Orrin made sure the straps on his armor were tight and remembered to belt on his sword this time.

“I’m not saying Tony shouldn’t come,” Madi argued again. “I’m saying we should get reinforcements. My father can have half the Guard out there tonight.”

Orrin checked to make sure the sword could still be drawn. He’d nicked it a bit on Tymon’s ribs. It grated a bit toward the end but otherwise came out fine.

“I’m going to drop Tymon off with your dad,” Orrin answered her finally. “I’ll ask Jude and Brandt to come. I have no chance against the teleporter. She just shrugged my spells off.”

Tony returned from upstairs with a crossbow nestled in his arms and a satchel across his shoulder. “Did you get a read on her?”

Orrin slammed the sword back into the hilt. “No. It happened too fast and I didn’t even try to [Identify] her.”

Tony grunted as he hit the first floor landing. “Learn from the mistake. Knowing her name could give old Silas a lead.”

“But he’ll have one. When we tell him what Tymon said. Another Lord of Dey kidnapped Daniel right out from Silas’ protection,” Orrin said as they traipsed back into Tony’s kitchen. “He’ll be able to tell the others and-“

“And do what exactly? How much power do you think Silas has? Without all four working in concert, nothing gets done in the entire city and even then, it’s only half-assed.”

“My father does the best he can with-“

Tony waved a hand. “I’m not saying he doesn’t try. Think, girl. What exactly can he do with the word of one small fish like this one.”

Tony gestured at the sleeping body of Tymon.

Madi hung her head in defeat. “Not much. He could wake a magistrate but without witnesses...”

Orrin looked back and forth at the two. “Are you telling me that Silas can’t do shit against another Lord kidnapping and attacking someone right at his own front door?”

Madi silently began undoing the knots on Tymon’s bonds.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” Orrin continued. “Isn’t he supposed to rule this city? What dumb person set up the city so the Lords could act without repercussions.”

Tony was rummaging in drawers and pulling out crossbow bolts a few at a time. “If one Lord could just accuse another of something and have him thrown in prison, Dey would have fallen a long time ago. It’s no secret all four houses have their share of skeletons in the closet. Shit, a few generations back, the Timpe House tried a coup d’état. Only the family members directly caught were executed and the Timpe Lord continued his rule for another three years before a family member took him out.”

Orrin helped Madi pick Tymon up off the chair. Between the two of them, they could just lift the man. “Oh, Tony. I’ll invite you to our party and use [Utility Ward].”

Orrin sent an invite to the man but Tony shook his head. “You better not use any spells except [Teleport]. You are still recovering. Leave the rescue mission to us.”

Orrin clenched his teeth to stop a retort. He knew he had already cycled a few times but from Tony’s earlier assessment, was still within normal parameters...for him.

Madi turned to go through the front door first, doing a side shuffle to keep Tymon from falling over. Once they got down the front steps, Tony put a hand on Orrin’s shoulder and gave the all clear.

Orrin cast [Teleport] and moved all four of them to the Catanzano estate.

The area was chaos incarnate.

Guards ran up to them as soon as they appeared and tried to push them back. Silas’ personal guards appeared and attempted to pull Madi inside. A bystander caught sight of Tony and screamed. All the while, men with axes chopped down the frozen gate still standing in front of the house. Enough had been cut away that people could duck through, but the work was still far from done.

“What is going on here?” Silas’ voice pierced the darkness and Orrin sighed in relief as the man wheeled himself over. “Release them at once. That’s my daught-“

Silas stopped talking at the sight of Tony. His usually stoic face went through so many emotions at once that Orrin couldn’t get a read on the man.

“Hi there Sly-lus. Your daughter has asked for my help cleaning up a little mess. We brought you a present.” Tony smirked, projecting his voice into the minds of all those nearby. Orrin heard a few more screams and most of the locals left quickly for their homes.

“Anthony. Whatever you were thinking of doing, you can crawl back to your little hidey-hole now. We don’t need your kind of help.” Silas pointed at two guards and gestured. “Please take this man inside for questioning. He was one of those who attacked here tonight.”

The guards looked at each other and one paled. “Begging your pardon sire, but Mr. Anthony doesn’t fit the description of-“

“Not him, you incompetent fool. The knocked-out man my daughter is carrying. The one with blood all over his clothing. I’m assuming you retrieved your sword, Orrin?”

Orrin grunted as the men took Tymon off his hands and nodded. “Tony helped us find the people who took Daniel. We know where they-“

“I think this conversation can wait until we get inside,” Silas cut him off. “Thank you for the help, Anthony. You may go now.” Silas turned and pushed his wheels toward the house.

Orrin stepped forward and grabbed the back of Silas’ seat. With a burst of anger, he twirled the man around and bent close, getting into Silas’ face. Orrin ignored the sound of steel being drawn and whispered quietly to Madi’s father. “Tony has helped find my friend, who you promised to keep safe. You failed in your task. He’s with me. Get the stick out of your ass.”

Silas held up a hand to his guards without breaking eye contact with Orrin. “Be careful, Orrin. There is only so far my patience goes. Quiet Anthony will not enter my home.”

Orrin nodded slowly and backed away. “Fine. I only came for Brandt and Jude anyway. If you want Tymon, the man I caught while you were inside, to talk just mention spiders. He’ll tell you who orchestrated all this.”

Orrin looked around and spotted both the men he’d just named. “You two coming or what?” He sent a party invite to both.

Jude accepted immediately.

Brandt turned to Silas, who waved a hand. “Bring the woman back alive if possible. Take eight more of your own choosing. Rescue is priority.”

Brandt accepted the invite.

“I can’t [Teleport] that many men,” Orrin mumbled, surprised at the elder Catanzano’s orders. “I can only take a few at a time.”

“Coordinate with Brandt. Come along Madeleine.” Silas pivoted his chair and didn’t look back.

“I’ll be going with them to save my party member,” Madi called out in a strong and loud voice.

The chair lurched to a stop. Silas peered over his shoulder and glanced at the dozens of witnesses around. He exchanged another look with Brandt, who nodded again. With a sigh, Madi’s father said, “As you wish. Please be home by morning. We’re having those little pancakes you adore.”

Orrin watched the Lord of Dey slowly move back inside his home. “Well, that could have gone better.”

Tony laughed in his head. “Boy, you have no idea how close you came to being killed in a spectacular fashion just now.”

Tony obviously hadn’t spoken that to anyone but him, because Madi said at almost the same time. “He is such an ass.”

Orrin pursed his lips and then waved everyone over. Brandt spread out a map on the ground and pointed. “So, here’s the plan. I’ll take Tony and scout ahead at where we think they’ve got Daniel. If it’s only the woman and we can take her, I’ll jump in and grab him and come right back. If there are more people, I’ll need your help figuring out what to do, Brandt.”

Brandt raised a hand. “We have two [Locationist]s we can use. Both can only move ten miles in a jump but can take four men each. We can’t bring horses, though. That’s at least twenty miles out, if not more. It’ll take a few hours to get close enough to be of help.”

Orrin closed his eyes and started running figures. If I cycle and cast max buffs, I can [Telepo-

Tony slapped him upside the head. “No. You turn it off right now.”

Brandt and Jude moved their hands to their weapons but Madi waved them off. “Is he thinking of playing hero again?”

The other guards looked at each other and began to whisper.

“I’m not a [Hero]. I just want to get my friend back. I can [Teleport] us all there now. It’ll take a few jumps but we can all be there right away.”

Brandt gave a small smile. “We want to get to Daniel, too. But that bitch that took him couldn’t have jumped him twice. She’ll have needed to travel by foot. And I’m sure our boy spent every minute making that a pain for her.”

Orrin took a deep breath and steadied himself. “It’s worth getting there faster. I can do it.”

“You’ll die,” Tony spoke into everyone’s heads. The certainty of the words spoken into their minds made it real. Everybody gave Orrin a disapproving look.

“Daniel wouldn’t want you to be reckless,” Madi said softly. “He’s already going to be pissed off enough when we save his butt.”

Jude chuckled. “Come on, Orrin. Have a little faith in us. We’ll find their camp easy enough.”

Orrin closed his eyes and let go of [Mind Bastion]. His MP was nearly full from his last cycle but he felt the beginnings of a headache.

“Well done,” Tony whispered to Orrin alone. “True growth is hard but self-discipline pays dividends. I’m proud of you.”

Orrin pushed away the tears of anger and sadness as his emotions flooded back in full force. “So I can cast [Teleport] eight times. Madi, Tony, Jude, and two of you can come with me. Brandt, you get the other eight and your teleporters to meet us here.” He pointed to the map, halfway between Dey and the jelly stained mark on the map. “I’ll find you and we can find Daniel.”

“Sir, if I may?” One of the guards Brandt had called over spoke quickly. “What is going on? Who are we going after?”

Brandt responded in a gruff, military clip. “Someone kidnapped while under our protection. That’s all you need to know, Jenson.”

Another guard rubbed her foot on the back of her leg. “I think what Jenson is asking, sir, is who are we up against? Is this Daniel kid someone’s bastard? Is this a house dispute or does it have something to do with the war with the elves? We just want to know what we’re walking into.”

Brandt’s eyes narrowed. “Does it matter? We have the honor of House Catanzano stained tonight by three attackers, and you care who it is that did it? Whether it’s the elven army or a demon lord, we will go in there and knock them out cold. Within two days, I want everyone in Dey talking about the corpses hanging over the gates, not the attack and embarrassment we suffered tonight. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” A chorus of guards answered.

“Get your gear, we’re traveling light and we’re moving out in five minutes.”

The guards all ran, leaving only Brandt and Jude with Madi and Tony. Orrin rolled up the map and handed it back to Tony.

“Do you have any idea who it is?” Brandt whispered once the last guard was clear of sight. “Who took Daniel?”

“Lord Wendeln but he’s working for or with someone else, we think,” Orrin answered.

Brandt’s intake of breath was his only response. Jude was staring at the ground and shaking his head. “No way would he go that far.”

“I don’t care who it is,” Orrin said, his eyes flickering in the light of the torches all around. “I’m going to get Daniel back and then we are going to make somebody pay for this.”