Page 102 of Blood So Brutal

And then he, too, disappeared into the thick trees.

My chest rose and fell, rose and fell. I could feel my power responding to the emotion, looking for a release, for a target.

I wanted nothing more than to direct all of it in his direction, to let him know exactly how powerful I really was.

He couldn’t talk to me like that anymore. He had no fucking control over me.

Still, tears stung my eyes. Jessiah separated me from Rummy, guiding her to sit at the base of one of the trees on our path.

Wolf’s hands fell on my shoulder. “Hey,” he whispered. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“How can you say that? This is… Hells, this is so much worse than I thought today would be.”

He glanced around, making sure nobody else was listening before leaning in and kissing my cheek. He kissed me slowly, working his mouth toward my ear before whispering, “I have a plan.”

Chapter 38

Wolf

It wasn’t a complete fucking lie, but there was no way we were all making it to the blood kingdom alive.

The rebels would be on our trail. Surely, they found that tunnel by now. Surely, they would be tracking our every move.

They were the ones who could kill Asmodeus. They would be here soon, and I prayed to the fucking goddess this wouldn’t last a single more day.

Huntyr rested against me, her head on my chest as her eyes drifted shut. Her feet were covered in blisters. Her body shook from the cold, even with the added layer.

My father was idiotic, but to drag us all after him like this? We could havepreparedfor this trip. We could have gathered supplies, clothes, food, anything.

Every rustle of a leaf caught my attention. Luseyar was awake, keeping watch a few feet away through the thick trees.

But otherwise, the clearing was quiet.

Huntyr relaxed when Jessiah was near Rummy, and for that, I was thankful. There was no way we were getting Huntyr out of here without her.

She wouldn’t leave her friend behind.

And now, neither would I.

The forest was dark, even for an angel. I could see the shadowed figures of the others sitting to my left. Jessiah’s head fell back against the tree bark just an inch away from Rummy. At least she had a leather jacket on. It would be enough to keep most of her body heat in.

Even in her sleep, Huntyr shivered.

She kicked off her shoes, wrapping her legs up around mine to keep them warm. I would have taken the shoes off my own fucking feet for her if I thought it would help.

The blisters on the backs of her heels were starting to bleed. She would heal with her new powers, but not before we had to continue walking.

We couldn’t continue like this, not when her body had already taken this much of a hit.

I slid my hand down her calf and stopped at her ankle.

Nobody would see. Nobody would know. Everyone was too busy sleeping or listening to the forest around us.

Huntyr wasn’t going to make it an entire day like this. Besides, I was using too much of my energy to keep moving every day. The bond between us was open at full force, and I could practically feel each painful step she took.

She didn’t need to ask me to heal her. She never did. Never would.

I closed my eyes and focused.

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