That was when she saw the Society Guard rushing into the bottlenecked streets. A strange vapor emanated from their water magic. People were coughing and falling over.

“What are they doing to them?” Kerrigan gasped. “They’re innocent.”

“No one is innocent in a riot.”

“The Red Masks started this! Not the protestors.”

“A convenient answer. I don’t see any Red Masks, do you?”

Kerrigan rubbed her still-burning eyes and looked around at the destruction before her, but he was right. She didn’t see any Red Masks. He’d let them get away. By the time the Guard had returned, all of the masks had been safely hidden. No one the wiser. She wanted to scream.

Just then dragons rained water down on the burning buildings. Society members were in the skies, taking care of what the Guard hadn’t cleaned up in the streets. Kerrigan could already see shackles coming out. Arrests were being made all over the place. It was wrong. So wrong. This wasn’t even their fault.

“You can’t do this!”

Lorian scoffed. “What? My job? You’ll find that I can.”

Then, with her senses still addled from the smoke and his superior footwork, he whirled her in place, kicking her knees out from behind. Kerrigan gasped as she fell forward—hard. Gravel and bits of building dug into her knees. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched the devastation.

Lorian wrenched her arms behind her back. “By authority of the Society, I am placing you under arrest.”

Shackles circled her wrists, closing so tight that they nearly cut off circulation. She gasped, doubling over as she realized they were magic-dampening manacles. It felt like a punch to the gut when she reached for her power and found only a yawning emptiness. And not just that, but they were also iron. Her half-Fae heritage kept them from making her completely recoil. Iron wasn’t exactly poisonous to Fae, but it was a deterrent, and many refused to go near it. The fact that Lorian had on protective gloves proved that he’d known what he was walking into.

Without another word, Lorian dragged her back to his dragon. Getting onto the beast with her hands behind her back was a feat, but Lorian shoved her into position, and without a backward glance, they were in the air. She leaned forward and gripped the dragon tight with her thighs.