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I don’t know how long we’ve been running for, but when we pause, I’m out of breath and lean against Bardhyl, who holds me, gasping for air himself.
“Hell, please tell me we’re near the hill.” Lucien drops the bag to the ground, hands on his knees, sucking in rushed breaths.
For a long moment, no one says anything, but we all breathe heavily. Drenched, we look like drowned rats, and I might have laughed if I weren’t so exhausted.
I glance around us and know exactly where we are now… in the woods at the rear of the settlement where I scaled the fence. And farther to my right, the mountain rises like a giant. “Up there.” I point, and Lucien groans. “We’re close.”
“Fuck. When you saidhill, I assumed a small hill, not a freaking monstrous mountain to scale.” He huffs and picks up his bag.
Bardhyl stiffens, his eyes locked on something behind me, and suddenly, he shoves me to stand behind him.
I stumble to catch my balance, terror strangling my lungs. Have we been discovered? I step out from behind him, my muscles bunched along the length of my back.
Farther ahead near a cluster of trees stand three Shadow Monsters. They don’t charge us in a mad rush to attack. Instead, they watch us like the ones I saw on my run toward the back of the compound. I assumed they were lost from the herd, and technically, they wouldn’t have been drawn to me. But why aren’t they coming for Lucien and Bardhyl?
“What’s wrong with them?” the men ask in unison.
“I don’t know, but the more I look at them, the more I recognize them. Not only did these three follow me in the woods before I came to rescue your asses, but they were part of the horde that attacked right after I ran away from Mad and his men gave chase.”
All three of us just stare at them for a few moments, but they’re too far for me to make out clearly if they’re the same Shadow Monsters or different ones. They look so similar.
“We move and keep an eye on them.” Lucien has already drawn his blade, and I take the lead toward the mountain.
Every few steps, I look back to the undead following. They aren’t running and keeping a fair distance.
“Something’s up. Since when don’t those fuckers attack?”
Lucien has a point and I don’t know the answer, though could it be related somehow to me still being immune? I don’t see how.
“I should probably mention,” I start and then my voice fades as worry creeps over my thoughts at what I’m about to reveal to them. Do I really want to tell them about my immunity and have them jump to the conclusion that I’m still sick? I’ve never felt stronger than I when transformed, but I also want to stop hiding secrets.
“What is it?” Lucien asks as he starts our ascent, moving quickly, the rain slowing to a trickle. Sticking to the paths with less foliage and more trees to grab on to helps us travel faster.
“Somehow, I’m still invisible to the undead. I don’t know how, but—”
“You’re still sick?” Bardhyl pauses and steps in my path. “You said you transformed.”
Lucien takes my hand in his. “How can this happen?”
I shrug, and I want to hide from them, instantly regretting I said anything. I hate the pity in their voices, the strain in their eyes. That was the old me… the reject no one wanted, and I thought once I changed, I’d become someone new. Someone who fit.
“Not sure how or why. I don’t know if I’m still sick or maybe the injection Mad jabbed into me made me temporarily immune.”
I glance over my shoulder to confirm the zombies have stopped at the base of the mountain just staring at us. So, what is the deal with them then?
Little makes sense. “Please, can we keep going and not stand around here,” I say.
“Tell us everything,” Lucien insists, so I do just that, keeping my voice low. I summarize what happened from the moment they were knocked out by Mad’s men to when I found them in prison. I explain it all, including my distraction and the zombies.
“Fuck that!” Lucien growls. “You can’t be sick. Your wolf side heals everything.”
I’m not quite sure whom he’s trying to convince then. Himself or me.
“We need to have her blood tested again,” Bardhyl states.
“That’s not happening while Mad’s taken over,” Lucien corrects him in a distressed voice, then he lifts my hand to his mouth, where he kisses my knuckles. “Even more reason to destroy him and claim back our home.”
I melt on the inside to hear his devotion, to watch it slide over Bardhyl’s face. They both keep looking over their shoulders, and I nudge them to continue climbing. The quicker we are in hiding, the more we can relax and talk about everything.
