Nadine Book 7

1. Dark

Blackness. No light anywhere. I stand up and stagger around for a minute. Then I finally see a faint light behind a door, maybe. I sneak to it and listen. I don't hear anything.

I push it open. Elek, his date, and Elroy are sitting by a little fire. The girl is leaning on Elek, asleep. There's a door behind them. It's open. It goes outside. I see trees. I stare at it for a minute.

Elroy smiles. "Don't run, Nadine. The castle is under attack. We don't know how or why. Dipak told us to hide you until he can figure it out."

None of my feathers are blinking. I try to connect them. I get nothing. "What?"

"We don't know. But you have to stay hidden."

I sit by the door and stare out. I play with Dipak's feather and send him love a bunch. "Why won't you answer me, love?"

"Come sit by the fire and get warm."

"I'm fine Elek." I watch out the door for some sign of anything. I send my boys love.

Elroy hands me some meat. "It's rabbit."

"Thank you." Eventually I go to the fire. "What do you know?"

"Not much. We were in the arena. There was a brain beside us. Suddenly, it said, self-destruct activated. It turned into a pile of goo 1 second later."

Elek nods. "They all did."

"That's impossible."

"That's what happened."

"That doesn't make any sense."

I stare at the fire for a bit and check the boys bonds. Nikolas's bond is gone. The others are fine. I never felt it break. It must have been when they drugged me.

"What?"

I shake my head fast. "Nothing. Trying to think." I send the feathers love.

Dipak and Marcus's turn red. I connect them. Elek and Elroy grab my arms.

"Sweetheart, we don't know. We're trying to sort it out. The brains dropped. The gold that was in my office is gone. Dracul, your dad, and Frode have broken necks. They'll be ok. Everyone will be ok. They're in the medical area. Tre and Tye also got broken necks. Everyone's in the medical area. They will be fine. I sent Omar off with Johen. Omar said he would protect him. Marcus and I are working on it. We don't know."

"Nova is in my office."

Marcus says, "Going now."

"Woman, we have no idea where Nikolas is. We think he may have hid."

The tears fall out of my eyes. "The bonds gone."

"What?"

The girl sits up. "Sorry, I fell asleep."

Elroy hands her some rabbit. "Eat."

"Ewww. I'm not eating this." She shoves it back at him. Then goes outside.

"What do you mean 'gone' sweetheart?"

"It's not there anymore. There's nothing connected."

Marcus yells, "WHO DID IT?" Then there is a pause. "IT WAS HIM DIPAK. NOVA CONFIRMED IT."

I close my eyes and the tears still pour out. I don't make a noise though. I feel dead.

"Say something, Nova."

"Hello?"

"Nova, what happened?"

"Former King Blayze, King Nikolas, Corbin, and Victor went to King Dipak's office. They told Frode, Former King Sandu, and Dracul that they were there to help. They got behind them and broke their necks. Then King Nikolas ordered the self-destruction of all brains. The brains did as commanded."

"Remove King Nikolas Blayze from the throne. He is no longer my king or any king."

"It is done."

"Is he on the ship?"

"No. No one is."

"Start making brains again and do not stop. How many did we have before?"

"887"

"Make 2,000."

Dipak says, "They are gone. Even Ben and Greg are gone."

"We have to find them. She's not safe anywhere. They know where to look."

"We'll get them. Let the ship make brains. They're not going to find her with Elek and Elroy."

"Why?"

"Because I doubt if we would find her with those 2."

Elek and Elroy smile.

"Alright. Keep searching."

"Castle vault is good. It wasn't touched. Their vaults are all cleared out, as well as the gold that was in my office. So they are moving with about 2.5m."

"All he had to do was make a door."

"Omar hadn't got that far with him yet. They had to leave in a carriage. Or on horses. Those who could fly, probably flew."

Marcus says, "They probably got far enough with the carriage and then flew. The gold is probably still moving in the carriage."

"EMERGENCY ADVISOR MEETING NOW." A few seconds pass and Dipak yells some more. "IF YOU CAN FLY, GET YOUR ASS IN THE AIR. SEARCHING FOR A CARRIAGE WITH OUR GOLD IN IT. FIND IT, KILL ANYONE TRANSPORTING IT, AND SEND IT BACK HERE. THORA, CORAL, AND MARY, DO NO ENGAGE. SIGNAL FOR HELP IF YOU SEE IT... THE BLAYZE'S ARE TRAITORS. NIKOLAS HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE THRONE. THEY HOLD NO POWER HERE. NOW GO."

"Dipak, I'm going to the ship. Nova said 600 of the brains are done. I'm going to flood this place and have them do a full search."

"Village too. And their old castle and village. KANE..."

Then we hear Kane. "You're alright. She's alright. Keep going."

"LET'S GO."

The girl comes back in and sits on the other side of the fire. "I'm hungry."

Elroy shakes his head.

"I need a nap. I think the drugs are still in my system."

"Alright angel. Disconnect the feathers for now. You'll never sleep with Dipak yelling constantly. Reconnect when you wake up."

"Ok."

I disconnect the feathers.

"You seem sad." The girl smiles at me.

"Hard day for me. I'm going to take a nap."

"You can sleep by the fire. We'll be quiet."

"No, thank you. I want to be alone." I walk back into the dark room and sit down on the ground. I hug my knees and cry for so long.

How could he? Why? What did I do that was so bad? He told me I could always go to him. He was supposed to keep me safe.

"She's still here. She's just crying."

I lay down on the dirt and cry myself to sleep.

I wake up, and I am so damn cold. It is freezing. My whole body is shaking.

I peek out and the fire still going. Elek and Elroy are talking. The girl is sleeping on the ground between them.

Elek keeps looking at her. "I need to get her out of here."

"She's fine."

"She shouldn't be sleeping in the f*****g dirt. In the cold. There's no reason for it."

I wipe my eyes off. He's not wrong. There's no reason for that poor girl to be here. There's no reason for any of them to be here. I can take care of myself. All I'm doing is hiding anyway.

I sit by the fire. Then I scoot closer and pretty much try to climb in.

Elroy blocks me. "Are you alright?"

"Cold." My teeth are chattering. "I'll be fine. Need a minute by the fire." I get a little closer to it.

"You're going to catch on fire."

"That's fine." I close my eyes and try to get as warm as I can, as fast as I can. "I'm much better now."

I try to connect the feathers and neither of them connect. It's pitch black out there. I feel the bonds and the 5 of them are perfect. My boys are probably asleep. I try 1 more time and nothing.

The girl stirs a little, then she snuggles into Elek's arms. "I'm so cold."

I nod and lay down by the fire.

Finally, with the heat of the fire, I fall into a deep sleep.

I dream about Nikolas trying to kill us. I keep waking up and falling back to sleep.

The last time I wake up. I'm so warm. I'm sleeping on my stomach on Elek's chest. Elroy glances at me from the door. I don't care. I snuggle into Elek's and fall back to sleep. I'm still in the same spot. I didn't go to him.

"I DON'T CARE. I WANT TO GO NOW. I WILL TELL EVERYONE WHERE SHE IS IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO."

I sit straight up. I'm on the ground again.

Elek starts yelling and Dipak's feather is blinking. I connect it.

"Hi."

Elek and Elroy run over and put a hand on me.

"How are you holding up, sweetheart?"

"Everything is fine. Have you found anything out?"

The girl rolls her eyes and walks out of wherever we are.

"Ben and Greg were transporting the carriage with the gold. We also have the papers for the China land back. The dragons were already gone. I told Cruor not to knock anyone out. Let the dragons heal them. So people are slowly coming around. Your dad, Dracul, and Tye are already awake and moving. Cruor won't let them leave the medical area though. He's giving them sleepy juice."

"That sleepy juice is the equivalent of knocking someone out. They'll be drugged for a day."

"Yea, I know, but you can't tell a doctor anything."

Elroy starts laughing.

"I knew that would get Elroy." Dipak laughs. I love his laugh. "Marcus got the brains back to the castle and everywhere really. Then he keeps making them. There are thousands now. We keep ordering them everywhere. To search everything. They're in all the castles we have command of. And the human villages between us and them. The inns and all the land we own. They are searching for any sign of him."

"Dipak."

"Yes, sweetheart."

"The brains can track you. That's how I found you in jail that time. They showed me where you were."

"They aren't tracking him. He's not a king."

"AAAAHHHHHH!" The girl runs by the door going the opposite way she left from. We stare out the door confused for a second.

Elek asks, "Were the brains with you when you were in jail?"

"No."

"Then ask them where the last place they tracked him was. The ship should have been tracking him until she took him off the throne. She was unconscious for awhile before she did that. It might at least give you a direction to look."

"That's f*****g true. HEY GET IN HERE." There is a pause. "Show me the last 3 minutes you tracked Nikolas."

"DID YOU NOT HERE ME OUT THERE SCREAMING?" The boys shake their heads. She slams herself on the ground. "UGH."

"WE GOT YOU ASSHOLE."

Elek yells. "WAIT."

"What Elek?" I can hear how annoyed Dipak is in his voice.

Marcus's feather starts flashing.

"I WANT TO LEAVE." Elroy hits her on the head with a big rock and she drops.

"This isn't right. This isn't something they planned yesterday. They are trying to lure you out. They have probably been planning this for years. They have somewhere else to go, right? You didn't track them back to that abandoned castle, did you?"

"FUCK."

Kane says, "You are correct. They have a big castle and kingdom we didn't know about."

Elek nods. "You have to stop now. Make the brains. A lot. Let your other people get healed. Then send every brain you have at them. 1st wave camouflaged. Get them everywhere. Figure out what actually happened. You have to be smart right now. You can't run after them. That's what they want."

Kane says, "He's right. They didn't plan all that for 2.5m. They are trying to take us out."

Marcus says, "They could have just left early because of the mate bond. None of them could have seen that coming."

Gunner says, "How the f**k could he do that to his own mate?"

"Hopefully, we'll be able to figure that out. For right now. Send a thousand brains at them. Fully war ready. I want them camouflaged. I want them in every room. Through the village. I want every piece of intelligence we've ever asked you for from that place. Do not get caught. If any of you get caught. Tell them your mission is to find King Nikolas. After you are taken to him. He will most likely command you to self-destruct again. Only destruct the ones he has seen. Do not tell him he is no longer a king. AND SOMEONE GIVE DRACUL AND FRODE SOME GOD DAMN WAKE UP JUICE."

Marcus says, "Brains, can you fix their necks faster?"... "Go do that then and wake them up. Dipak, you have to calm down. We're alive and safe. We'll get them. We have to calm down and think. Give the intelligence time to get here and the other dragons a chance to wake up. Brains, I want to send an additional 500 of you to circle the village at a perimeter of 1 mile. Stay hidden. If anyone tries to exit the village, kill them. Anyone tries to enter, turn them around and send them back the way they came. Check the cargo though. I want to know everything they are trying to bring in or leave with."

Elek nods. "Smart. You'll also need to watch the secret escape tunnels. Have the brains figure out where they end and watch them. You might be able to take out the king that way."

"Brains find the escape tunnels and watch where they end. They could evacuate people. Kill anyone leaving by removal of the head and a sword through the heart. Angel, are you comfortable?"

"I'm fine Marcus."

"We'll tell you as soon as they are located. You'll be able to move around then. Find somewhere comfortable. But you can not come here or to any land we own. Or castles we command. They know them."

"Ok."

"Try to get something to eat. We're going to disconnect and focus on what we're doing. I love you."

"I love you both."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

The feathers go dark.