Page 91 of Legacy of Roses

“I can’t take such a valuable gift!” she exclaimed. “What if you need it?”

“Don’t worry. He gave me more than one.” She winked. “He was extremely grateful.”

“If you go around rescuing strangers in need, I’m not surprised!” Rosalie said. “But are you really sure?—”

Avery held up a hand to silence her. “I hear something! If your mission is so urgent, you’d better go now or else we might end up trapped here for some time.”

Rosalie’s breath caught as she heard the voices a beat behind Avery. She recognized Jace’s tones among them, so he must have returned to the clearing. Obviously he had discovered what his men had failed to notice.

“Thank you,” she murmured a final time and plunged through the branches, moving in the opposite direction to the voices.

She was running toward the distant road and the manor, but she had lingered too long. Almost immediately a shout of discovery went up. She risked a look back over her shoulder. One of Jace’s men was pointing in her direction, the others turning to look.

Avery burst from the bushes behind her, emerging almost on top of the men. She let out a piercing scream of surprise.

Her unexpected appearance distracted Rosalie’s pursuers, but Rosalie hesitated to use the opportunity to escape. She couldn’t leave Avery to be captured in her stead.

As she faltered, Avery looked once in her direction and mouthed, “Go!” before sprinting off into the trees in the opposite direction, trailing several of the men behind her. She must have staged the entire thing to create a diversion for Rosalie.

Rosalie resumed her own flight, feeling the dagger in her boot as she ran. Avery was clearly equipped with far more tricks than Rosalie. If she believed she could protect herself, Rosalie believed it too.

Unfortunately, footsteps and shouts still followed Rosalie as she ran. The men must have split up to pursue both girls. She risked a glance behind her and saw Jace and two of his men on her tail.

She bit her lip and increased her pace, panting as she ran. She knew she couldn’t keep up the headlong speed indefinitely. If she didn’t find a way to evade them soon, they would catch her.

Hands grabbed her, jerking her body sideways between two tree trunks. Her forward momentum sent both her and her new attacker careening into a tree. They smashed against each other, and both fell to the ground.

A male voice groaned, but it sounded much younger than any of Jace’s men. Rosalie jumped to her feet and groped aroundblindly, trying to find her brother and haul him to his feet. As she searched, she peered back toward her pursuers.

They were calling out in surprise at her sudden disappearance, increasing their speed in an attempt to reach her. As they neared her position, a length of rope sprang up from the detritus on the ground, held taut between two invisible posts. Jace’s followers both ran into it at speed and were knocked off their feet.

They rolled on the ground, clutching their midriffs and groaning. Before either had a chance to recover, their bodies contorted, as if kicked by invisible feet.

Rosalie’s hand finally found a collar, and she hauled her unnamed brother to his feet. Dragging him behind her, she raced toward the others.

“Stop!” she cried, and the two men on the ground stilled, both groaning even more deeply than before. “We don’t have time for this.”

Her eyes caught on Jace, lingering far back and watching his men with wide, horrified eyes. They didn’t have time to deal with Jace either. He appeared terrified by the invisible attack, and she didn’t think he would continue the pursuit alone. He was too much of a coward for that. She hated to leave him free, but she couldn’t let anything else slow her down.

“We need to get to Dimitri,” she said more quietly.

She started running again, not waiting to hear her brothers’ assent. Thankfully, their footsteps kept pace with her, assuring her of their presence, although she couldn’t see anyone.

One of the sets of footsteps veered close, and Vernon’s voice sounded between puffs. “I’m sorry, Rosalie!” he sounded both guilty and angry, but she knew his anger was for himself and for Jace. “We meant to take it in turns keeping watch, but…”

“Save your breath for running,” she managed between gasping breaths of her own. She didn’t have the energy to eitherscold or forgive them when all her attention was focused on getting to Dimitri as quickly as possible.

Much to her dismay, her body couldn’t keep pace with her will, and they had to alternate between walking and running. Each time she dropped to a walk, the lack of speed chafed so badly that she broke into a jog again as soon as she’d even slightly caught her breath. All she could think of was Dimitri collapsing in their shared dream.

Finally the road came into view. She staggered through the last of the trees and stood panting as she tried to orient herself. With a burst of joy, she realized she had emerged some distance north of where she had been taken. The land bordering the road to the west was already the manor grounds. They were nearly at the drive.

She took off jogging again before she had properly caught her breath, riding a new wave of energy as she left her brothers behind. As she turned down the drive and raced toward the house, she scanned the garden on either side. He had been outside in their dream, but she hadn’t been able to see exactly where.

When she reached the manor without spotting him, she burst through the doors. But she only made it a few steps into the entryway before she was hit with the chilling certainty that the manor was empty. She couldn’t have said how she was so certain, but she immediately turned around.

Hurrying back into the gardens, she hesitated, looking left, then right. She could see nothing to indicate which way she should go. Turning left at random, she moved at a half jog, peering between hedges and flower beds.

“Rosalie!” Daphne’s voice called from behind a hedge, and Rosalie raced toward it.

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