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  Lost (Draconia World Book 3)

  Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  Copyright © 2019 by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Newsletter

  Chapter One

  The Darkness

  Saying it was a bumpy ride was an understatement. We were falling and I’d lost Idris. It seemed the magical tunnel was never going to end. Just a moment ago, our hands were gripped together tightly, and now I was on my own. Darkness had begun to shade my vision as I wasn’t getting enough oxygen into my lungs.

  We were just supposed to walk through the crack of magic, but instead I felt like I was never going to touch solid ground. A split second later, I crashed to the ground hard, losing consciousness. When I started coming around, pain radiated throughout every part of my body. I was hurting, maybe from the fall, or maybe from the parallel magic rushing through my system. The brisk cold air hit my lungs, and I took a deep hissing breath. Small drops of rain started falling on my face, and I lifted my head, looking around, seeing the streetlamps. I was now soaking wet, and hurting badly, but I needed to get out of here. The human world was riddled with traps.

  “Fran, Fran, are you all right?” a familiar voice asked. My dragon. I needed my dragon, but I couldn’t sense her. What the hell happened to me? This journey was only supposed to last a few seconds. Someone touched my hand; it was Idris. I felt him again and, for a brief moment, I felt so relieved. He had fallen through the crack of magic with me.

  “Where are we? What’s happened to Avianna and Rhian? They were right behind us,” I said, looking around as he helped me to my feet. I bit my tongue, as excruciating pain invaded my body. We were in London, in the human world, but something felt off. We were supposed to be somewhere else, back to where Nicolas had gone. I suspected that he had headed to Ally’s place, but instead, the magic took us somewhere else. Unfamiliar waves of energy tickled the nape of my neck. I felt very exposed out here.

  “I have no idea, but we have to get the fuck out of here as soon as we can. The Dark Ones are coming,” Idris said, grabbing my hand. His breathing was whizzed, too, and he looked like he was limping. Was it possible the crack took us somewhere we weren’t supposed to be?

  Seconds later Idris pulled away from me. We turned around, and then we saw them: five men, all dressed in suits, had approached from around the corner, and what felt like a bunch of bricks of unease cascaded down to my stomach. We were so screwed. They looked like humans, and they must have noticed Idris because they didn’t attack us instantly. I knew that I was weak without Avianna. The Dark Ones were in control out here.

  “Get them. She’s a warden, and I can sense her magic,” the dark-haired one snapped, but then he stopped when he noticed Idris. His shiny, beautiful eyes went wide. I had never seen him before, but there was something familiar in the way he stared at me. “I know you”—he pointed toward Idris— “the Dark One. You’re one of us.”

  “Yes, Richard, he’s one of us, and I see he has finally done something right. Well done, Idris. You’ve caught the girl, and I hope you captured the dragon creature, too.” His voice was so cold, it chilled me to the bone.

  It was Baxley; he must have returned from the Dimond City not long ago, but why were we so unlucky? He was supposed to be far away, injured. I glanced at Idris, trying to understand what the hell was going on. The half dark one’s face was pale. He looked confused. He glanced at me, then pushed me abruptly forward, mumbling something that sounded like “trust me.”

  Then I began to understand everything. Baxley had no idea that Idris had betrayed his kind, that he betrayed his own father. Mangus was gone, and no one apart from the guard, had seen us there. Avianna had helped me. I suspected that she and Idris made Mangus disappear, but where? Well, that was still unknown.

  Baxley only saw what he wanted to see. I needed Idris on my side. I didn’t want to believe that he was ready to betray me, but right now, he had to play this game. If we wanted to survive, then he had to act like he hated my guts.

  “What the hell happened out there?” Baxley narrowed his eyes in question. “You vanished, and I had to get back on my own when that dragon slipped through my fingers. Your sister was pissed. Never mind, we need to get her locked up. Then we can talk about what went on in Dimond city. Mangus hasn’t been seen since we left him in prison.”

  “She doesn’t have the dragon. I caught her by the crack, and she was without the creature,” Idris said.

  Baxley cursed. He gave me one stinking look. He passed out before he’d had a chance to see the real me in that basement; otherwise this whole game of theatrics wouldn’t make much sense. Maybe he suspected something, but right now that didn’t matter. Idris would have to come up with some sort of explanation later on.

  My entire body was still soaring with pain when Idris grabbed my arm and pushed me ahead. I was worried about Nicolas, Rhian, and Avianna. Nicolas wasn’t in the best of shape mentally, but if he had gone to see Ally, then she would take care of him. The Dark Ones walked behind us, and Baxley was in front. He looked tense, and he kept glancing back at Idris and me from time to time. The crack must have separated us from the others. This was the only logical explanation. I didn’t want to be in London, but back in the Dimond city, we weren’t left with much of a choice. It was probably late in the night, because I only spotted a few humans on the streets, and there weren’t a lot of cars on the road. On top of that, a slight burning smell wafted around. It was like this world had imprinted itself on me. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “We’re both riding with her in the first car. We are taking her to Ponulium,” Baxley barked at Idris. I wished I could communicate with him mentally like I did with Avianna; it would have been so much easier. Moments later, I was pushed inside a black vehicle. Luckily Baxley climbed in the front.

  “Why Ponulium? I thought we were to take her straight to the office and wait for Mangus there?” Idris asked. Baxley looked at him. Their exchange, probably an internal one, lasted a few seconds. They were communicating, and this was irritating, because I wanted to know what was going on.

  Within moments, Baxley nodded to the driver, and Idris squeezed my thigh. We still couldn’t communicate, but I hoped he had a plan. We just had to play along. He sounded panicky, and I was worried about Avianna. She was a tough cookie, and I knew she was going to be fine. Luckily, she was with Rhian. I had to keep telling myself that.

  The car started moving, and I was looking out the window, wondering where my enemy was taking me. I wanted to be back in Draconia, walk through the streets, and feel the magic on my skin. I already imagined a life there without the Dark Ones. The wardens needed a revolution of some sort. We needed to gain control of the eggs and their magic. We were the original keepers of the dragons, so it was up to us to kick the mages further out to the Lower World. These thoughts continued to race through my mind.

  When I glanced toward Idris, I could see he was tense. I couldn’t blame him. We were headed into enemy territory.

  “Mangus is missing, but that’s between you and me,” Baxley said after a long silence, and he turned around to look straight at me when he was talking. “She knows what’s happened to him, and we need to get information about the dragon out of her, too. Maybe even split her magic.” His pretty blue eyes were shining with excitement. I was ready to kick him in the face, although that wasn’t entirely possible. I just couldn’t show him any fear. As long as Idris was with me, nothing else mattered.

  He was planning to torture me in some place away from the office. I could already tell that this was his plan. No one said anything else for the next half an hour. All the streets in London looked the same to me, but when the car stopped in front of a large gate, my stomach made a funny jolt.

  It was some sort of prison located in the heart of the city, or possibly something worse. My magic was slowly diminishing. I was hoping that Idris was going to do something, anything to stop that bastard from putting his hands on me.

  “I’ll take her from here,” Baxley said, approaching us. “Go to the warden and order him to prepare the yellow room. We will start with her early in the morning. There is no point wasting any time at all.”

  “I’m not taking orders from you, mate,” Idris said firmly. “It’s been a long night. The guards can take care of her. Besides, we shouldn’t be starting anything without witnesses present.” For a moment, the two of them were measuring each other up like this was some sort of contest. Fear began creeping over
me. I knew Baxley was planning the worst for me.

  “You never cared about the rules before. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you wanted to spend more time with the prisoner. Does her weakness make your dick hard?” Baxley whispered, moving his face much too close to mine, and I instantly felt sick. I was ready to spit on him, but Idris’s hand gripped me tighter, and it was almost painful. The tension between them was unbelievable. That bastard knew Idris had his own agenda in mind. Maybe he already knew Idris was on my side, and he was just testing him.

  “She’s dirt, and I only enjoy the taste of fairies. You should know that. Now move. I don’t fucking want to spend all night in here. I haven’t showered in two days,” he barked back at Baxley, and then started pushing me toward the large metal door.

  It was too late for me to say anything as we approached two more creepy-looking Dark Ones. Baxley was most likely watching us from the distance. A lot of energy gathered around here, and this wasn’t a good sign. This place was filled with mages. There were at least a dozen of them, so it wasn’t going to be easy to escape from here. Damn it, I was pissed off with myself. The crack of magic had never let me down before. Idris had to sign some papers, then one of the guards led us to the lower level and opened the barred door.

  “I’ll take it from here, just tell me which cell is hers,” he barked at the stocky-looking Dark One.

  “Down further on the right, and make sure you use charms to secure the lock.”

  When the doors finally locked behind us, and we were alone walking through the long narrow corridor, I managed to exhale sharply.

  “What are we going to do now?” I hissed at him. “Have you even seen this place? It’s a fortress.” He dragged his hand through his hair, then glanced around like he was expecting someone to see us in the darkness. My whole body was still aching. Seconds later, he grabbed my cheeks and kissed me for a very long time. It wasn’t just any kiss—he was devouring my mouth like he was never going to see me again. Warmth jolted through my body; my knees trembled beneath me.

  “I’ll figure something out, but Baxley is going to torture you tomorrow. He wants Avianna now that my father is absent, so he thinks he can do whatever he wants,” Idris said after that long and blissful moment; his forehead touched mine. I didn’t want to be separated from him, but I knew we had to. He was warning me, like he wanted to mentally prepare me for what was about to come.

  “What’s that thing he was talking about, splitting magic?” I whispered, and he made a deep growling sound in the back of his throat.

  “He’s going to split your energy to pieces, hoping to see where you’ve hidden the dragon, and I won’t be able to stop him, or I might as well admit that we are working together. I’ll get you out of here as soon as I can, but my hands are tied. Everyone is watching me; they can sense that there is a connection between us.” I could see he was fighting with himself; my heart was thumping loudly in my chest. Idris didn’t want to leave me just yet. Reluctantly, he opened the heavy door to one of the cells.

  The smell was horrendous, but at least the cell was bigger than the one from the Diamond City prison.

  “Just get on with it. I have been locked up by the Dark Ones once before, and I survived. Go home. I will figure something out,” I told him, because I didn’t want him to kiss me again. Touching him was too much, but I believed he could get me out of here. We just needed to put some sort of plan together.

  “You will be out of here before you know it, little one,” he said, and then shut the cell door. His magic must have sealed the lock. We were still in London, and there were no dragon eggs to stack up in order to power up the entire prison. I heard Idris’s heavy footsteps. He was walking away, and I wasn’t going to see him until tomorrow. It was going to be a long night.

  I sat down on the old stinky mattress, trying to deal with overwhelming emotions until whistling broke the silence. I glanced up, hearing that the sound was coming from my far right. A cold shiver crawled down my spine. Someone had just overheard my conversation with the half Dark One.

  “So, the thief and the Dark One. Well, well, well, it’s a huge surprise. I wasn’t expecting that,” said the voice that I somehow recognised.

  “Harvey, is that you?” I asked, standing up. The warlock was here, and now he knew Idris was betraying his kind. Damn it, why did everything have to be so complicated all of a sudden?

  “Of course, my dear warden, and now it seems I know your little secret, so you’d better think of a plan where you will be taking me with you when you escape to freedom.”

  Chapter Two

  The first round of pain.

  .

  The morning arrived sooner than I expected. I sensed it, as the rise of sunshine beamed through the smallest window I’d ever seen at the top of my cell. It was still summer, and weather in London was spoiling humans just as I heard. I barely slept, thinking about my escape plan and Harvey. The presence of the warlock made me extremely anxious. He talked for a bit, and then he must have gone off to sleep or something, because he stopped answering my questions. Idris should have sensed him in the cell. This complicated things. My body was still aching, but I pushed myself to get up and stretch. Harvey wasn’t very helpful, especially when I told him that Idris and I didn’t really have a plan yet. I had no idea how long he had been here, but I suspected it was from the moment when Baxley arrested him in the factory. His cell smelled of blood and sweat. I was shaking, probably from shock. My magical energy felt faint; the prison was preventing me from using it.

  An hour after I awoke, my cell opened up, and the Dark One (the same one who directed Idris here) placed a bowl on the ground with something that smelled like rice. He didn’t even look at me.

  My stomach growled because I realised that I hadn’t eaten anything for a very long time, maybe since we were at Rhian’s house in Draconia. The food in front of me didn’t look particularly appetising, but I was starving. I polished it off within moments, satisfying my hunger for now.

  “They are coming for you, so you better think of a plan. They will break you there, and he will try to split your magic, little thief.” Harvey spoke unexpectedly, and I nearly jumped. I sighed loudly. Something was definitely going to happen, even Idris warned me he was powerless.

  “Good, great. I already know what is going to happen to me, but my question is, what’s up with you? I thought warlocks were stronger than the Dark Ones. I was there when Baxley arrested you at the factory,” I said, trying to mentally prepare myself for what was about to happen to me. Harvey was a strong warlock, and I was shocked Baxley had surprised him like that.

  “They claimed I had the dragon egg; someone must have spread lies about me.” He sighed, and another cold shiver crawled up and down my spine. I had the egg; maybe he was arrested because of me.

  “Dragon egg?” I asked, snorting, but it wasn’t funny at all.

  “You’re going to help me, and I’ll reward you,” Harvey continued. “The Dark Ones are foolish, and they are going to pay for everything; they will suffer greatly. Get ready, and get focused, warden thief, because you are going to endure a lot of pain. You won’t come back to that cell again, and that half Dark One will never betray his kind for you.”

  I didn’t want to listen, so I continued to pace around the cell, because this, at least, made me feel a little calmer. I was strong, even without Avianna. I wasn’t supposed to have any magic inside me, but she fixed me—connected all of my broken pieces together. Baxley wasn’t going to break me, and I wasn’t planning to give him the satisfaction.

  My heart skipped a beat, then raced triple time, when around half an hour later, I heard that someone opened the corridor cell. Idris hadn’t returned, which meant he didn’t have a plan. My magic was awakened but it was still weak. I needed to think of something and fast. Only a few sparks escaped through my fingertips when I tried to raise my internal energy.