Page 78 of Feathers and Scales

A ringtone cut him off. He grabbed his phone from his pocket. It was an unknown number.

He answered it. “This is Daxton.”

“Simon’s gone.” Lewis’s familiar low timber filled the line and caused Daxton’s heart to drop to the floor.

“What happened?” Daxton asked.

“They were in an automobile accident. Raz is in surgery now—he’ll pull through, but no one saw Simon in the vehicle.”

“Where are you?”

Izzy stilled, body on full alert.

“We’re in Buffalo, New York. There’s no way Raz would have left Simon’s side.”

Fire scorched up his throat. The Archfiends had made their next move.

“Thanks. I’ll be in contact.” Daxton hung up and slammed the phone on the table. “Fuck.”

Izzy jumped, and her voice trembled as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Collecting himself, Daxton tried to hold the dread in her golden eyes. “Simon has been kidnapped.”

Outside the SUV window, the skyscraper in Boston rose like a circular Goliath into the sky. Daxton’s Insight detected a Tattered One’s acidic and metallic presence, but also a handful of humans within the building. At least a few people were working on a Sunday. Around four hours had passed since they had learned of Simon’s kidnapping. His foot tapped on the floorboard, and his skin felt pressurized from his dragon’s desire to hunt and protect the woman sitting behind him.

He shouldn’t have let Izzy come. But he understood her need to find Simon. During the long car ride, her fear along the link had turned into a numb panic. He wanted to hold her.

A tingle of dragon energy had him glancing in the side mirror. Jamal left the coffee shop he’d been using as his stakeout location and crossed the sidewalk to the parked SUV. Blaze rose from her seat in the back beside Izzy and slipped into the third row with Sarah. Jamal opened the vehicle door, and his tall frame filled the seat next to Izzy. When the door slammed shut, the SUV buzzed with five dragon spirit energies as Silas sat beside Daxton. Together, they were a cinder—three Hunters, one Healer, and one Illusion dragon.

“One came in through the roof, but I’ve lost the other one,” Jamal said, brown eyes trained on the building. “It’s been quiet ever since.”

“This is what that special agent Yuller meant,” Izzy said, voice flat.

“What do you mean?” Daxton asked.

“The corporate office for the Build a Better Future foundation I helped fund is here. It’s on the twenty-third floor.”

His gut wrenched. BABF was an organization focused on ensuring everyone had the chance to receive an education. Why was the Tattered One going through this much effort to kidnap Simon and lead Izzy here? It felt more like revenge than just wanting to kill her.

“All right,” Daxton said. “Silas, it’s your turn.”

“Fly safe in the shadows,” Silas said, his glance falling on Blaze, who ignored her brother.

Silas exited the vehicle, and alarms blared from the building. Dragon energy pressed against Daxton’s mind, shifting reality right before his eyes. As Silas stared down the road, emergency vehicles emerged from down the street. While he walked, his brow furrowed as firetrucks blocked off the street. Real people flooded from the skyscraper that flashed and blared with a fire alarm. Silas’s meticulous Illusion would hide the dragons and their operation.

Illusioned firefighters worked quickly, creating a story as Silas took a seat on a nearby bench. Daxton’s head swam, imagining how many humans Silas had to target in the surrounding buildings. The Illusion was so strong, even Daxton could barely tell what was real.

“Blaze. Jamal. Take the roof and work your way down to flush the Tattered One out. He’s intelligent and has used explosives in the past, so keep an eye out.”

Blaze touched Izzy’s arm. “We’ll get Simon back.”

Izzy nodded. “Thank you, Serephina.”

The passenger door slid open, and both exited. Blaze had barely crossed the road before the air flashed as she shifted into her red dragon. A muscle ticked in Silas’s jaw. Whether with worry over his sister or straining himself to cover her shift, Daxton couldn’t tell.

“I’ll wait here for the injured,” Sarah said.

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Daxton said.