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The woman glances over her shoulder at us. “Not far. Maybe three quarters of a mile or so.”
The guy keeps facing forward as he asks, “Are you going to carry her the whole way?” It’s clear from his tone that he thinks that’s a bad idea. But then, just to be a dick or something, I guess, he adds, “She’s not tiny. It can’t be easy to carry her that long like that.”
Kohaku growls in his throat and his eyes flash orange. Thankfully, I’m the only person who sees that. I rub my hand over his chest to soothe him and then frown at the guy’s back.
“I work out a lot. Rose weighs hardly more than a feather to me.” When he says that, I believe him. I don’t know if he has super strength or something because of what he is, but I suppose that would make sense. “I would carry her for far longer if it keeps her from hurting.”
I mean, what can I even say to that? I press my lips to the bottom of his jaw, and he looks back down at me, his eyes blazing with heat and desire and all sorts of feelings that aren’t even the least bit prudent given the situation we’re in.
His arms tighten around me. The woman looks over her shoulder at us. “Its only another few minutes and we’ll be at the car.” I give her a smile and I see Kohaku doing the same. The woman’s gaze goes a little hazy, like she’s entranced by him or something.
But then she blinks, shakes her head, and looks forward again, her lips tight.
I share a look with Kohaku, but he doesn’t seem to understand what just happened anymore than I do, so we return our attention forward until we’re stepping out of the woods and into a small clearing with gravel spread on the ground, and unpaved road stretching away from us, winding through the forest. There are three vehicles, all black and ominous.
The woman heads to the nearest vehicle as Kohaku sets me carefully on my feet, hands gripping my hips to hold me steady until my legs do their job and hold me up.
The woman appears in front of us, with two bottles of water and two protein bars which she holds out in offering. I take my set and Kohaku grabs his. “Thank you so much,” I say before I just stare at the items.
Knowing what I know about them, I’m not sure I should trust that these rations aren’t some kind of trap. But we haven’t done anything to tell them we’re witches, or rather, a witch and an umbra demon. They wouldn’t go around just poisoning random lost hikers, right? They’d need to be sure first.
Both packages look unopened. I glance at Kohaku and find him doing the same thing I am. But then my stomach gurgles and I know if I don’t eat the protein bar, it’s going to look suspicious.
So I tear open the wrapper and eat the damn thing. Kohaku does the same.
When it’s all gone, I crack open the bottle of water and take cautious sips, all under the watchful eyes of eight witch hunters.
I only drink about half the bottle before I put the lid on, and give them what I hope is a grateful smile. “Again, we really can’t thank you enough. If you could just point us toward town, we’ll get out of your hair. Now that we’ve got some water and sustenance, I think we can handle a walk.”
Kohaku’s fingers curl around mine, offering me strength as I wait for their reaction, for what they’re going to do next.Please, let us go. Please, let us go. Please, let us go.
The leader gives me an unkind smile. “You’re not going anywhere.” I frown when his words sound far away and echoey even though he’s right here in front of me. “We know what you are, and you will not escape us.”
I frown. “What are you talking about? We got lost.”
Kohaku grabs me as I sway, but he doesn’t feel any more stable than I do, and we stumble a few steps along the gravel.
I turn bleary eyes to the people around us, only to realize I’m seeing double. Sixteen witch hunters and not eight. “What did you do?” I slur.
The leader crouches in front of me—wait, am I on the ground? How did that happen?—and reaches out to touch my face. I jerk away from him the best I can and I hear Kohaku growl somewhere nearby. “What we do to all of your kind, little witch.”
Shit.
Fucking shit.
The assholes drugged us. They drugged us and now we’re going to pass out and they might even have killed us already. I try to shove my fingers down my throat, to bring up the contents of my stomach and try to eliminate some of the poison running through my body, but the man in front of me snaps his hand out and grabs my wrist.
I try to fight, but my body is sluggish and heavy, and it takes tremendous effort to make my limbs move.
I’m going under. Whatever they gave me is taking effect and pulling me down, so I do the only thing I can think of at the moment. I activate my communication rune and send the two most important words I can:help, drugged.
Chapter 11
“Wakey, wakey, little witch.”
I groan at the voice. It’s too loud, and it’s right next to my ear. I can feel the hot breath of the speaker against my skin, like a caress, but in the next instant pain explodes across my face, snapping me fully awake.
“I said,wake up.”
