Serpentine Love by Sabine A.Reed

would find Isaac soon. Archan’s wizards were powerful
and the soldiers were armed with guns. He wanted her out of danger
as soon as possible.
    They entered a room lit with
battery-operated flashlights placed on the floor. “Archan, this man
followed us here.”
    Archan was sitting on a chair, drinking
coffee from a Styrofoam cup when Arya entered. His hand faltered in
mid-air as he stared at his old protégé in surprise.
    “ You amaze me,” he said and
lifted the cup to his lips to take a slow sip. “I spared your life,
even though you failed me. Dare I ask why you came
here?”
    “ Where is Isaac?” Arya got
straight to the point. There was no sense in denying his reasons
for coming here. In any case, all he had to do was to distract them
until Maya found Isaac and got him out of the place safe and sound.
“What did you do to him?”
    “ Well, well!” Archan drained
the cup in one big gulp and placed it back on the table. “You seem
to have developed quite a likening for the old snake
lover.”
    “ Where is he?” Arya took a
step forward.
    Archan had six men with him. Two of
them stood behind him now. One had brought Arya here. That meant
there were three more men in the warehouse. Arya hoped Maya didn’t
have the misfortunate to meet them.
    “ Rest assured, I’m not going
to hurt him,” Archan drawled in his typical lazy manner.
    Arya was not fooled. The man was
dangerous and untrustworthy. It would be foolish to take his words
to be true.
    “ I just need a little
information from him. After all, you’re the one who said he knew
something about the inagimi.”
    “ I said he might’ve
information. I was mistaken. He knows nothing,” Arya
said.
    Archan stood up. “Well…I would prefer
to talk to him myself…in my own manner.”
    “ Don’t hurt him.”
    “ Arya, Arya.” Archan
stretched his lips in a cold smile. “You hurt my feelings. I’m a
civilized man. If he tells me what I need to know, he’ll be able to
leave in no time.”
    Arya resisted the let loose a fireball.
Archan would be protected by magical wards. Arya would be dead
before the fireball even reached Archan. Despite his magic, he
couldn’t duel with three wizards at the same time. He was
outnumbered and these men were ruthless. They would kill him before
he managed to reach their boss, and that would leave Maya alone to
deal with them. That he could not…would not risk.
    “ He knows nothing,” Arya
said. “Think about it. Why would he deny knowledge regarding the
inagimi? That information alone would give him an opportunity to
earn so much money and fame.”
    “ There are some foolish men
who prize loyalty and humanity above money and fame.” Archan
scratched the side of his neck with his long neatly trimmed nails.
“Tell me, Arya. How did you manage to get so banged up and
bruised?”
    “ I fell down the
mountain.”
    “ Who freed you from the old
man’s study where we’d left you?”
    “ His assistant. He has
already gone to the police for help.”
    “ I find that hard to
believe. Isaac’s boys had taken hikers up the mountain before we
entered his cottage. There was no one there, except for you.” He
moved to the front of the table. “You are lying to me and I want to
know why?”
    Arya thought carefully before
answering. Isaac was tending to Arya when Archan and his men bust
in on them. Instead of questioning Arya, Archan ordered his men to
tie him and take Isaac along. Clearly, he was now regretting his
decision. He wanted to know why Arya was up on the mountain
alone.
    Had he begin to suspect that Arya knew
something about the inagimi?
    “ Perhaps you’ll believe me
when the police surround this warehouse and force you into a
battle?” Arya said.
    Ignoring his comment, Archan gazed at
the scars on Arya’s face and neck. “How did you get those
scars?”
    “ I’ve already told you that
I fell down.”
    “ That was clumsy of you.” He
tapped his fingers on the table. “Did a magic fairy heal