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Hot ash gathers in the back of my throat, and I know I need to force his thoughts away from Miram. “But I’m not going anywhere with you.” I wrench my arm free.

He grabs me again. “I thought you might be difficult. That’s why I brought this.”

Something glints in the dim light.

“What is—” I bite back the question as I catch the flash of a blade.

Corbin squats and yanks Will up by the back of his hair, the blade poised at his throat. Of course it would mean nothing to him to end Will’s life.

“Go ahead,” he taunts, his eyes glinting through the dark. “Burn me, Jacinda. But I’ll be sure to cut his throat first.”

“Corbin,” I whisper hoarsely, “this isn’t you.” But even as I say it, I realize that’s just a wish, a hope. Even I know that Corbin is ruthless enough to kill someone he sees as an enemy of the pride, someone keeping him from getting what he wants.

“Fine.” I rise, stepping back. “Don’t hurt him and I’ll go with you.” Maybe Tamra and Deghan will find Will and take care of him. It’s all I can hope … the only thing I can do right now.

“Good to see you using your head. Now, walk in front of me. That way.” He motions to the narrow tunnel. There must be a back way out of this cave, which explains how he snuck up on us. It also explains the cool air I felt earlier.

I march in front of him, my eyes adjusting to the relentless dark. My hand skims the cold, moist wall as I move along, Corbin close behind, prodding my back with the tip of his blade if my steps fall too slowly.

He gives me a particularly sharp jab in the spine and warm blood soaks my shirt, slithers to the small of my back. I glare over my shoulder at the vague shape of him.

“You know you won’t always have that knife.”

“I think I can handle you without it, Jacinda.”

I make a sound, part growl, part snort of doubt.

“The problem is you’re too soft. You care too much about others. That will always be your downfall … and how I can get to you.”

I walk ahead blindly, tears blurring my eyes. I can’t even absorb what he’s saying to me. I can only think of Will lying back there in the cave, helpless and bleeding.

“Speed it up. I can’t wait to show up with you. Maybe then they’ll stop listening to Cassian and pay me some respect.”

“He’s your cousin,” I accuse. “Why do you act like he’s your enemy?”

“Because while he may be next in line, I’m the one who deserves it. What has Cassian done besides being born Severin’s son? Nothing. I’d be a better alpha than him. He cares too much. Like you. It affects his judgment. I’d do what’s right for the pride, no emotions, no questions asked.”

“I bet you would,” I grumble.

Light emerges ahead, growing brighter and bigger as we advance. I duck my head and step out into a heavy thicket. Trees and brush scratch us at every side. We claw our way through, squeezing along the narrow path that Corbin took to get into the cave.

Blinking so my eyes adjust, I see that the light isn’t as bright as I first thought. Dusk has fallen. Tiny motes of dust dance on the dull beams of yellow. He nudges me to keep going.

“What do you think is going to happen, Corbin? You’re just going to show up with me and they’ll—”

“They’ll see that
I
get things done. When something needs to happen I make it happen. After I deliver you, I’ll find Miram and Tamra, too.”

I glance over my shoulder. The fading light hits his face and his fervor is captured there, bright and intense in his purply black eyes. His eyes are nothing like Cassian’s though. There’s something dead there, unfeeling. Something desperate and ugly.

“You don’t understand what’s happening.” I motion back toward the cave. “If you would just listen to Cassian—”

“I have no desire to listen to Cassian.”

“It’s about Miram. Something happened to her—”

“Spare me. You don’t expect me to believe you actually care about Miram.”

“I expect
you
to care about her—and the safety of the pride. If you really think you are leadership material and want what’s best for the pride you’d hear me out.”

“Enough!” He forces me around and shoves his face close to mine. The knife pricks me in the ribs.

I glance down, then back up at him, feeling coldly calm inside. “You’ve totally lost it,” I whisper.

“I’ve had enough of never being heard. Of no one listening. No one caring. Especially you. You’ve walked around the pride for years looking down your nose at me.” He smiles slowly. “Well, I have your attention now, don’t I?”

“Your knife does,” I reply, unable to keep the defiant edge from my voice—even with a weapon pointing at me.

“Same thing. Now, turn around.”

“You think your uncle will approve if you hurt me?”

“You do what I say, and it won’t come to that. Besides, my uncle has had his fill of you.” He angles his head. The thin, vertical pupils of his eyes quiver. “If I got rid of you he might just thank me.”

A metallic sour taste coats my mouth. I remind myself this could very well be true. After all, Severin was already corrupt enough to kill one of our own. Maybe he would turn a blind eye if Corbin harmed me.

I allow Corbin to nudge me into motion again. I soon recognize the area. The pulsing trees, the whispering wind. Only a few miles and we’ll reach the pride. I can’t let him bring me in like some kind of prisoner. I’ve had enough of that role to last a lifetime. And my appearance might disrupt any ground Cassian has made with Severin. I can’t risk that.

And there’s Will. I have to get back to him. I close my eyes in a pained blink, thinking about him lying hurt and alone. What will happen to him if Corbin informs everyone he left a hunter unconscious on the cave floor? I can’t let them find him like that—defenseless. Easy prey.

Cassian
. I whisper his name inside myself. Let it float through me like a familiar breeze.
Corbin has me. We’re coming
. I know he can’t read my thoughts, but hopefully he’ll understand enough from my emotions. I wait, probing inside me, trying to find Cassian there. He must be too preoccupied dealing with his father. I get nothing but a faint hum of him. Just enough to let me know he’s there and okay.

I scan the familiar trees, my ears perking, listening for anything out of the ordinary in the vanishing light. Something to latch on to as a distraction.

Nothing. Grimly, I accept that I’m going to have to invent my own instead.

Satisfied with the thickness of the trees to my right, I stop. “What’s that?”

“Keep walking.”

I ignore his hard shove. “No. Listen.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

I turn to face him. “Shut up then and listen unless you relish the idea of hunters finding us.”

His eyes narrow on me suspiciously, but he cocks his head and listens.

I watch him, barely breathing, waiting for the right moment …

And then he does it. Glances away for a split second to peer into the foliage for potential hunters.

It’s all I need. I dive for the nearby trees. Corbin shouts behind me, but I don’t stop. My muscles bunch and burn as I tear through the trees. As I move, I struggle free of my shirt. My wings unfurl from my body, snapping on the air.

I push hard, working my legs and pumping my arms—resisting that instinctive urge to fly. He’d see me at once if I took off above the trees. Still, I use my wings for momentum, flapping them to increase my speed. I know Corbin’s doing the same. I glance up several times to make sure he’s not flying overhead and about to land on top of me. No sight of him in the sky and I push on.

He’s terribly loud, a beast of nightmare crashing through the undergrowth, almost blocking out the sound of running water from the nearby river.

He shouts my name and I shiver, thinking about that knife in his hand. If he catches me again, I’m not sure he won’t use it on me.

I may not have any choice but to resort to my best defense—my fire. This makes me tremble harder—the idea of killing one of my own, a fellow draki, Cassian’s cousin. Even if he is trying to hurt me, I don’t want that. I don’t want
this
.

He’s still coming strong, roaring my name. Our Evasive Maneuvers teacher would definitely give him poor marks for the racket he’s making. If any hunters are nearby on Miram’s trail he’s making it easy for them to track us.

I weave through the trees, jumping over rotting logs and vine-thick bushes. I launch into the air and touch down on a boulder embedded deeply into a rise. I don’t go far. Just inch back and hide myself behind a drape of limbs and leaves.

High up in my perch, I hold my breath and wait. Corbin whips past, half flying, half running, his curses burning my ears. I wait, listen as he fades into the forest.

Then I burst from my hiding spot and fly back the way we came, to the cave, urgency giving me fresh energy. Once I get there, I tear free the foliage obscuring the front of the cave and burst inside, gasping, knowing I don’t have much time. When Corbin can’t find me he’ll know that I circled back here.

Miram lifts her head from where she rests on a pallet, leveling her blank gaze on me. For a moment, I glance around, expecting to see my sister, but then I remember she and Deghan took a turn guarding the outside of the cave.

At that moment they rush inside behind me, breathless, apparently too distracted with each other to be very good guards. Good thing I wasn’t a hunter.

“Jacinda? Where—how—”

“Corbin found us. There’s a back way into this cave.” I run deeper, into the dark, to Will, calling over my shoulder, “Watch out! He’s still out there!”

Tamra says something behind me, but her voice is an echo as I dive into the narrow tunnel at the rear of the cave, searching for Will. I find him where we left him. Crouching, I touch him, so relieved I almost sob when I feel the rise of his chest. He’s still breathing. Still alive.

“Here.” Deghan’s voice sounds from the dark beside me. “I got him.” Without a sound, he lifts Will and carries him into the front of the cave. Once in the light, I inspect the damage. The gash doesn’t look as deep as I feared. The bleeding had stopped.

“Will,” I say, squeezing his shoulder.

He moans and swats my hand away from him.

“I think he’s going to be okay,” Deghan announces. “He’s coming around. And it doesn’t look too dangerous a wound.”

Will blinks slowly, squinting against the moderate light as though it stings his eyes. He focuses on my face. “Jacinda? What happened?”

I shake my head. Even if he could understand me, there’s no time for long explanations. Grasping Will’s arm, I help him to his feet. Will winces. We need to get out of here before Corbin shows up again. Him or others. There’s a good chance he went back and told the pride where they could find me.
Us
.

“Jacinda?” I turn at the sharpness of Tamra’s voice. She’s not looking at me though. I follow her gaze.

She’s looking at Miram’s pallet. The
empty
pallet. The wadded-up jacket Miram used as a pillow is still there—but she’s not. She’s not anywhere.

“Miram,” Tamra calls, looking around us, turning her whole body as if she’d find the girl lurking somewhere, in some small dark corner of the cave. True, Miram is a visiocrypter, who can make herself invisible, but I somehow doubt that’s what happened. Not seeing her, Tamra stops and faces me and announces what I already know: “She’s gone.”

20

I
demanifest and pull my shirt back over my head. We leave the cave in quick order. Will is walking but slow moving, and I insist on helping him, draping his arm over my shoulder as we move through the trees.

“She went this way.” Deghan leads us, studying the ground and the fresh shoeprints there.

“To the river,” Tamra mutters with a shake of her head. “What’s she thinking, leaving the group? She knows she’s the one most in danger.”

“She hasn’t been right since she learned about the homing device,” I say.

Will labors for breath as he tries to keep up with our pace. The forest is quiet, the sound of burbling water draping over the stillness. The last rays of sunlight filter down through the trees, striking Tamra’s hair and giving it a silver cast.

I know these mountains, this forest, and I can’t recall it ever being this quiet. Something isn’t right. Naturally my mind drifts to the hunters. I recall every time they chased me. They were never quiet. Their vehicles and choppers always announced their presence. Sometimes too late, but I always heard them before I saw them.

For some reason, I don’t think it will be like that again. If they have the device that’s going to lead them directly to Miram, then they’ll use stealth and surprise to attack her.

The sound of rushing water grows closer. For the first time, these trees don’t feel like the solace they’ve always been to me. In every blade of grass, in every whispering limb, behind every tree trunk lurks a potential menace.

I look around sharply and dig my fingers into Will’s hand. Solid, bigger than mine, it gives me strength. He looks down at me and I start to tell him my misgivings … the bad feeling in my gut, but Deghan holds up a hand, stopping us at the tree line edging the riverbank.