Page 63 of Villainous Fate

“We don’t stop. We don’t camp. We go all night. Straight to the finish,” he says, his face completely serious.

Taking in his resolve I ponder it for a moment.

Could we do 24 hours straight? Would we move fast enough to stay ahead?

Only one way to find out.

“I need to see the map,” I say finally, making a decision but waiting until I can find a way for it to work.

Without waiting, I move to Amira and get her attention.

“I need to examine the map again. I apologize, but this is important.” When I finish the statement, she nods and turns to allow room behind her. Carefully, my hands slide the fabric up her healing skin, slowly revealing its images.

After finding our location, my finger floats above her and traces the line we need to follow. It has us weaving through several more winding turns, almost zig-zagging back and forth before we do a full U-turn to reach the finish area.

What a way to waste our fucking time.

It must have taken the growers weeks to get this to work. Why those green-eyed vamps, or honestly, any of five varieties, were willing to work with us on anything still baffled me, but this maze is complicated.

At several places along the route, there are options we could take. Go right, and you can shorten your trek, but you have to cross a river.

Been there did that, not with Captain ‘I can’t swim’ over there.

Or go left and work the long way around to get to the same place by crossing a pre-existing bridge.

I take my time going over our options while both Finn and Marcus stand silently waiting.

“I think we can manage it, but it’s going to mean we have to climb down those cliffs you mentioned before this event,” I say, looking at Marcus.

“But we’re out of rope. It’s nearly pitch black out here,” Finn says before adding, “ and we have Amira.”

“It’s the only way. Any other route, and they will catch us. This is the only route where they have no advantage with their wolves,” I counter and leave the decision to them. Returning Amira's sweatshirt to its place, I stand, preparing to leave.

“We need to leave now. We’ve wasted enough time already.” With that, I turn and begin walking in the direction we need to go.

Please let this work.

I hear Marcus say something to Amira before he and Finn both fall in line behind me, and we begin the path to the finish line.

Chapter 32

Deacon

IfIhadtoguess, it’s got to be nearly 3 am. We’ve been moving on the route I’d chosen without incident for the last few hours. Finn is carrying Amira, as we have taken turns to ensure we can keep our pace. Team East is probably fast asleep, knowing they are on their way with no one behind to stop them.

But they know we’re ahead. They have to after finding only three humans on the platform, and our clue was missing. There’s no way Saint doesn’t know it's a foot race to the finish. That being said, he also knows we’re traveling with our human map.

We have to keep moving, but my feet are aching, and my wolf wants nothing more than to run.

One more day, and you will get your chance.

Turning our last zag to the right, the area opens up, and the shadows of the mountains loom around us. We’ve reached the cliff.

I scan the area, spotting the finish without effort. About a half mile from the base of the drop, they’ve constructed an elaborate open-air arena with seating on both sides of a center stage. Boxed-off sections indicate the Alpha’s home packs, while packs just coming to observe are scattered below to fill in the sections.

The whole dog and pony show. Well, wolf and pony.

According to the map, we can take a thin trail to get down the hundred-foot nearly vertical drop.

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