Serpentine Love by Sabine A.Reed Read Free Book Online Page A

You’re a
wizard. You could have fought them off, taken off your gag and
ropes any time you wanted.”
    “ They are wizards too…some
of them have great power. I’m no match for the Archan who has used
decades to study this craft. In any case, I can’t do magic if my
hands are tied.”
    “ I don’t believe
you.”
    “ Why would I remain
here?”
    “ Why?” Maya raised her
hands. “Didn’t you just say you had a contract with Archan? You
want me to trade places with Isaac. Well, you win. I’ll do it.
Let’s go.”
    “ Wait!” Arya grabbed her
arm. “Archan doesn’t know that you’re an inagimi.”
    “ Don’t you dare lie to
me.”
    He let go of her arm. “I’m not lying. I
didn’t tell him anything. He took Isaac because…before coming here,
I’d told him that Isaac might lead me to the inagimi. He just got
tired of waiting for me to get some results. He followed me here,
and kidnapped Isaac because he believes that Isaac can lead him to
an inagimi.”
    Maya didn’t care if he was telling the
truth. At this moment, all she cared about was to save her
grandfather. She turned around to leave the room; she could pick up
their scent in no time. Following them, she would find and free her
grandfather--and then there would be hell to pay for the man who
had betrayed her trust.
    “ Wait!” Arya blocked her
path to the door. “You’re not going out there alone.”
    “ Move,” she said.
    “ Did you not hear me? He
doesn’t know you’re an inagimi.” Arya shook her hard. “We can try
to free your grandfather without handing you over.”
    “ How?”
    “ We’ll find the place and
sneak in,” he said.
    She realized what he was saying. If
Archan did not know that she was an inagimi, he would certainly not
be expecting a covert attempt to free Isaac. It was a desperate
plan.
    But it was the only one they had, so it
was important to make it work.
    “ Do you know where they took
him?”
    “ I don’t think they would
take him far,” he said. “The magical portal they used to come here
must be nearby. He must have created it in a secluded place…but not
out in the open as that could be accidently discovered. An empty
building would be the perfect place to do.”
    “ The old warehouse an hour’s
drive from the village,” Maya guessed. “The company that built it
is planning to pull it down, but for the moment it is unused. It’s
a likely hiding place. No one ever goes there.”
    “ Let’s go.” Arya limped to
the door.
    “ I’ll drive.” Maya shot past
him and into the car.
    She was worried for Isaac. Despite his
youthful looks, he was an old man and would not be able to endure
hardship or torture. In pain, he might even betray her true
identity--but that wasn’t her prime concern.
    She did not want any harm to come to
the old man, he was her only family, and whatever she had to do to
protect him, she would do it…even if it meant exchanging herself as
a hostage in his place.
     
     

Chapter
Eight
     
    An hour later, they stopped at the dirt
lane that led to the old warehouse.
    Arya noticed the signs of new activity;
fresh tire marks on the lane and the unlocked gate that had been
left partially open. No guards stood at the perimeter. Clearly,
Archan was not expecting any trouble.
    “ How many men does he have?”
Maya said.
    “ I saw six, excluding Archan
himself,” Arya replied, his keen eyes taking in the appearance of
the abandoned building. Somewhere in its depth were the old
researcher and his kidnappers. “He brought two wizards with him,
and the other four are foot soldiers, useful in a hand
combat.”
    What horrors were they inflicting on
Issac? And how long would he endure before giving them Maya’s
name?
    The mere thought of Archan getting his
hands on her sent a chill of fear down Arya’s spine. No. he would
lay down his life to see that such a thing never
happened.
    Maya drove off, away from the
warehouse.
    “ There is a small grove of
trees nearby. We’ll leave the