Page 88 of Corbin
He’d given her an impossible task. She didn’t want to leave him, but if she could not save him here, then she’d do as he askedon one condition—that she could free him of this man. “I’ll go only so I can find a way to save you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “If you make a peep, the Romanian will find you. You won’t be able to save Pixie or your females. Don’t toss your life away when you can’t stop these people. Don’t destroy your reputation with the public finding out you’ve been with a lone wolf because, without the pack I had, that’s what I am. I won’t drag them into this hellhole either.” He licked his lips, which looked dry. “But don’t worry, Ares and I will find a way to escape again.”
Her heart shattered. His last sentence had been a blatant lie.
He expected her to leave and forget him.
That was not happening.
His breathing hitched, and he gritted his teeth. “I want to kiss you so badly, but any move I make will bring them back over here. You only have one chance to escape. Get ready to hear me say stuff I’d cut my arm off before I’d say for real. Stick with my plan. Don’t look back for any reason. Make it to the other shore, shift, and run. Please do this for me.”
Tears ran down her cheeks.
Corbin stared ahead, blinking hard. “None of these humans can keep up with you. Always know that I love you so much that I can’t even put it into words.”
He was telling her goodbye. She couldn’t do this.
Then he grimaced.
“What?”
“Ares said he doesn’t want to lose Pixie. I understand, but I reminded him how Vlad abuses the female shifters he traffics. Ares is hurting but said he wants Pixie to be safe too.” He tensed. “I hear Vlad ending the call. Get ready.”
She couldn’t believe she was going to leave him here.
What could she do if she stayed? Make him watch them do awful things to her? She would only add to his suffering.
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.
She had no choice, but that wouldn’t stop the feeling of having her heart ripped from her chest.
When Corbin eased up into a crouch, she told Pixie,We’re going to swim faster than we ever have and go for help.
Corbin whispered, “Now.” He shoved up fast and ran through the armed men facing their boss. He rammed into Vlad, knocking him backward.
Crying, Eirene hurried to the water and dove in with the smoothness of a knife’s blade. She stayed underwater, sparing her from hearing Corbin’s voice scream at being hit by that red device again.
When she’d made it as far as her lungs could take, she eased up to break the surface and spun. She’d reached halfway across the river.
Out of the chaos, Vlad shouted, “Where is the female? Get her!”
Corbin was not in sight. He had to be curled up on the ground shaking.
Two guards took off into the woods.
A third ran to the bank and lifted his rifle.
She gulped air and dove at an angle, going deep. Bullets zinged through the water, but they were to the left of her. She continued swimming until she could put her feet on solid ground and slowly pushed up to peek again.
The same guard still held the rifle pointed at where she’d gone under.
Looking around, she spotted tree limbs overhanging the water on the bank near her.
She swam slowly underwater again until she came up by those branches and pulled herself through them, gritting her teeth at the deep scratches and jagged cuts over her bare skin.
Yet she made it out of the water with that one guard still searching the surface.
Once she’d wiggled her way through the thicket to a more open area, she stood and held onto a tree to catch her breath.
