hooves headed in my direction.
My heart leapt. Jack . Could I get him to listen to me before he sounded the alarm to the rest of the guards? We were friends, but he’d been employed by Rafael a lot longer than he’d known me.
I ran into a thicker part of the woods, weighing the decision. From the amount of extra hoofbeats, I could surmise that Rafael had woken up. He’d obviously sent more guards to watch the barrier, but not so many as to draw undue attention. Once again, he was being crafty. The only thing I had in my favor was the fact that the gateway spit people out anywhere along a ten-mile stretch on this side. Otherwise, I probably would have tumbled right into a steel cage with Rafael dangling the key just out of my reach.
Rafael . I cursed him as I continued to dart between the trees. How amused he must have been to see those five points of light in my eyes. He must’ve thought I was the most gullible Partial in the world. Well, I’d shown him when I’d dropped him like a stone with that tranquilizer, though oddly enough, the memory of the look on his face didn’t bring the satisfaction it should have. Only hollowness and echoes of pain.
You’ll get over it , I reminded myself bleakly. If I lived long enough, that was.
About fifty yards away, I heard Jack’s horse clamber through a patch of bushes. He was close to the same place I’d crouched in upon entering Nocturna. Jack always did have a knack for being the first to find people who’d crossed over. Maybe I could use that to my advantage now.
Or I’d have to shoot him and take his horse before he recovered, which I really didn’t want to do.
I went further ahead toward a denser part of the woods that would slow his horse down, deliberately cracking a twig or two along the way. It wasn’t long before Jack took the bait, changing course. He rode in a roundabout path, not spurring on his horse or charging straight for those sounds but pursuing me subtly. If I hadn’t been paying close attention—and stringing him along with those occasional twig snaps—I might not have been aware that he was onto me.
Best of Rafael’s guards by far. Had to hope he was the smartest, too, and that he believed me.
Once he was close enough that his torch would soon reveal me to his sharp eyes, I quietly climbed up a tree, sitting myself in a crook of branches. The leaves provided better camouflage than the tree trunks would. Then, keeping my gun trained on him, I waited for Jack to draw nearer.
After he passed directly beneath me, so close I could almost count the strands of the wide silver streak in his dark hair, I cocked the gun. The sound made Jack spin his horse around, pointing his own gun, though not high enough to be a danger.
I aimed very carefully, the light from his torch helping me. Then I pulled the trigger.
Jack’s gun blasted out of his hand with little more sound than a sharp cough. Silencers were a great invention, if you asked me. His horse reared, but Jack got it under control, wisely not reaching for one of his other weapons. Once his mount was still, he stared at his empty hand. Blood seeped out from some superficial cuts, but otherwise, he wasn’t hurt.
“That you, Mara?” he asked with a grunt.
“Before you yell for the others or do anything else,” I said rapidly, “just listen . I could’ve shot you five times in the past ten minutes if I wanted to, so that ought to prove I’m not your enemy. But Rafael is. He may or may not be a Pureblood himself, but he’s definitely in collusion with them. I know it sounds crazy, but I have proof.”
In the flickering torchlight, I saw that Jack’s mouth was hanging open. “Proof?” he asked at last. “What proof?”
“A set of secret gateways in his castle, one leading to my world, the other to a Pureblood realm,” I replied, jumping down from my perch in a show of good faith. “I saw them. I went through one. It’s true.”
Before replying, Jack sent his dark blue gaze
My heart leapt. Jack . Could I get him to listen to me before he sounded the alarm to the rest of the guards? We were friends, but he’d been employed by Rafael a lot longer than he’d known me.
I ran into a thicker part of the woods, weighing the decision. From the amount of extra hoofbeats, I could surmise that Rafael had woken up. He’d obviously sent more guards to watch the barrier, but not so many as to draw undue attention. Once again, he was being crafty. The only thing I had in my favor was the fact that the gateway spit people out anywhere along a ten-mile stretch on this side. Otherwise, I probably would have tumbled right into a steel cage with Rafael dangling the key just out of my reach.
Rafael . I cursed him as I continued to dart between the trees. How amused he must have been to see those five points of light in my eyes. He must’ve thought I was the most gullible Partial in the world. Well, I’d shown him when I’d dropped him like a stone with that tranquilizer, though oddly enough, the memory of the look on his face didn’t bring the satisfaction it should have. Only hollowness and echoes of pain.
You’ll get over it , I reminded myself bleakly. If I lived long enough, that was.
About fifty yards away, I heard Jack’s horse clamber through a patch of bushes. He was close to the same place I’d crouched in upon entering Nocturna. Jack always did have a knack for being the first to find people who’d crossed over. Maybe I could use that to my advantage now.
Or I’d have to shoot him and take his horse before he recovered, which I really didn’t want to do.
I went further ahead toward a denser part of the woods that would slow his horse down, deliberately cracking a twig or two along the way. It wasn’t long before Jack took the bait, changing course. He rode in a roundabout path, not spurring on his horse or charging straight for those sounds but pursuing me subtly. If I hadn’t been paying close attention—and stringing him along with those occasional twig snaps—I might not have been aware that he was onto me.
Best of Rafael’s guards by far. Had to hope he was the smartest, too, and that he believed me.
Once he was close enough that his torch would soon reveal me to his sharp eyes, I quietly climbed up a tree, sitting myself in a crook of branches. The leaves provided better camouflage than the tree trunks would. Then, keeping my gun trained on him, I waited for Jack to draw nearer.
After he passed directly beneath me, so close I could almost count the strands of the wide silver streak in his dark hair, I cocked the gun. The sound made Jack spin his horse around, pointing his own gun, though not high enough to be a danger.
I aimed very carefully, the light from his torch helping me. Then I pulled the trigger.
Jack’s gun blasted out of his hand with little more sound than a sharp cough. Silencers were a great invention, if you asked me. His horse reared, but Jack got it under control, wisely not reaching for one of his other weapons. Once his mount was still, he stared at his empty hand. Blood seeped out from some superficial cuts, but otherwise, he wasn’t hurt.
“That you, Mara?” he asked with a grunt.
“Before you yell for the others or do anything else,” I said rapidly, “just listen . I could’ve shot you five times in the past ten minutes if I wanted to, so that ought to prove I’m not your enemy. But Rafael is. He may or may not be a Pureblood himself, but he’s definitely in collusion with them. I know it sounds crazy, but I have proof.”
In the flickering torchlight, I saw that Jack’s mouth was hanging open. “Proof?” he asked at last. “What proof?”
“A set of secret gateways in his castle, one leading to my world, the other to a Pureblood realm,” I replied, jumping down from my perch in a show of good faith. “I saw them. I went through one. It’s true.”
Before replying, Jack sent his dark blue gaze
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