So let him imagine I’m reading his mind.
I pin him with my gaze for a few thumps of my heart and then point to the left path. “We go this way.”
Nothing shifts in the air. I furrow my brow as if I’m picking up something new and then let out a little chuckle. “Oh, no, you’re not tricking us that easily. It’s this way.”
When I point to the righthand path, the spike of stress I expected wafts into my nose. A grin crosses my lips with a flicker of exhilaration.
I have him.
“Definitely that way,” I say with increased confidence, and eyeball the path to the right for a moment before peering at our captive again. “Now let’s see how much company we can expect to tangle with along the way, and exactly how to get the jump on them.”
Another spurt of nervous pheromones. Thereareother guardians down that way, and now he’s worried for their safety.
With his own animalistically heightened senses, Zian catches on to my tactic first. He steps closer to the man, looming into his view with his brawny arms flexing.
“He’s trying so hard to yell. There must be someone pretty close.”
“Yep,” I say when I get a whiff of confirmation. “But we just need to take care of that one and then one… no, two…” There’s another surge of anxiety. “Two more. Three altogether, and we’re home free.”
Zian cracks his knuckles and grins at me, the admiration in his eyes warming me despite my intent to stay totally detached from these guys. “That shouldn’t be too much trouble.”
“I wouldn’t think so. Especially since they’ve only got guns like this dude, and maybe a couple of tranqs.”
Another flare of stress confirms my guess. He wouldn’t be worried if I was underestimating his colleagues, if they had some other trick up their sleeves.
I study him for several seconds longer. “Too bad for the guardians that the ones back home didn’t think there was much chance we were headed up here. They couldn’t be bothered to send a whole army.”
The man grimaces at me, unable to express his futile anger in any other way. My statement must at least be close to the truth, because it’s pissed him off and frightened him all over again.
I shove myself away from him and glance at Jacob. “I think that’s all we need to know.”
Jacob gazes steadily back at me and inclines his head, a gesture of trust that sends an unexpected ache lancing through my heart. He believes me, just like that.
He turns his attention on the guardian and, without a word, snaps the man’s neck.
Zian moves automatically to haul the body into the woods out of sight. Andreas catches my eyes and lets out a soft whistle.
“That was pretty badass, Tink. We’ll have to remember that trick.”
I look away, my nerves jumping at the compliment and the affection in his tone. “Let’s hope we don’t have to. Come on. We’ve got three more of these assholes to deal with.”
And then, if I’m right, we’ll come face to face with the woman who started it all.
Thirty-Two
Riva
The house reminds me so much of the magazine clipping from decades ago that I have to stop and stare for a moment to make sure I’m not hallucinating.
The trees surrounding it aren’t draped with snow, but their needle-laden boughs swoop around the log walls in a woodsy embrace. Those walls rise two stories above the low slope where the house is perched, to a sharply peaked roof that makes me picture a vaulted ceiling beneath.
Large windows gleam darkly glossy, reflecting the forest around them. The afternoon light is too bright to allow any glimpse of what’s inside.
To my eyes, anyway. Zian peers at the place and then glances at us.
“I’m going to sneak a little closer to get a better look inside. Make sure she doesn’t have other guardians in there with her.”
Jacob nods. “Just be careful.”