“Kerry? The one you called for?”
I pinched my lips together. On the screen, the storm crashed down into Kerry’s hands, where he formed it into a giant ball. Then he started yelling. Unfortunately, my captor had the video on mute.
“What’s he saying?” I tried to read his lips.
The man jerked the phone away.
“Kerry who? Where can I find him?”
“Don’t worry,” I assured him with a dark chuckle. “If you keep me your prisoner, he’ll find you soon enough.”
“Why would he butcher my brothers like this?”
“Is that who he was capturing? Was it at City of the Future?”
“Yes. Our master commanded my brothers to attack. As I was not present to hear the order, I was free from it and made my own choice.”
“And that choice was to kidnap me?” I filled in the blanks. “Well, if you took me away from him right as he found me, then yes. That is the reaction I’d expect him to have.”
“This was brutality beyond necessity. It will take my brothers weeks to restore themselves. He could have banished them in seconds, but he chose to strip them down to their essences. Why?”
I kept quiet, and the man leaned close enough for me to see each red line in his bloodshot eyes.
“I know why everyone else, including my master, wants you so badly. A prince of Hell has offered an indulgence for you. But who are you to this man? ThisKerry?” he spat.
The news shocked me. Amanda and I sure didn’t see this coming when she put the illusion on me. My lungs went into overdrive. My heart went wild and tried to break free of my rib cage. No matter how hard I fought them, hot tears welled up in my eyes.
I’m dead. Not even Kerry can fight a prince of Hell. What should I do? What should I do?
“You didn’t know about the indulgence?” He moved back a step and narrowed his eyes at me.
I shook my head, which made the tears escape down my cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “My master does not know I have you. If he finds out I do, he will order me to take you to him so that he can claim the indulgence.”
“You said you have a master. Does that mean you’re a slave?” My tears stopped as my fear for myself turned into pity for this man.
“Yes. My brothers and I were trapped by an old enemy and bound to a ring. So long as it exists, we will always have a master.”
“Have you tried destroying it?”
“That is not possible. Another can, but not us. If we so much as touch it, we are drawn into it.”
“Have you ever tried to get someone else to destroy it?”
“Many times. Either we were betrayed or our master discovered our conspirator or he or she was too weak to complete the task.”
“How long—”
“Millennia.”
Wow. Poor guy. Poor brothers.
“What’s your name?” I asked him.
“Darius.”
“I’m Gemma. Gemma Shepherd. Look, you asked who I was to Kerry.”
