Page 38 of Unleashed

Chest tight, he twisted to find her sitting behind him, her features tight with concern. Before she could say anything, he reached out with one hand — a hand covered in fur, with claw-tipped fingers — and pressed his palm to her cheek.

She was solid, warm. Real.

“Aduun?” she asked.

He ran his eyes over her, taking in every detail from her sleep-tousled fur to her bare legs. His body — and his beast — eased gradually, and soon his breathing normalized, and his heart seemed no longer in danger of bursting from his ribs.

Sliding his tongue over dry lips, he turned his head. The water below shimmered with reflections of the early morning sunlight.

“I am fine,” he said finally, lowering his hand and pushing himself to his feet. It took a considerable amount of willpower to suppress the shudder that threatened to course through his body.

He felt Nina’s gaze lingering on his back.

“The treeclaws came a little closer before dawn,” Balir said, still perched in the same place he’d been when Aduun went to sleep, “but they have maintained a healthy distance.”

Vortok stood, causing the branch to tremble beneath his weight. “Is the water lower?”

Debris still flowed over the water’s surface in large patches, indicating that the currents had not subsided. Aduun swung his gaze between the tree trunks he’d used as markers the day before. “No lower, no higher, and still too dangerous to traverse.”

“The branches are thick,” Nina said. “We could find where the largest of them cross and use them to continue onward.”

He felt her behind him. It was more than the enhanced senses afforded by his beast; hisheartstoneknew she was near, recognized her, yearned for her. Turning to stand side-to-side with her, he glanced at Nina before shifting his gaze to the trees she was studying.

“It will not be easy, or fast,” he said, “but it is better than waiting here until something finally succeeds in killing us.”

“Perhaps I will try swimming, after all,” Vortok muttered.

“You’ll be fine,” Nina said, patting his arm.

Aduun watched her peer over the side of the branch and draw back with a shudder, her skin paling. He brushed his knuckles against the back of her hand. “We willallbe fine,” he said when she looked up at him.

Surprise flicked across her expression only to be swept away by a warm smile a moment later.

His beast stirred. He braced himself, prepared to wrestle it back.

To his shock, it merely purred before relapsing on its own.

“Do we continue in the direction we’ve been going?” Balir asked.

Nina turned away from Aduun and pointed toward the rising sun, barely visible through the branches. “That way. I can…sense it.”

Aduun frowned. They’d been traveling with the rising sun to their right thus far; this would be a significant change in course.

“Sense what?” Balir asked.

“Them. I heard them calling for help,” Nina replied.

Them. Do you hear them calling?

Nina’s words from the dream echoed in Aduun’s memory, as ominous and eerie as the whispers he’d heard outside the tent. He couldn’t suppress his shudder this time.

“Who, Nina?” he asked, chest constricting; why was he so fearful of what her answer might be?

Nina looked at him. “I… I think it’s the other valos. Your people.”

Palpable shock swept through Aduun, and he knew it had stricken Vortok and Balir as well by their soft gasps. Though he hadn’t been able to make out their words, he’d heard the voices briefly, had heard their desperation…

Something sparked in his belly. He made no effort to extinguish it, though he knew it was a dangerous thing to foster —hope. If Nina’s mind was strong enough to peer into the thoughts of everyone around her, who was to say she couldn’t sense the mental outcries of his people, imprisoned somewhere within this intricate, immense trap?

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