Page 335 of Shadowblood Souls
“Follow us,” Jake calls out, and the kids start to stream after them into the thickening dusk.
Good. Whoever reaches the plateau first will need to deal with the helicopter’s pilot, and my guys are more equipped to do that than the kids. I should have thought that part through more carefully.
But when did we have time to put our heads together and really plan?
I hustle along at the back of the group, ushering the kids ahead of me with Dominic and Zian on either side. When the spiky-haired boy I noticed earlier stumbles, Zee grabs his elbow to steady him.
We’re not moving fast enough. As we swerve around the first bend, some of the kids already slowing as the unexpected climb saps their energy, a squad of guardians hurtles up the path toward us.
I spin around and let out a shriek, but one of our pursuers fires a weapon at the same time. A projectile whizzes through the evening and smacks me right in the throat.
My voice fizzles out with a squeak. I try to force another sound out and only rasp.
Shit.
As a chilly wave of panic washes over me, Zian throws himself at the guardians—only to hurl himself backward, barely dodging the bolt of electricity that shoots from one of their batons.
“Go, go, go!” Dominic hollers to the kids ahead of us, urging them onward, but my stomach has started to sink.
More shots blare through the night. Zian smacks a dart to the side with a swing of his hand.
Another plunges into the back of a kid just beyond him. The boy crumples, and I stumble as I avoid stepping on his slack form.
We can’t afford to stop and try to carry him, or the guardians will be on us.
One of them must hit a control, because the next thing I know, a section of path in the middle of our frantic procession crumbles away. Three of the younger shadowbloods tumble down the mountainside to a thick net that’s waiting to confine them below.
“Jump!” I manage to force out in a thin voice. Zee and I catch Dominic between us and spring at the same moment.
It’s at least a five-foot gap, but we clear it. Unfortunately, the guardians were prepared for that possibility too.
One of them jabs the side of the mountain, and a new ledge of rock protrudes to fill the gap so they can continue their pursuit. Another arc of electricity whips through the air, close enough that my fingers jitter.
I cough and try to propel a shriek from my mouth, but my throat is throbbing from the impact. The strangled noise that pops out of me does nothing at all.
Just in front of us now, Tegan sways on her feet, her fawn-brown hair sticking to the sweat that’s broken out on her neck. Her breaths are so ragged I can hear them over the pounding footsteps around us.
I’m considering swinging her small form onto my back—or gesturing for Zian to do it—when she spins around. Her eyes have stretched even wider, but her mouth is set in a line of total determination.
“I can stop them!” she says. “I can give you enough time.”
She squeezes between us before I can say a word. When I jerk around, she’s already facing off against the guardians—with her mouth open as she exhales in a rush.
I never asked what her power was. Now I get to see it up close.
A current of dark smoke like the shadows that bleed from our veins gushes over her lips. The cloud sweeps over the guardians, setting off shouts of alarm that make me think it’s doing more than obscuring their vision.
“Tegan!” I rasp, taking a step back toward her, but Zian tugs me in the opposite direction.
“We have to let her. We might not make it otherwise.”
I know he’s right. But the sense of abandoning her yanks at my heart with every step I take away from her toward the top of the cliff.
As we veer around another bend and race the last distance to the top of the mountainside, Dominic’s breath breaks into panting. I’m not sure how much longer he can keep up this pace.
But we’ve arrived. We burst onto the air strip in the midst of the cluster of younger shadowbloods who’ve made it this far—who are staring at Jacob where his hand is pressed against the helicopter’s windshield, lit by the glow of its running lights.
It’s a huge chopper with a propeller on the tail as well as one over the long main cabin. The pilot gapes at us from inside, both in shock and because Jake’s power has a grip on his throat.
