AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Eight
There was a howl.
It lifted in the evening air, lonely and angry, and sent a shiver down Zee’s spine. She hadn’t spent as much of her life in a wolf pack as Nico had. It didn’t matter. Her wolf knew the unique song of a fellow Therian.
Nobody spoke, but along with that connection to Niko, she sensed an increased urgency and now it had a focus.
Hannah.
The sound of a firearm, the old-fashioned kind not often used outside of recreation these days, echoed through heavily forested terrain. The wolf’s song ended abruptly and they all flinched at the sharp yelp that followed.
It was a painful jolt to the senses, obscene with its plaintive, broken pain.
Zee drew in a deep breath, her instincts screaming at her. Her nose caught the scent of something—no, somebody familiar, but it was more than that.
Shit!
Snarling, she grabbed Niko’s arm and spun, using their momentum to take both of them to the ground.
“Down!” she ordered in a low voice to the scout who’d veered to avoid crashing into them.
Analise had already dropped, flat on her belly, legs stretched out behind her so she made the lowest profile possible.
“There are more people here. Too many. New scents,” Zee whispered, panting hard, struggling to control the wolf that kept trying to take her over.
“How?” Analise demanded. “I’m only picking up on that handful of scents.”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but... ” Zee pressed her bare palms to the earth and hissed. “My brothers... ”
Her growl went savage.
Niko rested a hand on her shoulder.
“They’re still alive,” he said.
“I know. They better stay that way.” Closing her eyes, she reached out, stretching her senses toward one brother in particular, while fisting her hand in the grass. She didn’t know why.
But Zee knew, on a deep, visceral level, that she could reach Saint if she wanted. If she tried. They were, after all, part Fae and earth connected all Fae.
The ground pulsed under her hand.
Startled, she looked down and saw a faint, warm glow, softly golden, seeping into the ground.
The air went tight a second later and she gaped at the black void that sputtered into view in front of her.
Saint all but fell out of it, blood and other things spilling from his left eye socket. Niko leaped up, catching him before he could hit the dirt.
Shots came flying toward them, but Niko, with feline grace and speed, twisted and spun, putting them out of reach by lunging behind a massive forest giant, the tree’s trunk so broad, none of the shooters could get to the Therians taking shelter behind it.
Zee started to crawl toward them, but movement caught her eyes and she swung her head around. Stunned, she gaped at Etan as he stepped through the black void, a woman’s body draped over his shoulder. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and a wildness she’d long associated with Saint. As Etan went down on his knees in front of the void, the gaping black maw seemed to sputter, as if failing.
“You did it, bro,” Etan said, catching himself before he dropped the burden on his shoulder. He jerked, a bloody rose appearing in his free shoulder, a bullet from their as-yet-unseen assailants tearing into him. Etan kept moving until he had the cover of a tree at his back, like Niko. “Let it go, Saint. You with me?”
“Yeah.” Saint’s voice was slurred, but strong enough.
The void closed.
Niko stood, his eyes meeting hers across the distance. He held a finger to his lips, then pointed up. Mute, and still several yards away, she watched Niko’s claws slice out and then he jumped, those sharp claws sinking into the trunk of the tree high overhead. Soon, he was lost to her sight, the branches barely rustling to mark his progress.
