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"Just run!" he says, his words soft, but still a command.
Run? Are they running? Are they escaping too?"We should be with them!"
But he doesn't listen, just keeps yanking me along.
In a fair fight, no way are these shadow beasts guarding us enough to take Phantom, Onyx, and Dusk, but something tells me that they aren’t about to fight fair. They’re fighting for what they think is their freedom, for what they believe will stop all the death, and those are powerful excuses to put a good defense. But Dusk and Phantom and Onyx are fighting for their lives.Allof their lives, even the ones fighting them.
So if my men dove into the darkness of the woods to pick them off one by one, that might not be the fair fight they would prefer, but it's most definitely smarter than taking them on out in the open. It's the only thing that will give them a chance to get away, even if they have to hurt or kill some of their brethren to do it. I just have to hang onto the hope that my guys can win.
Rayne pulls me through the forest, then down behind a boulder. It's confusing. Shouldn't we be ducking and weaving through the woods? Making noise to split the forces so they don't all go after my men? I want to be sure I'm helping in some way, but Rayne has his body wrapped around mine, a barrier between me and our enemies.
"Where are we meeting them?" I whisper.
Rayne doesn't answer.
"Shouldn't we be making more noise? Drawing their focus this way too so the guys can get away?"
He shushes me, and my anger boils.
"Talk, right this second, or I'm running right to the shadow realm!"
Rayne sighs then whispers, "They aren't trying to get away."
They aren't trying to get away?I feel the color drain from my face.They'rethe distraction.They were only trying to get us to freedom while sacrificing themselves? Those idiots! Why the hell--?
I push backward, using my weight against the boulder to move Rayne, but he’s strong, stronger than I am, stronger than he was before he took Adrik’s body. He holds me so I can barely move. “Let me go!” I struggle and shift and writhe.
“Stop, Ann! They’re warriors. They don’t need to be worried about you while they’re fighting the forces of darkness.” He’s almost shouting at me now.
My anger changes. I hold myself still and feel a strange coolness flow through me. If I keep struggling against Rayne, I'm never going to get away, and with each second that passes, my men are in more danger. All those big warriors... they could easily kill them. But if our enemies have instructions to keep them alive and bring them to the shadow realm, they have a fate worse than death waiting for them there.
Rayne finally relaxes behind me. "If they get away, they'll follow our direction. You'll see this was the right choice. What they wanted."
Unfortunately, I know Rayne too well. It's in his voice. He doesn't think my men will escape. He sees them as already dead.
Angry tears sting my eyes.I need to save my men. Not as a warrior. Just as me. Whatever I can do to help. Please. Please.
Suddenly, I feel it. That strange and unexpected power inside of me. It blossoms, not like something I can physically touch, but almost like a memory. A forewarning of something to come. Hopefully, I can wield the magic without understanding how.
Feeling more confident, I slam my head back into Rayne's nose as hard as I can, then try to escape.
And fail.
A string of curses explodes from his lips, but instead of releasing me, he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder. “Goddammit, Ann! Stop it.”
I'm shocked, struggling against his rock-solid body as he races with me through the woods.How many times do these idiots have to take off with me? At what point will they stop treating me like a child who needs to be protected and treat me instead like a partner? Someone who can help?
Rayne slows, breathing hard. “They said they’ve lost. They just want you safe, Ann. And you have to know they wouldn't send you away if they thought there was any chance.” He continues walking, brushing vines and weeds out of the way. “They want you to get to freedom. To be safe. If the shadow king gets his hands on you…”
I don’t give a fuck what he has to say. I want to go back now. “If you ever loved me, you’ll take me back.”
He ignores me. “Rayne!” I’m screaming now, pounding his back, jerking my body back and forth, using the strength in my legs to no avail. I’m stuck until I can figure out how to get back to the fighting. How to save the men who mean more to me than anything else in this world or any other.
"I'll never forgive you if I lose them, if I had a chance to help them and you wouldn't let me. This isn't a threat, it's a promise."
His steps slow even more, but he keeps going. Further from the men who need me, even if they don't know it yet.
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