correct."

"Why?"

"The wall. It's like he suspended himself. Like he climbed the wall and did this himself. I imagine his clothes will be close. He shows no external injuries. Although he does appear to have starved. His skin is like leather and sunken in. I can see his skeleton through it." I glance between him and the girl a couple of times. "I wonder if he could..."

Gunner steps closer. "What?"

"The cave shook."

He nods.

"A warning we were approaching."

Gunner's eyes go white. Then they go back to normal. He grabs my arm.

I'm outside the cave.

Gunner is still holding my arm. "You are correct. It was a warning. It is possible a magician hung himself up and also that he did something to that girl to make them resemble the others."

"THEY DON'T KNOW." I run for the cave again. I run right into an invisible wall and fall on my ass. "GUNNER LET ME IN THERE."

"They do know. They are handling it. They will bring the bodies out soon."

I run away from him and hit another invisible wall. "I COMMAND YOU TO LET ME IN THERE."

He shakes his head.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO? YOU CAN'T TELL ME NO!"

"Yes I can."

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Look."

The guards are bringing them out. They lay them in a line on the grass. The boys come next. Tre has blood and tries it on them 1 at a time. From what I can see, 2 of the men and the female absorb blood. The ones who are dead get put into a carriage.

Then I see one of the men's arms move. "DIPAK HE MOVED. DIPAK! GUNNER HE MOVED. WHY WON'T THEY LOOK AT ME?"

"They can't see or hear you."

"WHAT? HE MOVED. THEY ARE IN DANGER."

"Tell him on feather."

I connect the feathers.

"I can sense you here baby."

"You can't see or hear me. I have to use this."

"What do you see, sweetheart?"

"The man closest to Tre is moving when no one pays attention. The girls foot flinched as well."

The boys grab Kane and come closer to me. Dipak steps into my wall, then bounces back. He lifts his hand.

"It's my wall, Dipak."

"We need to take the" He points to his arms. "Off. At exactly the same time." Kane says something but I can't hear it. "Yea on 3. You're going to count us sweetheart."

Tre stands by the female. Kane and Dipak stand by the males. Their arms are touching. They have 2 swords each.

"1..2..3"

1 of the men and the female seem to scream out in pain. Those 2 are loaded into another carriage after their legs are removed. Dracul leaves with them.

"The last one. Is he a magician?"

"I don't know."

"He hasn't moved, and he didn't flinch when his arms were removed. I do believe he was tortured and starved. He has to be royal to still absorb blood."

Dipak is standing over him. "He has prior injures. Deep sword wounds to both of his sides. They appear to be old and never healed. 2 of his fingers were removed. He has slices on his feet."

"I had slices on my feet and I lost a finger."

"It would take a long time to starve a royal into this condition. This is not something that could happen over a few days or even weeks."

"Ask Omar if he is a magician."

"OMAR. COME HERE. Is he a magician?"

Omar says a bunch of stuff and I can't hear a word of it.

"He could be?" Omar nods. "But if he is, then he's not very good? You can't sense his powers correct?" Omar says some more stuff. "I will go with. He's not a magician. Or if he is, he doesn't know about it and never practiced anything." Omar nods. Then walks away.

Dipak shrugs his shoulders. Tre laughs at him from over by the cave entrance.

Then Tye looks at Tre weird. They are standing together. I think Tye can't figure out why Tre's laughing. Tye is asking something. Tre shows him the feather.

Tre says, "Yea, that sounds good. We'll go with that, Dipak."

Then Dipak laughs. "Any ideas on what to do with this one?"

"We have to heal him, Dipak. He could have been tortured for a long time. He may be a victim. A royal one at that."

"Or he could be the bad guy baby."

"We'll never know if we don't heal him and ask."

"You can't ask the bad guy who the bad guy is."

"No, but you 2 are smart enough to get the real answer out. And we can't leave him like this. And Omar said something to me a long time ago about pulling power from royals or dragons. Does he have a dragon?"

"If he does, it's weak. I'm not sensing it."

Tre shakes his head. "If he's a royal, he would have a dragon. It's rare for a royal to be born without one. Check for the mark on his neck. Maybe it's suppressed somehow."

"Can I come out of this yet, boys?"

Dipak nods. Gunner grabs my arm. "You are free."

Tye and Tre smile. I run to them.

"Gunner held me hostage again. Where next?"

"From here you want to the Yanin medical area."

"Baby, we still have a lot going on here."

Tye points. "And there's a half dead guy over there."

"He can come too."

Dipak smiles. "It's fine. The herd is here anyway. OMAR."

"We're going to go. Can you...?"

"Yea, I'll have the magicians search and analyze every single thing."

"Gunner, you and the guards with us. We'll probably end up going to the little abandoned house later."

Omar walks away. "I'll probably see you there."

I give Tre a hug. "Will you fly me?"

"Yes baby."

I jump up and down. Then I jump on his back and throw my arms around him. He grabs my legs and holds me there.

"Land in front of the Yanin castle. We'll take the path I carried her. We're not going to knock out their window again."

I smile. "I didn't even know I knocked out a window."