Free Casted (Casted series) by Sonya Loveday Page A

my house!” Julie shouted.
    Dagger got in Julie’s face. “Unless you want to die, I would suggest you get us to the closest exit,” he growled.
    “We have two minutes tops before they blow this whole place up around us. If the safe houses are as you say, then we have no choice…we need to take her to Edge.” Julie turned to the wall and pulled a small piece of paneling away to reveal an intricate design. It began to glow a faint purple light when she placed her fingers against it.
    “No.” Dagger pulled her hand away. “He’s the last person I would have Jade near.”
    “We don’t have any other option! You can’t take her to another safe house and you can’t put her out with the Mick’s. Think about it…they would never guess you took her there,” Julie said.
    “I don’t like it. He’s…” Dagger didn’t finish his sentence.
    “You don’t have to like it, Dagger. You just have to get her to safety and Edge’s place is protected!” Julie yelled above the groaning coming from the house. It was a matter of seconds before we would be crushed under all the rubble.
    “It’s protected by dark magic! How do you figure that benefits us?” Dagger yelled.
    “We can fight about it after we get there,” Julie snapped back at him. The purple light started glowing until the small space hummed with energy. The wall blew out, sucking us through. The purple light flickered as we were spit out on the ground.
    I turned back and the wall was gone. All I could make out were trees. Hundreds of them towered around us in the darkness. The limbs looked like long fingers ready to pluck us off the ground. The forest we were in was quiet, almost too quiet.
    Dagger grabbed me and pulled me close as he quickly scanned the darkened forest. He pulled me closer when a twig snapped in the eerie silence.
    “Show yourself,” Dagger growled.
    A faint chuckle carried across the gentle breeze.
    Julie huffed out a muted comment at Dagger, before stepping forward to speak. “Geez, Edge, what’s with all the drama?”
    At once, night turned into day. I blinked from the sudden shift. I figured Dagger would let go of me so that I could breathe, but it only made him hold on a little tighter. I began to fidget, but he wouldn’t release me.
    I blinked a few more times, chasing the white dots from my vision. Before me stood a dark cloaked figure, the hood pulled low to cover his face.
    “My apologies, it’s not often I have visitors coming unannounced.” His sarcasm really needed a paper towel- it was dripping everywhere.
    “It was a last minute decision, trust me,” Julie replied.
    “Ah, Dagger, how good it is to see you. How long has it been?” Edge pulled the cloak off and let it fall to the ground.
    “Not long enough, Aldrige,” Dagger growled.
    “Can’t even call me by my first name? You’re still holding a grudge I see,” Edge replied.
    Edge fit his name well. His lithe body was encased in all black. His face was finely chiseled, like a statue come to life. His onyx black hair was straight with a gleam of blue from the sunlight. Silky strands swept down over his brow to almost cover his steel grey eyes.
    “Who do we have here?” He took a step towards me.
    Dagger pulled me back a step.
    “You’re hurting me,” I gasped. Dagger seemed to realize how tight he was holding on and relaxed his arms enough for me to take a deep breath.
    Julie scowled at us. “We need a place to stay,” she told him.
    “I’m booked, sorry.” His lips lifted in a smirk. His eyes darted to Julie and came back to rest on me.
    “Listen, you over dramatized Batman, we have no other choice. We barely escaped from West End House and we have to figure out where the next best place to hide her is.” Julie’s thumb jerked towards me in emphasis.
    “Mmhmm, and you thought you’d just use my location to figure all this out? Unless I’ve been told otherwise, my house is not a ‘safe house’ for your kind,” he sneered.
    “Our kind?”