Caleb reaches over, intent clear on his face as he grabs her wrist. “Let go of the girl first. Not like she’ll be able to go far with the four of us here, and making her injuries worse simply means that much longer until you can harvest a dose, right?”
Eyes flashing with murderous rage, she gets in his face. “Listen here-“ A wet gurgle cuts off her words, the man beside her putting his fist through her chest. I watch in stunned horror as he yanks it back out, taking her heart with him. Chucking it aside like yesterday’s newspaper, he wipes his bloody hand off on his jeans.
“Sorry, guys,” he states, not looking remorseful in the slightest. “Hit my breaking point.”
Xander cracks his neck. “We all did, Aiden. You just beat Devin to the punch by half a second.”
“Literally.” Caleb snorts before turning to me. “You alright?
My gaze bounces between the four of them while I take a tentative step backward. “Yes?”
He lifts his hands in surrender. “We’re not going to hurt you, Risa. We’re here to take you home.”
“Oh, well, thank heavens for that.” I take another step, though we all know that I have little hope of outrunning them if they were to actually shift. Still, I’m nothing if not determined, so as I weigh my options, putting a little distance between us helps me think. “And home would be...?”
Devin lifts an eyebrow from his position beside Xander, his blue eyes standing out startlingly in the darkness. “With the other incorruptibles.”
He clearly drank from one recently, with eyes that bright.
“So you’re gathering up the last unicorns? Driving them into the sea?”
Three faces look back at me with utter confusion, but Xander of all people smirks. “No red bulls here. More like the dogs that keep the wolves away from the sheep.”
I take a larger step back, testing the waters, but none of them make a move to stop me. “So, what? My mom hired you to track me down, and you went along with it for the sake of stealing me away from her? To toss me in with the rest of your collection?”
Caleb runs a hand through his hair, turning his pleading gaze to me, begging me to believe him. “I know it looks bad. And, well, sounded bad, thus far. But Everly, she,” he trails off.
Aiden finishes, “Was a bitch. A jealous one at that. Until we had a clear shot, got her away from those kids and knew we could stop her before she used you as a hostage, we had to buy some time. There were too many unknowns to risk it before. Gods know, we didn’t expect you to take down that bastard yourself.”
“So you knew she’d never marry me off, but chose to play into the angle for an excuse to get close?”
Xander tilts his head, watching me take another cautious step. “But when it became clear that she was jealous of the attention you were getting, Devin and I thought it’d be better to look unimpressed, get her to drop her guard a bit instead of trying to ditch us. If she thought the four of us were on your side instead of hers, she absolutely would have threatened to tear your throat out to keep us at bay while she drove off with you.”
Caleb sighs. “It was a shit situation all around. But it’s done now, so we can take you back.”
I hold his stare. “I appreciate what you guys went through, but you have to see things from my side. Everyone keeps claiming to want to keep me safe, to take me home with them. Best of intentions are great and all, but not a single damn person is asking whatIwant, like I couldn’t possibly make that sort of decision for myself.” Gesturing at the four of them, I shake my head, retreating a little further. “I have no interest following some strangers to a random place. If you actually want to help me, then just let me go home. Tomyhome. I’ll be fine, I don’t need you to protect me.”
While the four of them exchange a silent look, I bolt. Aimed for the woods, I push myself harder than I ever have before. Faster, I sprint until my muscles are on fire, thighs burning, and chase that state of tunnel vision like my ass is on fire. If I can just convince myself that I’m about to die, to get the fear-induced adrenaline to course through my veins, then I’ll be okay. All of the pain will fade, my instincts will keep me alive.
If only I can slip into it.
Footsteps thunder behind me, but I don’t look back, focusing on a point in the distance and racing for it like my life depends on it, because it does. But more than that, if they’re after incorruptibles? I need to give Hunter a chance to get Adelaide far away, and the fifteen minutes I told them to wait has almost passed. I might not be able to do much, and won’t stand a chance in an actual fight against any of these guys unless luck is on my side. But worst come to worst, if I can taunt them into biting me, I can make it out of this... so long as one or two of them don’t realize what happened to their friends until it’s too late.
Breaking through the tree line, I hear fabric ripping behind me, at least one of them shifting at last. Without breaking stride, I plunge my hand into my pocket, pulling out the jagged rock and slicing across my palm. After the blood wells to the surface, I slap the nearest tree, using it to brace myself as I swing around with a wince as my arm throbs, veering off course.
Because if he shifted, his mask will have fallen off.
A warning growl sounds out far too close as I smack another tree trunk, changing direction again and weaving between the trees, hoping it’ll keep them from building up too much momentum. Pebbles shift beneath my feet, threatening to wipe me out as I tear down the current path, trying to ignore the stitch in my side. Every breath is harder to draw than the last, but I refuse to slow down. If I were to attempt climbing a tree, I might escape normal wolves, but not ones that can revert back to men. Not unless I drive them mad with bloodlust first.
“Aiden! What the hell is wrong with you?! Stand. Down!” Xander shouts, chasing after his friend.
My mother sent them away when Zane bit me, and though they may have been listening in, it would have been difficult to figure out that he was feral instead of simply hooked on my blood and finding it hard to stop. And unless you were there to witness it, no one would believe that he died from the poison in my veins. Whether it was my body building up antibodies to naturally protect me from when I was turned, if it was from the feedings and traces slipping in as they bit me, or something else entirely, it doesn’t really matter.
It means that no one can use me for my blood anymore. No one but them.
As the ground begins to dip into a shallow valley, I take a running leap, grabbing the lowest tree branch. Using the momentum to my advantage, fur brushes along the back of my ankles as I pull my feet up. Aiden skids down the hill, stirring up a cloud of dirt beneath his paws, teeth bared.
Scrambling, my left arm screaming from the abuse and palm stinging, I haul myself up another branch, climbing out of his reach. It won’t do anything to stop the other three, but better than being mauled to death. And hopefully, if they get close enough to grab me, I can tear their masks off and knock them out of the tree, waiting down the clock until the guys can sense me again.
