Page 38 of Burdened Bonds
“How about Rhi?” Stone asks. “Can you feel her? Can you feel her close by?”
I shift my focus away from the men and their scents, and focus in on that feeling in my gut, my bond. I can feel her more than I could and can feel her mixture of emotions, turbulent as always. I wish I was more adept at reading them. I wish I could tell if she was hurt, afraid, in danger. But maybe women have always been a damn mystery to me, and maybe, despite our bond, despite fate’s intentions, I understand Rhianna even less than most.
I don’t say any of this to my friend. Instead I say, “She feels closer.”
“Yes,” he says, screwing up his face. “But close enough? Shouldn’t we be able to feel her more if she were this close? Maybe she isn’t here after all.”
“Stone,” I say in frustration. “This is the only lead we have. Fuck, you’re right, she might not be here. But I’mgoing to find out for sure. And you can come with me or not.”
“Is that your plan?” a voice says from behind me and I nearly jump a mile out of my skin as Winnie crouches down in the undergrowth with us.
“I told you to stay with the car,” I growl.
“And I decided that was dumb and that if we’re rescuing Rhi, then I’m helping.”
My worn patience finally breaks and I snap up to standing and stroll through the thinning trees towards the gates.
Phoenix mutters another long string of expletives and jogs to catch up with me, Winnie right behind him.
“So I assume we’re going through the front door,” he mutters.
“I’ve never been one to sneak in the back,” I say, “it isn’t my style.”
He shakes his head at me, this time muttering that I’m an idiot.
Yeah, I probably am. Walking straight into the lion’s den is probably damn foolish. But I’m going to do it anyway.
17
Rhi
“I needto get back to Los Magicos,” I tell him. He wants us to go on in the direction of the mountains. He thinks it will be safer there and the run-in with the families has made him even more skittish than he was. “I need to get back to my mates. I need to get back to my friends. I need to get back to school.”
“If it’s still standing,” he scoffs.
“That’s the point. We don’t know. We can’t wander about in the wilderness forever.”
“Not forever, little rabbit, just until everything calms down, blows over.”
I rest my hand on my hip. “Okay, enough of the bullshit. Let’s be frank here for a minute. Are you holding me captive?”
“You’re free to go,” he says,shrugging.
“And if I do?” He shrugs. “How far will I get before you drag me back?”
“Depends how much of a fight you want to make it.” His eyes light up. “I love a chase, little one. Do you want to run and I’ll catch you?”
“No,” I tell him firmly, “I want to go back to Los Magicos.”
He ignores me and collects up our stuff – the string bag I filled with supplies, his leather jacket and Pip. Then he strolls off into the darkness whistling to himself as Pip squeals in protest and I chase after them both.
I am not winning in this situation and I need to be smarter about this.
The forest is dark, even though the canopy is leafless and the sky visible above us. It’s stacked with heavy winter clouds, no moon or stars to light our way and Renzo clicks his fingers and creates a ball of light to help guide us through the thick undergrowth.
“Are we walking all the way through the night?” I moan.
“It’s fucking freezing,” he says, “so unless you want to get naked and huddle up with me, we need to keep moving.”
