Chapter 18

                                    

                                          
Not five minutes after Austin's and Ryleigh's conversation ended, the door to the prison flew open and Ellis stormed in. "Where did they take them?" 
Ryleigh was still sitting against the bars, prying apart the piece of bread and eating only the soft parts – though all parts were rather crumply and dry to start with. She wasn't sure whether it was her assaulted mind, or whether he just made no sense. "Who took whom?" 
"Not an hour ago, Corbin and Parker came to Midnight Moon and abducted Carry and Julie," Ellis said, so much desperate rage in his tone that Ryleigh was almost persuaded to cast a glance at him, just to see if his body was shaking as hard as his voice. 
Austin jumped up. "What?" His terror was almost palpable and it stirred something in Ryleigh's chest. She wasn't used to people feeling that intensely, that keenly. "Ryleigh?" 
She blinked. Did they think she had anything to do with it? "What? I was here. I don't know where they took them."
"You must know something." Ellis barged to her cell, radiating such anger that Ryleigh struggled to her feet, clinging to the bars to keep standing. Ellis blurred in and out of focus and she slapped her other hand against the bars as well, doing her best not to sag to the floor. "I – O, Goddess." She had just enough time to turn around before her stomach emptied itself of everything she'd just eaten. She groaned and pressed one hand against her belly, the other still clutching the bars. 
"Good Goddess, it smells horrible in here," Alder said, entering the prison. He halted when Ryleigh's cell came into view. "That explains it." 
"Apologies, Your Highness," Ryleigh said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "My body does not take kindly to being forcefully mind-controlled." She balled her hand into a fist and pressed it more tightly against her stomach. "Figures that the one time you don't silver me, my sister dear figures out another way to make me miserable. Speaking of which, I don't understand why you came here, Alpha. Whatever I know, Jade knows too. Don't tell me she didn't have a look around when she was in my mind. She knows where we've been staying. I'm guessing you know it too and I'm guessing you went there and found it abandoned. If that is so, I don't know where they've gone. They won't have gone to any place I know about; that's for sure." 
"Did you orchestrate this?" Ellis asked, stepping closer but not close enough for her to be able to grab his knife again. 
"Did I orchestrate an abduction from prison? I hate to say this, but you overestimate me." 
"No, prior to your arrest. Is this some kind of contingency plan?" 
"O, come on. I don't remember how well you know me, but I've stayed at Midnight Moon for a significant time, so I imagine pretty well, which means you know I'm far too cocky for my own good. I did not expect to get arrested, so I did not arrange for any measures to be taken in case I did. But it makes sense, I suppose. I guess they assume they either know where I am or that they can use them to make you give me back. Like a trade." 
"They don't know where you are, and neither do we." Ellis nodded to Austin and gestured to himself. "Only King Alder knows, which is why we've had to go to the castle every time we wanted to come here, because we did expect Corbin might try to get information out of us. We just didn't think –" He stopped. 
"Didn't think he'd go after your women? It's a war, Alpha, and my father is not a man of honour." 
"Is he going to hurt them?" 
Ryleigh sagged heavier against the bars. She really wasn't feeling like having a conversation like this. She felt like she ought to be grateful that her father cared about her return enough to kidnap two people, but for some reason she found it difficult to appreciate the actions of that lying bastard.