Dawn has arrived, and it’s only going to get brighter.
Beneath the treetops, the forest is still dark as night. The guys must notice the emerging dawn, though, because they all push forward a little faster.
I can’t hear any sound from our pursuers now, but glints of their flashlights still show in the distance. They’ve quieted down to focus on the chase.
If we dare to stop, they’ll be on top of us in a matter of minutes.
All at once, we burst from the trees into a clear stretch of field. A sharply cool wind whips over me, licking across my back.
As the guys swerve farther to the right, my heart thumps faster with the sense of increased exposure. But in a few seconds, I understand why they’ve emerged from the cover of the woods.
We’re dashing along the edge of a low cliff now—a cliff that looms over a four-lane highway. A couple of cars zoom by, but the road is mostly empty at this early hour. Headlights sear across the darkened landscape.
One of the guys sucks a breath through his teeth with a hiss. Another lets out a wordless sound of encouragement.
They’re all ahead of Zian now, so I can’t see them, but all at once, he starts running even faster. Then, with a heave of his chest, he launches us into open air.
A startled gasp breaks from my lips. He adjusts me against him as we plummet, cradling me closer to his chest. When we hit the ground with a smack, my body is tossed into his, cushioned by his brawn.
The impact is still hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. His grasp loosens, and I squirm out of his arms to take in our surroundings.
We’ve landed on the flat bed of a moving truck, one that’s roaring along the highway at what’s got to be seventy miles an hour. The other guys have leapt on around us, Andreas swaying a little as he rights himself.
Dominic lifts the tarp that’s covering the cargo of logs, which only covers one half of the truck bed, and motions for us to take cover under it. I scramble over, knowing we don’t want the guardians seeing where we’ve gone if they make it to the cliff before the truck has zoomed out of view.
The moment we’re inside our makeshift tent, I turn to face the guys. My gaze locks with Jacob’s.
His handsome face hardens, a cold glint forming in his eyes. Without any warning, he throws himself at me.
The movement is so sudden and unexpected from a long-lost friend that my reflexes scatter and my muscles don’t do much more than twitch before he’s slamming me to the ground. My arms shoot up instinctively then, but his hand is already clamped around my throat and pressing in hard, cutting off my airway with a shock of pain.
Jacob glares down at me, his gaze pure ice now—icy hatred. Frigid enough that I shiver even as I squirm to shove him off.
Under normal circumstances, I could outpower him easily, But I’m tired from a night on the run, and he’s got to weigh nearly twice as much as I do.
My wrists and ankles jar against the invisible hold of his telekinetic power. My thoughts are still too scrambled for me to come up with a coherent strategy to get him off me.
What the hell is going on? Why would Jake want tohurtme?
“So we got our freedom and you too,” he says in flat voice. “It’s our lucky day. And now I get to—”
“Jake!” Andreas snaps, his tone sharp enough that Jacob’s head jerks around, it’s so unusual from the normally easy-going guy. “Get off her. Weneedher. She’ll know things.”
What is he talking about? I squirm more urgently against Jacob’s hold, an ache digging into my lungs and my vision starting to waver.
But even with the choke hold he’s got on me, the press of his muscle-hardened body against mine stirs a trace of old longings laced with horror.
I’ve wanted him this close to me—but not like this. Nothing like this.
“Drey is right.” I recognize that quiet, even voice as Dominic’s, though he’s out of view.
Jacob swears, spittle hitting my cheeks. Then he shoves away from me as quickly as he sprang at me, as if he can’t stand to be touching me for a second longer.
His striking features have always looked chiseled, but right now they might as well have been carved out of marble. He jerks a hand toward Zian.
“Stay by her. Watch that she doesn’t make a run for it.”
I stare at him and then at each of the other guys as Zian moves to stand sentinel over me, holding up the highest point of our makeshift tent. A strange energy crackles through the air between us, suffocating even now that my airway is open.