**BOOK 1 IN THE TALES FROM DROMISSE SERIES**
Silvia considers herself the luckiest woman in all Dromisse. Her soon-to-be fiancé, Duncan Ora, is a candidate for Light Within, the greatest gift that the Almighty Gale can bestow upon someone. Then a ra...
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Jackson collects both magic dampening cuffs in his hands. "Now what?"
Duncan glances at the struggling Morissa. "Now," he says, "we get you outta here. Morissa, will you be quiet?" He arches his eyebrows high to his hairline.
Morissa's eyes burn through his skull, then flick away. She gives a rigid nod.
Duncan releases her and edges toward the cell door. He grasps the lock, and with a waltz of sparkles in his eyes, the door opens. "Stay here," he says over his shoulder. "I'll take care of the other officers."
"What're ya gonna do?" Jack says.
Duncan shrugs. "Enchantment, probably." He slips out of the cell like a stealthy cat, invisibility cascading over his body. There's another clap of thunder outside, and rain hits the ceiling like bullets. He slides his feet soundlessly across the floor, stepping toward the main area of the police department.
"Can y'all believe it?" An officer sits at a desk, leaning back in his chair. "Rimis! That boy's been Rimis all this time! And the Council kept quiet about it!"
A second officer sips from a mug. "It's not exactly our business to know, Tom."
"I'd say it is," Tom says. "Got that dragon livin' up in our city."
"And you're goin' to let him walk out of here." Duncan appears with eyes blitzing like crimson sparklers. "You're not goin' to say anythin' to the other officers. You're goin' to turn the other way while we walk."
The pair goes rigid, their jaws gawping like fish, their eyes glazing over from the power of his magic. A smirk draws up Duncan's mouth. Too easy. These backwoods cops don't have any idea how to handle a fully trained High Priest. It feels good to exert control over them. They're like putty in his hands, like grasshoppers between his fingers, so easy to crush. Wad them into a tiny ball, watch their lives wither away. Feel their fear as they set their quivering gazes upon him, knowing that he's the last sight they'll see in their lives—
Stop. Lightning jitters through Duncan's lungs. He presses his fingers to his temples. "Look away," he says to the officers, and they move obediently with machinelike precision. He marches back to the holding cell and beckons to his family. "Come on."
Jackson is the first out, followed by Laurie, and lastly Morissa. All four of them are deathly silent while they pass by the enchanted guards. Duncan conjures a disguise of the gruff Sheriff James before leading the Stuarts into the rain. Lightning dashes through the sky and strikes the distant plains.
Where should they go? They can't exactly go back to their house. And they can't be around Hazel, not even if Duncan fully trusted her.The room in her bag wouldn't be enough to contain all of them for an indefinite period of time. But what are his other options? Who might ...?
"Morissa," Duncan says, "do you know where Ms. Charles lives?"
"Ms. Charles?" Morissa shields her eyes from the rain. "Third Avenue, I believe. First house on the kiddy corner." She peers around his shoulder. "Why—?"
