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Emma veered to the right alongside Brannick, then flew up to the roof. A staccato of gunfire sounded. She felt a bullet whiz by.
She cleared the roof and immediately descended to a foot above the ground out of the line of fire. She saw the first shifter with the girl in his arms, dart into the forest. She had Vaughn’s ability now and didn’t hold back. She rushed forward so fast, she surprised herself. Aiming for the opening, she ignored the prolonged sound of gunfire coming from behind her.
Brannick stuck right with her as well.
Several shifters moved into the open field to cover them and were levitating and firing into the air. The noise soon became deafening.
The moment she made it into the dark cover of the pine trees, she began to slow, though she kept flying down the path to give room to those behind her.
She saw the original girl and shifter. She headed toward them, dropping off to the side as she slowed to a stop.
When she had her feet on the ground, the girl clinging to her neck slowly unwound her arms. She had a heavy bruise on her cheek, a sign of either the ride in the truck or how badly she’d been treated.
“Are we safe here?” How young her voice sounded. Emma winced. She couldn’t be more than twelve or thirteen.
“Yes. Don’t worry. You’re among friends. You’ll be home within a couple more hours. Okay?”
The girl’s eyes were wide. She wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Okay.” She sat down beside the other girl on a thick bank of pine needles.
Brannick settled his girl there as well. The rest followed in a quick wave until all six were once more huddled together. The girl who had been unconscious had awakened but looked dazed.
Brannick gestured to Fergus. “Do you and your pack have a way to get these girls back to their families?”
Fergus looked around and answered quietly, “We do.”
“Tell me.”
“We’ve got tunnels we can use, but I’m thinking we should go within the next few minutes. We already know what Loghry does when his product is stolen from him.”
Brannick glanced at the girls. “Make it happen.”
When Fergus got on the phone, the ghosts caught Emma’s attention once more, only she didn’t sense danger this time. Instead, they flew above the young women, swaying back and forth and smiling. She felt their celebration and would have levitated to join them, but the human girls were already in a state of shock.
She merely blew kisses to Becca and her sisters.
She glanced back up the path, in the direction she’d entered the forest. She then turned in a circle because she didn’t see Vaughn.
All the girls were here now, including the one Vaughn had carried in his arms. This meant someone else had transported her the rest of the way.
Emma headed in the direction of the now faint gunfire. From a distance, she could see that the shifters were still engaged in a shoot-out, but Vaughn was nowhere in sight.
She moved off the path where the fighting was heaviest. In a quiet voice, she made her presence known to those Savage Border Patrol officers who made up part of the reserve force. “I’m looking for one of the Crescent Border Patrol officers.”
The nearest shifter gestured to the left of the path. “Over there, Ma’am. He’s been shot.”
Her heart fell so hard, she nearly stumbled. She was going to ask if he was dead, but that’s when she caught sight of him. He was on the ground, flat on his back and breathing, thank God.
She could see he was in a lot of pain. He had an arm slung over his forehead and his lips were a tight line.
Vaughn?
His arm dropped away, and he looked around until he saw her. She crouched as she moved toward him. The tree line was only twe
nty feet away. A stray bullet could catch her if she wasn’t careful.
When he saw her, he continued telepathically. Emma, thank God you’re okay.
She looked at his bloody leg. It was torn up bad, the jeans cut away. She could see bone.
