AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She stopped, her bomber jacket zipped up all the way to her chin, her hair pulled back in a springy ponytail. She peered at him with impatience that was attractive but also rather terrifying.
“Linger back here with me," Gabriel replied, swallowing dryly. “We have to dissuade any trackers. Especially if they haven't found the spot yet."
Lily stuck her hands into her pockets and waited for Gabriel to come by her side. She was so small standing next to him, initially illuminated by peachy-pink moonlight, then obscured once they descended beneath the canopy.
They tried to walk softly through the crunch of autumn leaves and forest weeds, doing what they could not to leave any indelible signs they had passed through. Gabriel thought it was a slightly fruitless endeavor. They might be able to fool humans but not shifters or even a trained bloodhound. But that wasn't the real reason why he wanted Lily to walk with him.
She was brazen and quick on her feet, but she was still new to his world. His heart hammered in his chest as they sauntered along, his shifter senses heightened to the sound of a pin dropping.
Nothing could happen to her. He would let the humans devour him right down to his mangled heart if she was ever taken from him.
“So this Lantern’s Eye,” Lily said, shattering the silence. "You've known about this all along?"
He nodded as they followed the flood of their flashlights, with Lucas staying within eye line. The wind was brisk, and animals prospered on the precepts of a changing season. Owls hooted, and crows cawed, their songs echoing through the forest with a sinister ambiance.
“I have. Does that bother you?”
Lily shook her head, her hands still stuck into her coat pockets.
“It’s not that part that bothers me. It’s the whole thing.”
Gabriel didn't think it was the time or the place to have a disagreement, but he wanted to genuinely hear her out. What she thought of his kind was of the utmost importance, even if he didn’t agree with the content.
“You can ask me anything, Lily. Anything at all.”
They stepped over a fallen tree as carefully as they could and went on. Their soft voices blended in with the low hum of gloom within their surroundings.
“Claire told me that it could destroy all of you if all of the pieces were put together. I want to know what that means and how it could happen."
Lucas gave a brief look behind him, and Gabriel nodded for him to keep going.
“Well, as you probably guessed, the relic itself, once all put together, will form a lantern,” Gabriel whispered. “And once it is fully formed, a floating eye will peer out over the entire planet. This hideous, goblin-looking eye.”
Gabriel watched as the exposed skin of Lily's neck broke out into goosebumps.
“Have you seen it?” she asked.
Gabriel shook his head, his eyes glued on Lucas.
“I haven’t, no, but I’ve heard enough about it to feel like I know it. Like a dream that is mistaken for a memory, you know?”
Lucas’s voice made them both jump, cutting the tension of their exchange like a knife. He stopped walking and was staring back at them with his classic shit-eating grin.
“Hey! I hear water. I think we’re getting close …”
Gabriel was about to scold him for speaking so loudly when something slim and sharp whistled through the air. It cut between the two of them, just over Lily's head, and struck Lucas directly in the shoulder as he tried to divert its aim.
“Down!” Gabriel screamed.
He leapt, using his entire body weight to shove Lily to the ground. They rolled over piles of dry leaves, missing three more arrows that soared from some unseen specter behind them. He shielded her with his entire body, protecting his mate.
“Gabe!”
Gabriel’s heart ached at the sound of his screeching friend. The first arrow had hit his shoulder, which wasn't a fatal wound for shifters. But three more had followed, and Gabriel remained along the path to see where they may have landed.
“I’m okay! I’m okay! Gabriel! You have to get off!” Lily pleaded below him, her body curled like a child in the womb while the alpha cocooned her overhead. He sat up when she started to cough, not realizing that his forearm was pinned against her throat.
He straddled her as she clutched her throat, giving a look of terror over the alpha's shoulder.
