Zach didn’t respond. He leaned with both hands on the mare’s neck, as though he couldn’t sit upright another moment.
“You okay?” Kade asked.
“No.” Zach shook his head. “I’m concussed as hell, and I have no idea if this will work.”
“It has to.”
“Yes,” Zach said. “It does.”
* * *
Jessie was finding little to appreciate about her current situation. That self-help book, and her life before all this craziness, belonged to another world.
Riding a Were was nothing like riding a horse. Jessie didn’t think she’d be able to hold on if she wasn’t tied, but the thin twine cut into her wrists. It was hard to focus past the pain and keep the images of the land around her front and center in her brain.
They’d skirted houses and barns and storage sheds, raced along the verge of cropland, and used game trails where they ran through the trees. Always seeking concealment. Eventually they hit an area of dense bushes interwoven with ridges of exposed rock, topped by scrubby pines. The Dires took advantage of the rock, leaping from stone to stone.
Jessie had felt Zach’s mental touch. And more than Zach—she’d sensed Kade, too. A connection that seemed to be strengthening. She caught impressions of running feet. And hooves? The sensation of riding a galloping horse. Zach?
They were coming for her. But every time they’d gone up against Braden’s Weres, they’d only won when she boosted Zach’s power.
He was on his own this time.
Braden had dropped back to run alongside the Weres carrying the women. The others ranged in front. Jessie swallowed. As long as Braden hid behind his Dires, they’d never get to him. And this wouldn’t be over.
To achieve what he wanted, Braden was going to have to mate her before she transformed. They didn’t have much time until the moon rose. But enough of it, for him to do what he wanted with her, and with Laura.
Laura wanted this. She caught glimpses of the other woman’s face. The eyes were bright and feverish, the lips pulled back in a grimace.
Jessie was on her own. If she was going to survive this, she was going to have to get creative. So as they moved along, she closed her eyes, and focused. She was scared as hell, but not far beneath that, was anger. And it helped her to channel. She sank her fingers into the thick Dire fur, brushing the tips across skin. Hopefully not enough for him to notice the sudden increase in his stamina as he ran. But in exchange, it sent her pulses of his strength. She poured it into her efforts. Five times four was twenty. Her feet were easier than her hands, but she managed it—twenty little knives.
She took them back to human. And then again to Were. By the time the Dires slid to a stop, she’d managed it three times.
She peered past her mount’s ears and looked out across a gravel pit.
Zach,she sent, on a pulse of desperation.We’re at the pits.
And to her shock, there came an answer. From two deep voices, overlapping in her brain.
We know. We’re waiting for you.
* * *
Zach was in trouble, and he knew it. Just wasn’t sure what he could do about it.
Actually, he did know. Nothing. Nothing at all.
People counted on him.Jessiecounted on him. But his head throbbed like it was going to explode, and his ability to read faded in and out in pulses that kept time with his heart.
Kade had vanished along the canyon’s edge. The last of the evening sunlight cast long shadows across the ground. Zach turned Storm around. The moment the battle was joined, the other Dires would come. And it wouldn’t take them long to get here. He had to stop them. Or hold them off, long enough for Kade to get to Braden and Jessie. From what he’d sensed from Laura, he figured she was on her own.
Storm restlessly shifted her feet. She’d brought them all within striking distance, given them this chance. But when the Dires came, he wouldn’t blame her if she bolted for home.
Still, he stayed on her. For one thing, he wasn’t sure he could stand. The world dipped and swayed around him. He’d used up the last of his physical reserves just hanging on to get here. Only sheer stubborn willpower kept him upright on the horse.
He was banking that the Dires wouldn’t know he was so weak. He had Storm standing in full view, back lit by the dying sun. They couldn’t miss him. So long as she stood for those few precious minutes, it just might work.
Who knew? He would bluff for all that he was worth, to buy Kade the time he needed to kill Braden.
