Page 130 of Claimed By Blood

Silas swallows and glances back towards the tent in the far corner of the room. “I—she was asleep. I swear—”

Evie’s shock hits, punching down the thrall bond so powerfully that if it were a physical blow, it would’ve stolen my breath. “She’s not—” She cuts off. “She can’t have. We’ve had eyes on her at all times.”

I hate the hurt that’s wafting from her in waves, but I can’t help it. Evie’s blind spot where Immy is concerned was how Cain bested her last time. While she’s been more cautious this time around, I think she was slowly starting to trust that her sister was telling her the truth.

Striding away from the pack, I pick my way between the tents and equipment and rip open the front of Imogen’s.

Empty. And the fabric on the far side has been torn.

Fuck. I should’ve seen this coming, but we’ve had two weeks of peace. I got complacent. We all did.

“I want us ready to go,” Gideon snarls, before turning back to Evie. “And you need to go back to that village. Whatever they know, we’re running out of time to find out.” He looks at me. “Find. Her.”

“I'll help,” Frost mutters. “Gideon, you go with Evie and Draven.”

“Finn, stick close to Silas,” I order, noticing that the omega looks like he’s about to follow Evie.

Gideon, Draven, and our girl disappear through the door without waiting, and Frost reaches me seconds later.

“Too many scents in here,” he grumbles, taking a deep breath at the entrance to her tent. “But the freshest trail leads this way… I think.”

Without waiting for us, he leads us away from the tent, pausing every few seconds to take a breath, ensuring we’re still following the trail.

“The fridge?” Silas mutters, echoing my confusion.

Surely if she knew her cover was about to be blown, she’d have headed for the door.

“That’s where the trail leads,” Frost retorts. “Now shut up so I can think. I’m not a damned bloodhound and this isn’t as easy as it looks.” He pauses, pressing his face towards the door of the small portable fridge we’ve been using to store blood and food.

Finn’s face pales, and he darts past the ghoul, wrenching the door open and pushing blood bags aside. To withdraw a single test tube of blood from a rack at the back.

“She’s taken one of Evie’s blood samples,” he whispers, staring at the red liquid in the tube.

“What? Why would she bother?” Silas asks.

“She must have intercepted the communication that said DNA testing was useless.” So why take the blood? “Unless…”

“Eve’s blood has healing properties,” Frost mutters. “Maybe she’s anticipating needing those.”

That’s not a good sign, and the four of us share a grim look before Frost goes back on the hunt for the trail.

When he leads us back into the centre of the main room, I almost think he’s going to go for the door. But he doesn’t. Instead, he leads us straight to the stairs. We end up backtracking several times, going down different hallways.

“She knew we’d try this,” I realise, after the third ‘wrong turn.’ She’s been laying false trails to buy herself more time.”

That’s not good news. It speaks of planning.

How long has Immy been working against us? Logic says from the start, but I hope for Evie’s sake that’s not true.

Finally, her trail leads down a corridor. “Shit.” Frost speeds up, tossing open the door at the end. “She’s used the tunnel to escape. She could be anywhere in the woods right now.”

“What about your sentries?” I ask, grabbing one of the stakes that is buried in the wall from the traps and ignoring the burn of silver in my palm.

“They haven’t sensed anything.” Frost runs a hand through his hair. “We need to pack. This is bad. Get the stuff together. I’ll message Gideon. Hopefully, they’ve reached the village by now.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

EVELYN

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