Page 35 of Marked Resistance

Xavier’s jaw tightened. “You’re smarter than that, Zee. Think. If it were you, what would you do? A massive battle is happening all around you, and your target is right there. Rightthere. The reason why you’re here. The reason for the battle and bloodshed is right there waiting for you. Her would-be protectors were engaged and distracted. What would you do? You know she’s untrained. You know you’re superior in skill, numbers, and experience. What do you do?”

Images flashed in my mind of Dillon.

“I kill her. I don’t hesitate, I don’t waste any time, I chop her head off and be done with it. Deal with you and the consequences after.”

“Exactly,” Xavier agreed and pointed a finger as if I’d hit the nail on the head. “Ilanis and Grim are more experienced in this vampire life and on the battlefield. They’ve fought rival clans, other Shaye vampires, and the human resistance. They are skilled. They are deadly. And if you reached that conclusion…”

“They did as well,” I finished.

“They did as well.”

“Then why? Why carry her off, knowing we’d search for her?”

“Me.”

“Come again?”

“They kill Sarah, that puts them square in my line of sight. You’re under my protection, which means until I decide otherwise, she’s under my protection. Command’s authority only extends to the door that they use to get in and out of whatever building Duradel hides in. Leads are the authority on the field, everyone’s trained to follow them with no questions asked. But when a vampire asks questions about Command, they tend to become branded as deserters.

“You say you’d deal with me later? That’s because you’ve never faced me. You’ve only now seen what I do. Those two on the other hand have a very clear understanding of what I’m capable of. Ilanis has fought by my side for years, Grim centuries. They are under no misconceptions. They know almost everything about me.”

My forehead tightened. “Almost everything? What don’t they know?”

Xavier turned his back to me and walked the pressed grass path in the direction they traveled with my sister.

“Xavier?!”

Xavier sped down the pressed grass path. I sheathed Assurance and sped after him, running as hard as I could. He was much older than I, so it would be easy to catch him since the younger the vampire, the faster they moved. When I caught him, he continued to run and didn’t pause or speak. He stayed focused on the tracks left behind by Grim, Ilanis, and my sister.

After a couple of moments, the trail returned us to the area where we’d left the travel vehicle.

I threw my hands up. “They took the truck?! Dammit!”

“Of course, they did Zee. But look there,” Xavier instructed and pointed a finger to a place on the ground where the truck had been located.

A single wolf earring.

I wanted to move. I wanted to run. I wanted to leap for joy. Instead, I had to exhibit control, so I did neither. I had to remain even because one earring didn’t signify the current state of my sister. However, I did speak a little louder than I wanted. “She left that for us!”

“Or they did,” Xavier countered.

“No,” I said and shook my head. “No, I’m positive Sarah left it for us. She dropped it as a clue.”

Xavier rubbed his chin. “Smart girl.”

“Okay, what now?”

“Come on. It’s going to be daylight soon. Neither of their abilities allows them to travel while the sun is up without daylight armor, but the truck’s tinted windows do. We have to double-time it. We can last longer in daylight than most without our armor, but even we have our limits, so put your day armor on. Sarah had no armor, so they’ll need to go straight through and not risk having to stop.”

“Straight through to where?”

“Where do you think they’d go? You have the main target, but you didn’t execute them. Where do you go?”

I paced the surrounding area and threw my head back, casting my eyes on the skies. The partly clouded night sky began to lessen as the sun signified its journey across the sky to begin.

“The only place I could think to go would be Dobgar. Command is still there, so perhaps they’ll attempt to barter Sarah’s life for their own. Show Command they didn’t fail in their mission.”

“Do better, Zee. Sarah’s separated head from her shoulders would serve the same function. There’s no need to transport her alive to simply barter.”

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