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She swung the driftwood into the closest man’s head, putting all her weight behind the strike. She did it with so much force that she felt the muscles in her back pull. The sound of the impact was horrid and made her gasp despite herself.
He toppled over the log, falling limply behind it.
She turned, searching for the second man. Roar had him on the ground already, trapped in a headlock. She heard the guard’s feet buck and scrape on the dirt. A soft gurgle, and then nothing.
Roar sprang up. He held his hands in front of him oddly. Then she saw why.
“Your hands are tied?” she whispered.
“Yes. I showed you. ”
“Just get Soren. ”
Roar bent by one the sleeping figures. A second later, Soren popped up.
Their noise had woken Twig—another Aud. Aria saw him assess the situation and come to the same conclusion she had. If they all tried to leave, they’d wake Sable’s guards elsewhere—who would be armed and likely wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.
“Later,” she said to him. Later, she’d figure out how to help the rest of them.
Twig nodded. “Get them out of here. ”
Aria melted back into the woods. She caught up with Roar and Soren—who sounded like a rhinoceros crashing through the undergrowth, but she could do nothing to help that.
They ran for half an hour until Roar stopped them.
“We’re good,” he said. “There’s no one behind us. ”
Sweat ran down Aria’s back, and her legs trembled. Waves broke gently in the distance, and the trees rustled with a breeze.
She looked at Roar, noticing the dark shadow pooled under his left eye. A black eye. From fighting Sable’s men, she realized.
“What’s wrong with you, Roar?” she yelled, unleashing the fury and fear she’d been holding back. “You attacked Sable’s guards?”
He jerked back in surprise. “Yes! You were alone in that Hover and I thought . . . I was worried, all right?” Roar looked at Soren, who put his hands up.
“I wasn’t worried,” Soren said. “I just felt like hitting somebody when he did. ”
Aria shook her head, still furious, but she couldn’t waste any more time. “You have to go. Both of you. Go somewhere. I need to get back. ”
Roar scowled. “What? Aria, you’re coming with us. ”
“I can’t, Roar! I promised Perry I’d watch Talon. I have to go back. ”
“I made him the same promise. ”
“But you can’t keep it anymore, can you? You should have thought before you made yourself a target. ”
“I was already a target!”
“Well, you made it worse!” she yelled, her eyes filling.
“He killed Liv and beat Perry. I had to try to get you!” Roar tugged at his hair in anger, then dropped his hands. “How is what I did different from this—from what you just did?”
“It’s different because my plan worked. ”
He pointed. “You going back there—to Sable—is a plan that worked?”
“I just saved your life, Roar!”
