Page 40 of Marked Dragon

Warriors.

They were heading this way. More must have joined the search. We’d wasted too much time, and now we were vulnerable.

Cassidy murmured, “Come on.” Grabbing Saphira, they took off running.

Pointing at me and Thorn, Vlad indicated for us to head out.

I pivoted to run but stilled when I noticed Thorn not budging.

“Errol and I are still impacted by the tranq. We’ll slow you down if we take the lead,” Vlad rasped. “Go, before we lose Saphira and Cass. You have the human girl.”

Thorn growled but took off, running at a pace I could keep up with. Vlad and Errol hurried behind us, and we dodged and wove through the trees.

As I ran, my dress caught on twigs and branches, slowing me down. The warriors hadn’t noticed us, but they’d pick up our scents once they reached the spot where we’d come above ground.

The constant breeze would help. I could only hope we would be far enough away before anyone caught our scents.How far is it to the dragon territory border?

Four miles,Thorn replied.If we keep up this pace, we should be out of this area in thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes. My legs were already stinging from scratches, and we’d gone maybe a quarter of a mile. With each passing minute, I hated this dress more and more.

Saphira and Cassidy slowed down, and we soon caught up with them. The six of us ran in rhythm, and I kept my eyes locked in front of me to make sure I didn’t get injured more and wind up not being able to run on my own. We were already carrying one too many people, but Eva wouldn’t have been able to run as fast as the rest of us.

A few squirrels and a skunk scurried away, and I tensed every time. I kept expecting someone to jump out from behind a tree and tranq one of us.Where are all the warriors?

Probably still close to the chateau, but they’ll spread out soon since they haven’t found us,Thorn answered.They didn’t expect us to get very far, or we would’ve already been spotted. King Arman didn’t lie when he said no one knew about the secret passage.

At least, there was that.

Errol grunted from behind. “Tell Cassidy to go slightly right, so we’ll run into the road.”

“Absolutely not,” Vlad snapped. “That’s taking us toward the houses.”

“That’s where Arman left a vehicle for us,” he huffed, out of breath. “If we go down first and then right, it’ll take more time.”

Vlad sighed but didn’t respond.

Cassidy veered right, pushing Saphira that way, confirming Vlad had relayed the message, after all.

We picked up the pace, and if someone had asked, I would’ve said we’d been running for hours. My feet were raw from the rocks and twigs I jogged over. Soon, a road appeared, and I spotted a black SUV.

Saphira stopped. “You’ve got to be kidding me. He’ll take us straight back to Drake.”

My attention landed on Brenton, and my blood froze. She was right. We couldn’t trust him.

As I opened my mouth to agree, the sound of flapping wings caught my attention. I spun around to find three dragons flying toward us, their eyes locked on me.

Just when I’d hoped we might get away, we now hadtwoproblems.

Thorn handed me Eva and turned toward the dragons. He raised his hands, making his intentions clear, while Vlad removed a pistol from around his ankle. The two of them stood side by side, ready to fight.

I spun around to find Cassidy with a gun, rushing toward Vlad and Thorn, while Saphira marched directly to her uncle, her hands clenched at her sides.

“Saphira,” Errol rasped as he rushed forward, intending to be involved in whatever was going on with his brother.

My chest constricted. I didn’t know what to do: help my mate or get into the car so I could hide my sister from the battle.

The dragons roared louder as they reached us.

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