Lycan Legacy - Paladin: Tales of Luna White - Werewolf Veronica Singer (children's ebooks online txt) 📖

that pulsed brightly in the magical spectrum. On closer approach, the scent the bottle gave off was reminiscent of the genie I had trapped. Was this the bottle that had held the genie I had trapped, or was it another genie?

I had the bottle in my hands and was about to remove the glass stopper before my wolf stopped me with a jolt. Not a smart move, Luna. She was more focused than me. I had wasted enough time here.

I had the bottle stashed in my bag when I froze with a new thought. Was it theft to take this? Would I face the wrath of the owner—or a genie—for taking it?

It isn’t theft. It’s depriving a kidnapper of a weapon that can be used to shoot you in the back.

Conscience eased by self-justification; I retraced my steps to the stairwell. Mike and Manny seemed relieved to see me, but I wasn’t good enough with sign language to let them know what I had been doing. I made the opening and closing fingers gesture for talking, followed by a vertical circling gesture to let them know I would tell them later.

Manny tapped on his watch in a ‘hurry up’ gesture. Dawn was approaching—dawn, and the first call to prayer that would have dozens of people up and about.

We headed up the stairs to the third level. Once again, the décor was duplicated. No scent of wild magic or Alisha here, so we proceeded to the fourth floor.

The fourth floor was yet another replica of the ones below. But the scent of Alisha was strong here.

I tracked her scent to the third door on the left. Soft snores came from the rooms of the other residents. Strangely enough, they were all women. In fact, there had been no sign of any men above the second floor.

I paused outside Alisha’s cell. The door looked like a standard model, no fancy locks or hasp on the exterior. From inside came the sound of music, so faint that it must have been from a set of headphones.

Well, we couldn’t stand out here all night. I prepared my lock-pick for use. But before I inserted it in the keyhole, I put a hand on the door handle. To my surprise, the handle moved freely.

She isn’t even locked in?

I stepped through the door, expanding my soundproof bubble to encompass the entire room. We might have to cut her out of chains.

Alisha was sitting at a desk, facing away from us, watching an iPad screen with Air Pods stuffed in her ears. She was moving in time with the music, seemingly unconcerned with her imprisonment.

I surveyed the room. A luxurious four-poster bed, festooned with silk sheets, stood against the far wall. A door to a walk-in closet was on our right. Through the open door I could see dozens of high-fashion dresses. A dresser next to the bed held a jewelry box stuffed with precious gems, and the air was thick with expensive perfumes, as if she had been testing various combinations.

At my left, Manny had produced a hood, the kind used to blind and muffle prisoners. He took a step toward Alisha but stopped at my gesture. He gave me a stubborn look and gestured with the hood, but I shook my head.

I stepped up to Alisha and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around quickly, saw us, and froze.

Her face grew dark as she jerked out her headphones.

“Luna, what the hell are you doing here? Get out! You’ll ruin everything!”

18

“Ruin what? Your kidnapping? Grab your stuff, we’re taking you and your dad home.”

For a moment, I thought she would listen. She grabbed her iPad off the table and pushed some buttons. The faint music coming from the ear buds stopped.

“I’m not going anywhere with you guys.”

She finally focused on the men with me, eyes flicking back and forth. Mike turned slightly, so that Logan’s unconscious face was visible above his ravaged throat. Her face paled at the sight. She fingered the charm bracelet Logan had commissioned for her—a genuine lucky charm crafted by Mason.

Then her mouth pursed in anger. Alisha spat, “Serves him right. He’s not my dad, and I’m not going anywhere with you.”

I wonder who told her. Has she always known? “He’s cared for you for your entire life. He risked his life to come here to get you out.”

In my peripheral vision, Manny was tapping his watch in that ‘hurry up’ gesture. He was right; every second of delay only made the mission more likely to fail.

“I don’t care about him! He’s too controllin—” Her voice was cut off by Manny putting the hood over her head. He pulled a drawstring to ensure she couldn’t jerk the covering off.

Alisha stood quickly, letting the iPad drop to the floor, and reached to tug at the hood. She let out a bloodcurdling scream that would have alerted the entire household, but it was muffled by the hood and my sound barrier spell.

Manny quickly captured her wrists and spun her around, binding her wrists behind her with a set of flex-cuffs. Then he tossed her on the bed and reached for her ankles. She twisted to her side, pulled her legs up, and kicked out as hard as possible. She caught Manny in the solar plexus, taking his breath away.

Despite that, he grabbed one ankle, then the other, and managed to flex-cuff them together. He flipped Alisha onto her stomach, then climbed up and put one knee on her back, forcing her to stay in place. He strung several zip ties together and looped the resultant plastic chain between her wrist and ankle restraints.

All the while, Alisha was screaming her head off. Before I could use my nitrogen gas spell to knock her out, Manny leaned down and placed his mouth next to her ear.

As she drew in breath for her next scream, he said, in the coldest voice I had ever heard, “Shut the fuck up, or I will hurt you.”

Alisha’s scent