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She shot into his arms, shifting. He caught her and flew straight up, but Margetta was on their heels.
Fuck. We’ve lost the cloak.
He moved faster than he ever had, with Margetta now in her wraith form, shrieking like a demon and almost on them.
But he felt Olivia’s cloak begin to descend all around them and as soon as he knew it was complete, he jerked them to the right and headed west as fast as he could.
Margetta’s shrieks sounded increasingly far away, which meant Olivia’s cloak had worked. They were invisible now.
He slowed and turned to see that he’d put at least two hundred yards between them and the Ancient Fae.
Margetta spun in a circle, hunting for them and began to descend lower and lower, looking for Olivia’s sign.
We need to get on the ground, Zane. And I think I’d better return to my wolf form and stay there. Can you handle that?
Of course.
She shifted in his arms. It took a bit of doing to keep hold of her while she lost her hands and feet and gained four paws.
As soon as she was back in wolf form, she said, Go ahead and drop me down.
Zane flew back in the direction he’d come in order to put them in line with Margetta on a southern course, then set Olivia on the ground. She took off loping and bounding. Once more he stuck close, flying just above her and this time working harder to stay within her cloak.
Margetta took the bait and began to follow. As soon as she drew close once more, Zane swept the wolf up into the air, then zig-zagged as the Ancient Fae let loose with her battle-energy. Red streaks of power flew past them.
A remnant caught him on the back of his arm, ripping the flesh open. He repressed a shout.
Are you hit?
Yes, but keep the cloak steady. I’ll make this work for us. If Margetta believes I’m wounded, she’ll keep taking the bait. And she won’t wonder why you keep running when I could fly you to safety.
You sure?
Yes. Fuck, that hurts.
How do you want to play this? Olivia pathed.
I think we should fake a tumble and let her draw close. I’ll leave blood in the dirt, but be ready to take off.
Let’s do it.
He levitated higher so that he could look down at Margetta. She moved slowly, dropping closer to the ground, examining the grass, dirt and rocks as she flew.
Zane plotted a direct course to a low line of hills and took off. When they were a safe distance from Margetta’s battle frequency, he set Olivia on the ground. He tracked with her as she ran for about a hundred yards.
Seeing Margetta back in pursuit, he once more caught Olivia up in his arms. But once he reached the hills, he told her to drop her cloak.
Just beyond the rise, he pretended to falter in the air and they both fell to earth. He did the hardest thing and ripped the wound open. He even gave a shout of pain that wasn’t hard to fake.
When he’d left enough blood on the ground, he picked Olivia back up while in her wolf form. As soon as she replaced the cloak, he took her straight up and to the west, again, wanting to see what Margetta would do.
Once she reached the accident site, she shifted to her fae shape, touched his blood, and brought it to her lips. He understood. She was making sure which of them had gotten hit.
The moment she smiled, Zane knew they had her; she’d taken the bait, hook-line-and-sinker.
We’ve got her now. She bought the ruse.
He flew ahead at least five miles, then dropped Olivia to plant more of the shifter trail Margetta could somehow detect. This time, however, he didn’t let the Ancient Fae
