It took half a second for Ryder to see that Kinsey was no longer in the room. He jumped up and rushed to the open door to catch a glimpse of Kinsey—still naked—going down the stairs.
Ryder sent out an alert to all the Dragon Kings on Dreagan through their mental link. Then he rushed after Kinsey with Thorn, Dmitri, and Anson right behind him.
Guy grabbed Elena and pulled her out of Kinsey’s way at the base of the stairs. The Kings knew what to do. The mates were taken deep within the mountain while two or three Kings stood guard.
The rest of the Dragon Kings would take up posts throughout Dreagan, the mountain, and the entire estate.
Ryder met Guy’s eyes and gave him a nod to let Guy know that he was going to take care of the problem—in whatever way was needed.
“Are you up for this?” Thorn asked as they hurried after Kinsey through the house to the hidden doorway into the mountain.
Ryder didn’t pretend not to know what he asked. “Kinsey betrayed me, betrayed Dreagan.”
“That doesna mean you have to kill her.”
Anson grunted. “In case you missed it, Kinsey has strength I’ve never witnessed in a mortal without magic.”
“Maybe she’s a Druid,” Dmitri offered.
Ryder shook his head. “She’s no’ a Druid.”
“I hate to say it,” Thorn said. “But maybe you didna know her as you thought you did.”
Ryder didn’t say anything as they entered the mountain. He paused, trying to determine what she could be after. It wasn’t the Silvers, because she couldn’t wake them even if she managed to open the magical lock.
It couldn’t be the weapon the Dark sought that Con hid, because it wasn’t kept there. Not to mention there was no way she could get to Con’s mountain.
That left one possibility—Esther.
Ryder turned to his friends. “She’s going after Esther.”
“We’ll come at her the other way,” Dmitri said as he nudged Anson.
The two each took a tunnel, one to the right, and one to the left. Ryder looked at Thorn and kept following Kinsey.
“You’re no’ Ulrik,” Thorn said.
Ryder kept Kinsey within his sights. “Perhaps. But I think I know exactly how he felt.”
“Why Esther?”
“Because she gave up a name,” Ryder said. “Kinsey hadn’t wanted to be there when we interrogated Esther.”
Thorn came even with him as the tunnel widened. “Why did you bring her?”
“Con wanted it, and I thought if Kinsey was allowed to see how we questioned others she might lose some of her fear.”
“No’ to mention we let her be a part of clearing her name,” Thorn added.
The more Ryder thought about it, the more of a fool he felt. It was the worst feeling—nearly as bad as when he watched his dragons fly across the dragon bridge to another realm.
“We’re going to stop her and figure this out.”
Ryder glanced at Thorn. “Doona bother trying to make the situation better. Nothing can do that.”
By the time they reached where Esther was being held, Ryder was prepared to knock Kinsey out. When they turned the corner, Kinsey and Esther were already in hand-to-hand combat.
Thorn rushed to Henry who was laid out on the floor. “He’s alive,” Thorn said.
At least there was that.
The sound of footsteps approached as Dmitri and Anson finally reached them. Anson gave a shake of his head while Dmitri circled around the women to get behind them.
Ryder watched the fight for a moment. He expected Esther to be a strong fighter because of her training, but Ryder was shocked to discover that at times Kinsey was better than the MI5 agent.
Esther was fighting for her life while Kinsey acted like a robot. No hit Esther landed seemed to cause Kinsey any pain, while Esther winced and groaned when Kinsey landed her hits.
Kinsey landed a particularly bad hit in Esther’s stomach that caused her to bend over gasping for air. Ryder was about to send his power into Kinsey to weaken her and take her down when Esther let out a scream and clutched at her head.
The same thing Kinsey had done.
Thorn was by Ryder’s side in a moment. “That’s no’ a coincidence.”
“Never is,” Ryder said.
Esther grew quiet. A moment later she straightened and looked at Kinsey with the same flat stare that Kinsey had.
“What did they do to them?” Anson asked.
That was something they had to know. As well as everyone involved, because it was obvious Ulrik hadn’t done this alone.
“If we let them continue fighting they’re going to kill each other,” Dmitri said.
As soon as Kinsey rushed Esther, Ryder focused his power on her, weakening her. But it wasn’t enough.
Dmitri used his power of thought cancellation on Kinsey. It stopped her immediately. Ryder then weakened Kinsey even more, causing her legs to give out. She crumpled to the floor, but her gaze was still locked on Esther.
“Kinsey willna stop,” Thorn said.
Anson jerked his chin to Esther. “We doona know when she’ll be triggered again.”
“We need Hal.” Though any of the Kings could use their dragon magic to make them sleep, Ryder wanted to make sure they remained that way for a long period.