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Dolus studied my face, his expression impossible to read.
“Don’t disappoint me, Ash,” he said.
He disappeared before I could answer him.
Dolus was becoming a colossal pain in my ass. I needed him to get me the hell out of the life I had, to get to a place where things were better for me, but that didn’t mean I liked him. He was a dick. He blew hot and cold, and I never knew what mood he would be in.
But at least it looked like he was still willing to help me, and that was all that mattered.
I just had to get Lorraine back and make sure she was safe until All Hallows’ Eve was over. Then she could go home, and I could move on with the rest of my life.
I knew I should never have slept with her. I should have exercised more control—I’d known what was going to happen if I did. The problem was I hadn’t expected Lorraine to draw me in the way she had. I usually did that to women, not the other way around.
I scolded myself all the way to the end of the vale for being such an idiot.
When I reached the road, I looked both ways as if checking for cars. I wasn’t. I had my senses out, and I barely saw what was in front of me.
I could only find the general direction she was in now. I couldn’t tell where she was anymore. The magic that pulsed from her had faded too much. After my short conversation with Dolus, I seemed to have nearly lost track of her already.
When I was sure the coast was clear, I brought my magic to the surface and took my true form as a drus, slipping into the tree closest to me. This was not my tree, but I wasn’t going to be here long. I slipped from one tree to the next, moving faster and faster, until the forest passed by in a blur and the magical pulse that was left in Lorraine grew stronger again as I closed the distance between us.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Lorraine
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Thing One asked.
His gravelly voice pulled me out of a deep sleep. I must have drifted off again at some point. The sky was dark and dotted with stars. A cool breeze brushed my cheeks through the open car door.
“I don’t know. She fought like a hellcat a couple of hours ago, and now she looks like she’s at death’s door.” That had to be Thing Two talking, but I was struggling to put things together.
“We can’t use her if she looks like this.”
A moment later, strong arms grabbed me and yanked me out of the car. They tried to make me stand, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. I didn’t have any energy at all, and I sank to the ground.
“If this is some tactic to escape, it won’t work,” one of the men growled at me.
Sure. I’m pretending to be this weak so I can catch them by surprise and run away.
Actually, that wasn’t a half-bad idea. Sadly, it wasn’t something I could actually do. I had no idea what was going on with me, either. I just knew my energy was draining away, and fast. It was like somewhere inside me, there was a hole, and all my strength drained out of it.
When I sank to the ground after they tried to get me upright a second time, Thing One growled out something inaudible and threw me over his shoulder like I was a rag doll. His shoulder pressed into my stomach, and it hurt. I moaned, but he ignored me. He walked across an asphalt plane. Where the hell were we?
I was aware of a metal door scraping open and the air turning from cool to cold. I shivered, my arms and neck breaking out in goosebumps. Thing One dumped me onto a cot, and I managed to shift a little to be more comfortable.
“Get her something to eat,” Thing One barked.
“Like what?”
“Do I look like I give a shit?” Thing One growled. “Make it work.”
He turned his face to me. I glanced up at him. My vision was a little blurry, and I couldn’t make out his expression, but I had a feeling that his face was twisted into a snarl.
“You’ve been nothing but trouble,” he said to me accusingly.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t have the strength to answer, anyway.
Thing Two returned not too long after with a bottle of water and a carton. “A sandwich,” he said. “It was the best I could do.”
