Page 17 of His Rejected Mate

“Wyatt?” Kira said, putting a hand on my arm. “We need to talk.”

“Is now the best time for a heart to heart?” Mika asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kira shook her head. “It’s not like that. Simon put a tracker in me.”

We all froze, and my eyes widened. “Inside you?” I asked.

Kira nodded, yanking her sleeve up. “Here, in my shoulder. We’ve got to get it out. Otherwise, they’ll follow us. We’ll never get away from them or be able to hide.”

“Damn,” I hissed. “We’ve got to get somewhere safe. Then we can work on that.” I glanced up an incline and saw an overhanging rock, high on a ridge. “Up there.” I pointed. “We can hide in the shadows under that rock. It gives us a view of the surrounding area, and we’ll see them coming if they do end up following us. Let’s move.”

The hike up the hill to the rock outcropping was silent. Even Zoe was too exhausted to do more than gasp for breath as we trudged to our hiding spot. With the overhang hiding us from the moonlight, I was able to sit with Kira.

“What did that asshat put inside you?” Zoe asked her. “Was it a magic gemstone? Metal? Glass? What?”

Kira, still looking drained and tired, lifted her sleeve again. “A pellet sort of thing. Probably metal, but I’m not sure. I didn’t get a good look at it. I don’t think it was magical, though. A vampire inserted it with some sort of injector gun.”

I looked at Zoe. “Can you get it out?”

She cocked an eyebrow at me. Her face still had a smear of blood across it, making her look like some kind of warmongering fae goblin. “Do you doubt my skills?”

“Just want to make sure Kira is safe.”

“You and me both, buddy,” Zoe said with a humorless chuckle. “If there are no counter spells and it’s a simple mechanical device, it should be easy. But medical magic isn’t my forte.”

Zoe placed a hand on the spot Kira had indicated and closed her eyes. A few moments later, Kira winced in pain.

“Shit,” she cursed, jerking her shoulder away from Zoe’s hand.

A small bead of blood trickled from her shoulder, but when she moved away, a tiny metal pill hit the stone at our feet, bouncing once, then coming to rest. Mika lifted a foot, ready to slam his heel down to destroy it. I put a hand on him to stop.

“Hang on,” I said. “If this is what they’re tracking, then we can use it to keep them off our asses and get back to Haven faster.”

Zoe’s eyes widened in understanding. “Oh, nice. A diversion?”

“Exactly,” I said. “Can you enchant this thing to move on its own or something?”

“A locomotion spell?” She shrugged. “Yeah, probably. It won’t last long, though. Maybe only fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“That’s perfect,” I said. “Send it in the opposite direction of Haven. Someplace really dangerous.”

“Send it to the swamps,” Kira suggested, tugging her sleeve back down. “Make those fuckers work for it.”

“Say no more,” Zoe said, picking up the pellet.

The tiny metal object hovered along the ground, moving in a relative pace toward the swamps. With our pursuers mostlikely headed in the wrong direction, we left the safety of the outcropping and took a circuitous route behind the volcano to head back toward Haven.

Kira still looked a bit shell-shocked, and I walked beside her. “Are you sure you’re okay? Anything else hurt or injured?”

“Wyatt, I’m okay,” she said. “I promise.” She slipped her hand into mine.

The touch of her skin calmed my worries. I couldn’t see any outward signs of injury other than the few bumps and scrapes she’d gotten in the escape. Even the wolfsbane burns had faded as her healing kicked in. But she wasn’t acting like herself. Something had been done to her in that godsforsaken place, and I dreaded hearing about what Simon had been planning, what Kira had gone through. There would be time to talk when we were back to safety. For now, I wouldn’t push.

Nearly an hour later, we caught sight of the entrance to Haven. We’d been lucky not to run into any creatures on our trip back. A few aggressive harpies had swooped near us, but Zoe’s magic had made sure they headed off for an easier meal.

Crew stood at the hidden doorway, waiting for us. Even in the darkness, the relief on his face was clear, though he tried his best to hide it.

“Thank the gods. I was starting to get worried,” he said.

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