Page 383 of Hunters and Prey

Are you insane?

Completely. But you can trust me on this. Dante will catch you, and if he doesn’t, then you won’t know anyway because you’ll be dead.

Huh? What? No. I can’t.

Yeah, you can, because you don’t have a damned choice. On the count of three. One. Two. He flipped over, and I lost my grip. For a second it was almost pleasant being cushioned by the air current, and then gravity stuck its claws into me and pulled.

My scream was lost in the rush of air as Vesper was tugged away from me. He banked right, distracting the bullets and steering them away from us. Away from me. The earth was a force at my back, waiting to welcome me by crushing my skull. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for impact. Sorry, Dad. Sorry, Helgi, and fucking hell, I was mad. Going out like this after everything I’d been through, and everything that was in store for me, sucked. Any moment now it would be lights out, except it wasn’t. The ground didn’t split me in two. Instead, it wrapped its sturdy arms around me and cushioned me against muscle.

“I got you, Anya. I got you.” Dante’s voice was a prayer, and I was a believer.

He’d caught me at great velocity, and he didn’t even sound winded. What the heck? But there was no time to question his stamina, only to marvel at it as he ran into the forest with me in his arms. The Wilds closed around us, shrouding us in the damp, moist scent of fresh growing things and casting us in dappled sunlight that kissed my chilled skin with welcome warmth.

He came to a standstill a few meters into the tree line, and stood, head tipped back, his arms bands around me. For a moment, his scent, the electric scent of a storm, filled my head, blocking out everything else. His arms flexed, and I looked up to find his attention on me, intense and probing. Desire was a tug and a lurch in my chest and lower abdomen, unwelcome and yet coveted. It was a complication I didn’t need.

“I can walk. Thanks.”

His arms tightened around me for a second and then he released me. As soon as my boots touched ground, I switched gears, building a mental map of our location, figuring out how far my shack was and how long it would take me to get to Dad. Helgi would have escaped, she would meet me there. I had to get home, pack up, and then we’d leave for the Furtherlands. It was time to say goodbye to Dante, for now. A sharp sting lanced through my chest. No. Go away. I rubbed at my diaphragm.

“Anya, are you all right?” Dante asked softly.

“I’m fine. Just trying to get my bearings. Thanks for getting me out. It’s been educational.”

He arched a brow. “You speak as if you’re leaving me.”

“That’s because I am. I have to get home. Back to my Dad.”

His gaze darkened. “I can’t let you do that. You need to come with me. Your skills will be invaluable to our cause. You know what’s at stake.”

“You can’t stop me. But I fully intend to join you in the Furtherlands. I just have to get my family and Helgi first. I told her to meet me at my home.”

“If she escaped.”

“She did. I know she did.” I slammed a hand onto my chest. “I know here.” I turned westward, pretty sure that was the direction I needed to go.

A howl rose up in the air, followed by another. I froze, a shudder climbing up my spine. “What was that?”

“Hounds, they know you’re here,” Dante said softly. “You won’t survive the journey alone. The Wilds are home to creatures that defy logic. Things that hunger for mortal flesh and souls.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not my first trip through the Wilds.”

Although the hounds were a new development, and, admittedly, I’d been on the outskirts to the west, but still ...

“Then you were lucky.”

My gut told me he was right, that I should listen to his warning. Helgi and I had barely escaped the crazy little people with crimson scalps that had hunted us the last time we’d ventured into the Wilds. We’d been lucky we hadn’t traveled too far in, that we’d been barely a quarter of a mile into the forest when we’d been attacked. Getting out with the boy had been pure luck, not skill, because the little buggers had magic and enchantment and against that we’d been fucked.

It was a day and night trek to get across the Wilds, and a good few hours to get home from there. If there was a chance that the Bloods would abandon their search, then I’d skirt the Wilds instead of cutting through. But there was no way they’d abandon a Dreki and head back. They weren’t crazy either—they’d avoid venturing into the forest.

“You can’t make it alone,” Dante said.

“I don’t have a choice.”

He tucked in his chin, his eyes flicking back and forth in thought. Was he going to try and stop me? Would he try and force me to go with him? My hand twitched, eager for Jezebel’s hilt. I didn’t want to hurt him, but there was no way I was abandoning Helgi, Dad, and the kids. Not for any cause, not for any pretty face.

Finally, he raised his head. “I’ll escort you home. But you must give me your word that once the journey is done, you will return with me to the Furtherlands.”

The coil of anxiety in the pit of my stomach unwound a fraction. “That’s the plan. It’s what Dad wanted to do anyway, and Helgi’s on board.”

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