Page 79 of Hunted
My healing magic told me that her knuckles were bleeding from hitting whatever she’d just punched.But the wounds were superficial, already closing thanks to her paranormal constitution.No one commented.
No other orders were needed.We moved again, swift and silent.Out the back of the church, down another stairwell.Back into the pitch black of the tunnels.
Chapter 27
Sadavir
Being underground inthe tunnels didn’t bother me the way it bothered the others.My serpent side loved the dark, close confines.I felt at home under the earth.I thought maybe the dragon understood—she seemed less bothered by the location than the others, though she was tense for other reasons.Still, I was glad to be above ground once more.The comfortable darkness of the deep places had nearly stolen Josh.And the confines of crumbling tunnels weren’t exactly a good place for a fight, should the cult catch up to us.
I sat on a low outcropping near the crumbling brick foundation of what used to be a textile warehouse, watching the shadows of my companions flicker against the soot-dusted walls of the tunnel mouth.Everyone was settling into exhaustion, not speaking unless they had to—not because of danger, but because of despair.We had nowhere to go.
Robin’s fists were clenched around the strap of a designer satchel she’d picked up somewhere in the mad scramble away from The Fox.I had no idea what the woman had hidden away in there—a worthless sentimental knick-knack from her hoard, a priceless piece of artwork, her favorite dress, or some unique, dangerous weapon...knowing her it could be anything.
She stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused, jaw tight.Her aura curled and snapped around her like a coiled dragon tail made of flames.She had been attacked in her nest.Her escape route had been compromised.And her safehouse was in shambles.And she hadn’t said it out loud yet, but if the cult knew about that safehouse, any other hiding spot she knew of might be compromised as well.
Like any alpha, Robin liked to be in control.But she was under more strain than most alphas faced in a lifetime, thanks to her missing magic and all the other complications swirling around us.With this latest blow, everything in her must be seething over her failure to protect what was hers.
I almost felt sorry for her.
Ruya stood a few feet away, one hand pressed to the tunnel exit’s curved wall, where the roots of a scraggly tree had broken through.Cicely wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in against his side, and a spark of magic flowed between them, barely perceptible.
I hoped he was fully recovered from his lastest injury.My eyes narrowed as I studied the faun’s frame, looking for any indication of pain or infirmity.But no, the pretty beta was fine.Ruya’s magic hadn’t been seeking to heal him.It was just a simple casual exchange.Ruya whispered something to him, her touch amplifying his calming empathic energy, spreading out to comfort all of us, even in this moment.
Josh sat at my feet, his back against the rubble on which I sat, arms looped over his shoulders, head bowed.I stroked my fingers through his messy light brown hair, watching the way the sun picked up the blond strands here and there.I released a bit of my aura, letting it blanket him.My poor love.He shuddered, but some of the tension flowed out of him, his beta nature responding automatically to my presence.
My sweet, strong, know-it-all beta.He’d been through so damned much over the last few weeks.And his current silence had me worried.I knew he’d been injured.Dusek implied he wouldn’t have survived much longer, even with his newly acquired paranorm hardiness.What new scars had my oldest friend just gained?
I wanted to take him home and bury him in a nest of blankets and pillows, coil myself around him...ensure myself he was safe and comfortable.But there was nohometo return to.
I looked around at our court.Dirty.Bloodied.Quiet.
If our enemies had found one of the dragon’s safehouses, it was a good bet they knew all of her other hiding spots.We needed somewhere safe—truly safe—not another place where we could be ambushed or burnt out, somewhere safe from the cult and the syndicate.
I took a breath, the air thick with the weight of what I was about to do, and stepped forward.“I know a place,” I said out loud, signing as well, to get my point across to everyone present.
They all looked at me, tired eyes blinking through the grime that covered their weary faces.
