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Ervo fought his restraints, roaring and wrestling with the men who held him back, but it was no use.
He was trapped.
Clevv lifted his hands to Mare’s face, and my whole damn body quivered in shock as he threatened my friend’s eyes.
I wanted to scream at him to tell them. To shout that I’d survive whatever they did to me—that I would rather have them hunting me down then hurting anyone.
But the words didn’t come out.
I wasn’t good under pressure—not like other people were.
And even if they had, it wouldn’t have done any good.
I wasn’t actually there, no matter what it felt like in the moment.
“Let the women go and I’ll give you what you want,” Ervo finally snarled. “I’ll take you there myself.”
Relief coursed through me as the claws lowered away from Mare’s eyes.
“We’ll bring this one with us,” Clevv growled at the other men, as he shoved Mare toward Ervo.
She crashed into him, her arms wrapping around him and holding on fiercely. His furious gaze remained fixed on Clevv as his head pressed lightly against the side of Mare’s, his hands and feet still bound.
“Run the other two to opposite sides of the land until you’ve convinced them to mate with you. The basilisk and sabertooth will chase you until you’ve claimed the females,” he growled at the men who were holding Sunny and Dots.
They jerked their heads in nods before turning and jogging out of the secret exit.
The same secret exit Priel and I had used.
Had we alerted them to it somehow? Had I triggered it by kissing Clevv?
It didn’t sound like the men planned on hurting Sunny and Dots, thankfully, but how long would that last?
“Pick them up,” Clevv snarled at the other men, tossing a hand toward Ervo and Mare. The hellhounds beside the phoenix exchanged uncertain expressions, but did as he’d ordered. One of them threw Ervo over his shoulder, despite the massive size and weight of the phoenix. The other carefully picked up Mare.
“Are you okay?” he asked her in a low voice.
“No,” she hissed back.
“There aren’t words for a proper apology,” the hound began.
Bovay; I recognized him as Bovay.
“Don’t even try,” Mare snarled, though her voice shook.
Sorrow filled the hellhound’s eyes as he followed Clevv and the man holding Ervo out through the back door.
“Where are we going?” Clevv demanded.
“There’s a cave in the mountains,” Ervo growled back. “It’s the first place Priel would’ve taken her to hide away.”
I started to jog after them, to figure out what was going to happen next, but then I felt hands on my waist.
My gaze jerked down to my abdomen, but I didn’t see anything.
The world tilted around me suddenly, and then I was ripped back into my body.
Twelve
