19. Enzo

The wind rushing past his scales reminded Enzo of his first time flying. His father took him out, telling him how to center himself and call forth his dragon. It had taken him a few tries, but he quickly shifted into his dragon form. His father looked so pleased with his ability to shift as fast as he did and challenged him to a race. His dragon loved the idea of racing and took off before getting his bearings. Enzo remembered laughing instead of feeling ashamed as his father taunted him in the sky before shifting into his dragon form.

Seeing the kingdom’s beaches come into view brought him out of his memory. Esen used his Breeze magic to reflect the air around him to remain hidden. He pulled his magic around Arlo’s form while Enzo called his Storm magic forth. A nearby cloud lowered to cover himself and Beckett, keeping their approaching forms hidden further from anyone below. Enzo then pulled himself to the left to follow the river that could lead them to the possible weak spots in the armies around the kingdom.

A flicker of gold wisps was in the air just over the beaches. Enzo looked where he noticed the gold fleck, but it was no longer there. He shook it off as a possible bird or just his imagination as his stomach twisted in anticipation of what could happen.

That’s when the gold flickered again right before him, and then his dragon form collided with an invisible wall. He roared before turning around to face his brothers-in-arms. The three of them all shared the same look of confusion before they glanced at other areas around them. Enzo opened his mouth and blew a few arcs of lightning at the invisible force. There was crackling and flickers of gold light. The scent of ozone and rain filled his nose, accompanied by the bitter taste of unfamiliar magic, telling him everything he needed to know. Enzo shifted back to alert the others.

"My father has aligned himself with a Witch, and they have created a barrier! If I know my father well enough, we must run NOW!"

Arlo, Esen, and Beckett quickly turned around and flapped their wings as hard as possible while Enzo shifted back into his dragon and did the same. He knew his father would have set up the barrier to alert him when someone touched it. It was exactly like the barrier that surrounded the island of outcasts before Kaida destroyed it. An entire army could descend onto Enzo and the others at any moment. They needed to put as much distance as possible between them and the new barrier.

What astounded Enzo was his father willingly collaborating with a Witch. It was true that he hated elemental dragons, but his hatred for other types of supernatural ran deeper. He only allowed others to enter the Kingdom to bring jobs that dragons could not do. If it were up to him, the barrier would keep out every supernatural creature outside of Storm Dragons.

He frequently looked behind him to ensure they were safe as they flew back to the island. Enzo tried to keep himself from feeling ashamed for running, but it still came to mind. If they had stayed to try to figure out how to get into the barrier, it was guaranteed that his father would arrive with enough dragons to kill them all.

Kaida would revive us just to kill us for leaving her like that.

That is why we love her.

While they flew back, Enzo tried to think of possible witches with whom his father would align. He would always mention how it would be a clever idea to track the powerful families of each Kingdom. This was so, if there ever came a time that they were needed, he would have the best of them to refer to. If Enzo’s memory was correct, Adrien’s family was the most powerful inside of the witch Kingdom.

We can’t fault her for that. Adrien has been away from her family for over a year. If my father had contacted them during her time on the island, she would never have known anything about that.

We can still pass along this information. If Adrien knew about it, she would tell her family to stop collaborating with the Dragon King.

What if she doesn’t? Or what if her family attacks her for aligning herself with us? Allies are to have your back.

Gemar would double-cross them in a heartbeat. Anyone who knows him would be able to tell that and would keep an eye on him.

I’ve never seen my father do anything other than snarl at the mention of other Supernaturals. I doubt he would show them that side of him while they are making a deal.

We only know he is collaborating with a Witch. We need more information before we move forward.

You’re right. Let’s just get home.

They were halfway home when Enzo could feel something within the mate bond go screwy. He felt Kaida’s heart rate increase and even felt that she used her magic. Enzo noticed the guys before him were pushing harder to fly faster, so he knew he wasn’t imagining his feelings. Eventually, things leveled out in the bond, telling Enzo that whatever had Kaida using her magic was done. He did not feel her get hurt in any way or lose consciousness, so he breathed a little easier but didn’t slow down his speed. Not too much longer did he feel her consciousness go out.

Someone hurt her.

Enzo roared, and lightning cracked all around him from his rage. His speed increased, and he passed the others to get to the island sooner rather than later. The winds picked up, giving them a needed boost. Before he knew it, Enzo saw the house at the top of the hill. He shifted quickly into his human form and hit the ground running toward the porch. He ripped the door off the hinges and threw it behind him. When he stepped into the house, he knew Kaida was not there.

"She’s not here," Beckett announced behind him.

Enzo turned around to face them. "Where would she go?"

The three of them exchanged looks, and Enzo felt his stomach drop. He knew where she went, but he was not happy at all that she chose to do that after being instructed not to. The others bolted from the porch with Enzo behind them.

Enzo wasn’t sure how they got there so fast, as if they had teleported to the building, but he didn’t care. Beckett entered the building first, and a snarl broke the silence between them. Once Enzo entered the threshold, he knew why Beckett was upset, and the others snarled in unison.

Arlo bent down and sniffed the pavement, "He left. I can smell his scent leaving the building, which isn’t as old as it should be."

"How the fuck did he get out? Those bars were warded." Esen snarled as he stomped down the stairs toward the basement.

Enzo shared his sentiment. There was no way in hell Blaze could break the warding keeping him inside. His magic was dulled from it, too, which made no sense. They all ran after Esen to check on the cage that held Blaze. There had to be a clue there about how he escaped. Once they were on the basement floor, they all let out a snarl.

Kaida was out cold on the floor, and the metal burned while the liquid was cooling on the floor. Some pieces of the front of the cage were still standing, but only a few inches of it. Enzo smelled the room, and it only had the smokey scent of Blaze and his magic.

Beckett rolled Kaida onto her back, and Enzo noticed the goose egg-shaped bump on the back of her head before he saw her face. While Beckett moved her clothes around to check her over, Enzo could see no other marks on her. There was no blood on the floor, which gave Enzo some hope that Blaze cared for Kaida and must have fought what gave him the power to burn through the warding.

"How the fuck did he burn through that? Witches made those wards. No one’s magic overrides their magic other than Kaida’s, which I am still convinced shouldn’t be possible either," Enzo spat as he began to pace.

"I don’t know. A lot of weird shit is happening today. First, that barrier stopping us from getting into the kingdom, and now this?" Arlo said as he inspected the bars. "I’m not smelling anything other than Blaze. He is strong, but not that strong."

"Could the Dimension give him that kind of power?" Esen asked as he peered over at Kaida.

Enzo looked down at his unconscious mate and suppressed his need to hit a wall. "I don’t know. Maybe. Did it boost Kaida’s magic when she had it in her?"

Beckett shook his head and placed his palm on her forehead. Enzo noticed a flash of blue from Beckett’s hand, ice forming over his skin. Enzo raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He forgot that Elementals could mold their magic, like water into ice, to suit their needs.

"No, Kaida remained just as powerful as she was while the Dimension had its hold on her. I couldn’t smell anything off from her, nor did she seem to have a different power level before or after."

Enzo growled. "So the dimension didn’t lend its hand into busting Blaze out of here."

Kaida stirred Beckett’s arms but remained unconscious. Beckett tucked her closer to him, whispering in her ear that she should wake up. Her eyes didn’t open, so Enzo returned to breaking down how Blaze could break out.

"You know, sometimes our magic is fueled by our emotions. What if he got so angry about being in here that it gave him the power to break out?" Arlo offered before standing up and putting his hands into his pockets.

"That could be what happened. Unless we catch him and interrogate him, we aren’t going to know," Beckett told them before lifting Kaida off the ground and getting onto his feet. Let’s get her home and ask anyone around here to see if they saw something."

Enzo nodded. "Good idea. Why do we all need to go though?"

"In case we are missing something here, everything is always better handled in numbers. I would rather not take her back home alone and have something happen because I am protecting her."

"Fair enough. Let’s go."