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Should I tell her? I have to; I can’t lie to her about it. James thinks he saw Amber. We’re chasing the trail now. I explain where we are so Ryland, Luca, and Garnet can catch up to us. I don’t want to face Amber alone, even if that makes me a coward.
Noises nearby stop me in my tracks. I frantically look around to see where it’s coming from. Once I settle on a direction, I turn toward the commotion, hoping that James isn’t involved. It doesn’t sound good. I peek around a tree and see that he’s surrounded by a group of people. So much for James not being involved. I shift closer to the tree and watch, hoping that the others get here before this escalates any further.
We have a problem, I say along the bond. James is surrounded and there are too many for me to be able to take them all out by myself. Hurry!
“Where’s your witch, human?” one of them snarls. The more I learn about Amber’s followers, the less I stress over doing what needs to be done to deal with them. I don’t enjoy killing anyone, but it’s a little easier when they’re as awful as these assholes.
We’re almost there. Ryland responds instead of Garnet. It catches me off guard for a moment and I jump. The group surrounding James looks toward me, and I wonder if they know I’m here. I freeze, expecting to be dragged out of the brush any minute.
“Did you hear that?” another of them asks. They’re starting to panic and I feel as if we’re running out of time. What are they planning to do with James?
“What do you want with Garnet?” James asks without looking at my hiding spot. I’m certain he’s trying to draw their attention back to him because he knows I’m here.
“Amber wants us to bring her to our camp. Honestly, her obsession with your witch is ridiculous. Amber acts like she’s the devil or something.” From her tone, I imagine the one speaking rolls her eyes as she talks. It’s clear she doesn’t think much of Amber or her vendetta against Garnet.
Good, we’re learning things. This could be helpful when Garnet faces her aunt.
GARNET
I sense James’ fear when we approach the area Orym said they were in. I don’t understand why James didn’t call out to me along our bond, but maybe he was worried the witches could track that communication. Or maybe he didn’t think about it. He’s been resistant to our reconnection, and I wish I knew why. He claims that he’s trying to protect me. Is there more to it than that? I don’t know.
Ry holds up a hand for us to stop just as I see Orym tucked behind a tree. We don’t want to alert them to our presence. Ry’s words echo in my mind. This is an intense situation, and we need to be careful so that we don’t trigger the witches to attack before we can get James out of there.
We carefully make our way to the small group of trees near Orym’s hiding spot as soon as he motions for us. I’m glad we have the bond for communication, because that means less chance that the witches will hear us than if we had to actually speak to each other.
James, we’re here. Try to stall them until we can get into position. Ry’s quiet command is implied in the tone he uses. I wonder if he thinks James is one of his wolves who will just obey. It’s risky to treat him that way, since he’s been really sensitive about being human.
“If you think Amber’s lost it, maybe you shouldn’t be following her orders,” James says to the witches. I wonder what they said to make him think they don’t agree with Amber.
“It’s not like we have a choice. She’s insane and super powerful. And she’ll be even more powerful once she kills the half-breed and takes her powers. I’m not about to go against that. Now tell us where she is, before we decide that you’re not so helpful after all, human.” The way she sneers as she says human makes me want to rip out her throat.
I don’t realize that my internal growl wasn’t so internal after all until James dives at one of the witches who’s started to walk over here. “Fuck,” Ry’s voice rings in my ears, even though he didn’t say the expletive loudly.
Things get chaotic as everyone is attacking everyone else. My wolf mates fight against the witches to both protect me and to save James. I do my best to protect my mates, but splitting my shield between the five of us when we aren’t sticking together is hard. At some point, Ry shifts and starts attacking with his claws and teeth.
Magic is tossed around so much that it’s hard to see. “I can’t tell where they went,” Orym shouts.
“We need to get out of here and regroup. Is everyone accounted for?” Since Ry is in wolf form, I take point. I wonder if it will upset him, then decide that I don’t care. I will make my demands and push my mates if that’s what it takes to keep them safe here.
“I’m right here,” Orym says. “I can’t see the others.”
I take a deep breath and push a blast of air out to clear the smoke-like magic that surrounds us. “That should help,” I offer as our field of vision clears. “I don’t see the witches.”
Orym shakes his head. “Me neither, but there’s Luca. Where did Ryland and James go?” He starts walking across the small clearing toward Luca, who’s leaning over someone on the ground.
“Is that James?” My heart starts to race and my throat constricts as I dash over to Luca. I’m scared to look, but I have to know. The body he’s leaning over is mangled, but it’s not James. I breathe a sigh of relief, letting out the breath I’d been holding.
“Red! You’re okay. Wait, you are okay, right?” Luca turns his attention to me.
“I’m fine. Are you okay?” I ask, then as soon as he nods, I continue, “Where are Ry and James?” Luca points toward the trees, but before I can race off after them, a shuffling noise catches my ear.
James stumbles into the clearing, half dragging a barely conscious Ry. “He’s hurt. Someone come help me. This guy is heavy.” He drops to his knees and eases Ry to the ground. “I don’t know what they hit him with.”
I rush over, with Luca and Orym on my heels. They lift Ry easily, and I look him over to see what’s wrong. Blood drips from his hairline, and he has a knot. They must have hit him on the head with something heavy. “We should head back to the cabin.” I turn to James. “Are you okay?”
He nods. “I’m fine. A few scratches, but nothing like what he took.” I want to push the issue and check him over, but I also don’t want to force him to do something he’s not comfortable with. I’ll have to trust that he’s telling me the truth.
Ry groans and my attention is pulled away from James. It’s obvious that if we don’t get Ry taken care of soon, it’s going to be bad. “Try to stay awake, Ry. We’re taking you back to the cabin where I can heal you.” He stills at my words, but I can see him trying to hold his eyes open. I look at Orym and Luca. “Hurry; we’ll be right behind you.”
