The mare never even hesitated. With his mind partially occupied elsewhere, Zach had only a microsecond of warning before Storm launched herself straight off the path and into the air.
For a moment, it was as though he rode Pegasus himself. Then her forehooves crashed down on the loose stones as she pulled her haunches beneath her. She half slid, half galloped straight down.
Only his hand buried in her mane saved him. Zach reclined against her rump, helping her to balance both his weight and her own. She leaped from twenty feet up to hit the floor of the pit in an explosion of sand and gravel. Gathered her feet under her and galloped on.
Zach spread his fingers against her neck. Leaned forward. And showed her the way.
34
Kade ran like a mad thing. The mare was fast. Easily as fast as a Were over this terrain.
He’d never seen anyone ride like Zach. Without a saddle or bridle on that horse, how the hell was he controlling the animal? Kade had seen Cara do some amazing things. She may have talked to the horse, but now that they were away from her, her influence was nil.
This had to be all Zach. Or the mare. Or perhaps, both.
And then, suddenly, the guy was in his brain. Or Jessie was. No, it was both. When Zach sent him the map, Kade almost slammed headlong into a tree.
He dodged at the last second and tried to focus on two things at once. Unlike Zach, he had to pay attention to what his feet were doing while his brain was being peppered with images. And some images had to be straight from Jessie. They synced with the tiny glimpses he’d been getting all along and interwove with her emotions. Was she doing that deliberately? So Zach could find her?
Kade and Jessie had the beginnings of the telepathic mate bond. That connection made sense. But how the hell was Zach tapping into it? This three-way connection shouldn’t be possible. But it was eerily familiar. Cas, Isa, and he had shared a powerful three-way bond. But they’d been mates...
Fifteen.The number flashed through his brain. There were fifteen Dires in Jessie’s group. Nine Sabres against fifteen, no problem. Considering the Sabres’ superior strength, the odds were in their favor. So long as the other group of Dire, the ones near the vehicles, stayed out of it.
Daylight shone through the trees. They’d made it to the gravel pits. And if Zach was right, they were ahead of Braden and his group with the women.
When the mare launched herself into the pit, Kade’s heart stopped. A millisecond later, he and the others followed her over the edge.
The gravel slid beneath his claws, and it was all Kade could do to stay on his feet. Trevor lost it, rolling and bouncing painfully down the steep slope. Zach and the horse were ahead of them, obscured by a cloud of loose sand.
Then they hit bottom. Trevor rolled upright and bounded after them.
Zach used the three-way link to send something to Kade. A rough map of the pits, and where he thought they should make their stand. Kade struggled with the mental map as he bounded over boulders. The Weres near the vehicles were a problem. They’d join the party as soon as they figured out something was up. He nudged Zach’s focus to where a tall rocky ridge gave them high ground, and the excavated gravel formed a canyon.
Zach knew the pits well. His images shifted to where a cluster of buildings sat near the canyon wall. They might offer shelter to the oncoming Dires, but the surrounding terrain was perfect for an ambush by the Sabres.
Should be okay,Kade sent. He had no idea if Zach could read that. He seemed to get the gist of it, focusing on the ridge. Ahead of Kade, the flying sand around Zach and the mare slightly shifted direction.
The Sabres followed, leaping from boulders that the horse wove through, and splashing through puddles that were a couple of feet deep in places. According to the map Zach had shown him, the canyon was half a mile from where the vehicles and the other Weres waited. Not far enough. Those Dires would be on them in no time once they figured out what was going on.
Without Jessie’s Amp abilities, Zach would be on his own. He would be severely compromised, and vulnerable as hell. Neither the man, nor the horse, had any defense against Dire claws and teeth. No matter how you looked at it, this was a desperate plan. But it was the only one they had.
The ground rose beneath Kade’s feet. Ahead of him, the mare climbed the rocky ridge like a damned goat, feet sliding and slipping, but somehow finding enough traction to heave her and Zach up.
Kade’s body was better structured to handle the steep rock face. He bounded up, his claws sinking into cracks and crevices until he gained the top.
It was crowned by trees. Their roots clung to the remnants of what used to be a hilltop until man and machine had stripped away the gravel. The mare stood under the branches, nostrils flaring as she panted. It didn’t stop her from swinging her head and pinning her ears as Kade came up beside them.
“Ten minutes.” Zach didn’t turn his head.
The rocky ridge formed the east wall of the bowl-shaped canyon. It had two exits. One just below them, and the other a few hundred yards opposite. The buildings hugged the rock along one side.
Kade sent his Sabres along the walls of the bowl.
“Braden will be at the back,” Kade growled. “I’ll take point.”
Zach nodded. “I’ll try to stall the horde,” he said. “But no guarantees how successful I’ll be.”
“I’ll leave you Cody,” Kade said. “He’s my best fighter. He’ll have your back.”
