Page 94 of Secret Gifts
I sigh as I stare at the dark, lonely road, and I see my splotches of blood I spat out along the way as breadcrumbs. No one is here though.
They didn’t find my blood and follow the tire treads next to it. They didn’t find me as I would have found them.
Then I hear a roaring engine blazing toward me. I slink back into the wooded area next to me, and I slide behind a tree as my heart beats too fast.
Damn it. I wish he hadn’t left yet.
The car skids, and then I hear several more joining it as they jump out, doors almost slamming in unison.
“This is hers,” I hear a soft, familiar, and destroyed voice choke out.
Jase.
“Aria!” he yells when he finds himself close enough to hear my mind.
I limp out of the wooded area, tears springing free from my eyes, as I try to run to his voice. I never thought I’d see him, hear him, or touch him again. Please don’t be a dream.
“Aria!” he yells again, and I don’t even see him before I feel his cool hands scooping me up and pulling me to his chest.
I cry louder as the overwhelming relief floods me, and my body starts shaking as I cling to him. His lips find my forehead and then my trembling lips as he breathes me in like a breath he’s been chasing after for centuries.
“I’ve got her,” he yells to the night air, and I cling to him tighter as I try to compose myself.
“Aria!” Uncle Grayson shouts, his arms almost tearing me out of Jase’s before I scream out in pain from his touch hitting me just wrong. "Sorry. Sorry. Damn it."
“Fucking shit. She needs blood!” Rex screeches while rushing away from us.
“Who took you? Where were you? How did you escape?” Jase’s crackling voice tries to demand.
I take a few deep breaths to steady myself against the pain my uncle unintentionally provoked, and then my brother returns with an open pack of blood that I gratefully rip from his hands. I guzzle it down, my body reacting instantly, and I take in a new breath that feels so much better.
My wounds are still there, but they’re so much smaller, more tolerable, and easier to deal with now.
“The Scorpion people took me. I saw the tattoo,” I try to say without crying again, but my tears escape.
“Damn it,” Jase growls, and then I feel the backseat of a hummer greeting us as he climbs in and pulls me into his lap.
“What about your car?” Rex asks as he joins Uncle Grayson up front.
“I’ll send someone after it. I’m not leaving her side right now, and she needs someone holding her until we reach the city.”
I smile, so relieved he said that, and then his lips brush my forehead as he kisses it again.
“What did they do?” Rex prods, his eyes terrifyingly close to showing dilation.
“You came down pretty quick,” I murmur to deter the conversation, hoping his savage will subside before coming to life.
“Mel injected me before I went phase three. I’m fine. I swear. I’ve had like a case of olophine.”
I smirk somewhat, and then I take a deep breath before looking up to the pale eyes seeming so tormented.
“They didn’t get the chance to do anything,” I answer to Rex, but my eyes stay locked on my full blood’s.
“Aria, tell us where you’ve been,” Uncle Grayson demands. “I can have a team there by tomorrow morning.”
“No!” I screech, my heart slapping my throat as my mind strays from every memory I’ve had for the night.
“Aria, what’s going on?” Jase asks, seriousness taking over his emotion when he sees my mind intentionally avoiding any thoughts about tonight.
