Page 207 of The Delta's Rogue
“My blood.”Her voice is fuzzy and strained in my mind.“Someone is controlling me with my blood.”
“It’s her blood!” I repeat out loud to the others. “Someone is controlling her!”
“But Brenna gave you her blood!” Rune says.
“I kept some.” The sharp, proud voice comes from everywhere and nowhere, magically amplified across the entire pack.
“Amara,” I snarl.
Her phony-sweet laugh echoes.
My eyes dart around, searching for her, and my thoughtless reconnaissance costs me. Sarina twists and knees me in the groin. I curl in on myself, and she raises her claws to strike. Her arm descends, but I roll to the opposite side and her claws scrape through the dirt instead. I scramble to stand and spin to face her as soon as my feet are underneath me. She darts forward, and I brace for her strike.
Reid and Nolan sprint closer and grab her, but they are thrown from her body. Reid lands flat on his back. Nolan spins in midair and rolls across the grass. Both of them gasp for air, overwhelmed by the power behind the unseen force.
Amara’s magic, or maybe a protective barrier around Sarina, prevents them from touching her.
Whatever it is, Amara wants this to be a one-on-one fight between Sarina and me.
As Sarina flies towards me once more, an idea sparks in my mind.
We’re out in the open, which means Amara can see us from wherever it is she’s hiding. But if we’re in the forest…
At the last second, I sprint towards the trees. I run faster than I have in my life. The entire time I run, I scan the battlefield.
Warriors fight off the dwindling numbers of traffickers. Maya, her mates, her mom, and Rune’s mom all watch over the unconscious or dead witches Dominic took out. Levi and his dad, Dr. Russo, tend to our wounded.
There is no sign of Amara.
Or Lyall.
I kick up an unbelievable amount of grass, dirt, rocks, twigs, and pine needles as my feet transition from the open field to the forest floor. Amara keeps Sarina’s sprinting footsteps close behind me, but I don’t give it a second thought. It doesn’t distract me. It doesn’t deter me.
I know this forest. This ismyforest, and I will use it to my advantage.
“Find Amara,”I mindlink to the others.“Find her, get the blood from her, and put an end to this.”
“We’re on it,”Wes replies.
“You’ve got it,”Reid adds.
“What about Lyall?”Dominic asks.
I shake my head slightly.“He’s probably hiding somewhere, waiting until the last minute to reveal himself.”
Dominic exhales.“I’ll look for him.”
The mindlink goes quiet again, and I turn my focus to my plan.
Run through the forest. Keep Sarina close enough that she follows me but not close enough for her to attack me. Distract Amara so the others can find her and take her out.
I weave through the trees, changing direction every few yards. I leap over a rock here and vault over a fallen log there. Periodically, I drift closer to the gaps in the trees, ensuring Amara glimpses me from wherever she is so she’ll continue to keep Sarina on my tail.
The fading light darkens the forest, but the nights I spent traversing the grounds when the packhouse felt too much like a cage help me navigate them with ease. Every turn I make, every obstacle I intentionally alter my path to include, sets Sarina slightly farther back from me. She catches up between them, but each one assists me in my plan to drag this out.
“Why’d you attack us?” I yell once I’ve led us deeper into the forest on the opposite side of the lake.
I don’t know where Amara is, if she can hear me from where she’s positioned or through her control of Sarina, but I hope she can, and I hope she takes the bait.
