Two struck home, however, the stun blasts dropping the couple to the ground in a heap, conscious, but immobile.
“I got them!” Flagro exclaimed with glee, rushing toward his prey, his sister hot on his heels.
The hunter followed close behind, a sad look on his face.
“Well? Don’t just stand there! Pick her up!” Flagro commanded.
Maddix moved toward Maria but stopped as the eliteswitched his weapon to a far deadlier setting, aiming it at the fallen man’s head. Maddix grabbed it and forced the elite’s arm down.
“What are you doing? We should end this one.”
“No,” was the quiet but firm reply.
“No? He stole my father’s property.”
“I said no. Leave him. You have your prisoner.”
Flagro’s eyes flashed anger. “Youdareoppose me?”
Maddix, in a rare show of disobedience, locked his eyes with the young man, his gaze cold and hard. “Your father tasked me with bringing this woman back. Nothing more.”
“But—”
“Leave it,” he said, calm and cool, but with a tone that was enough to send a chill down even the over-confident elite’s spine.
Flagro sputtered then turned and stormed off. “Fine. But my father will hear about this.”
“I’m sure he will,” Maddix replied, bending to pick up Maria’s immobile form. He locked eyes with her stunned lover, a truly regretful look in his gaze. “It will wear off soon enough,” he said in a hushed voice. “We are taking her back to the chancellor. I’ll keep her safe until then.”
He then rose and turned, walking away, the incapacitated woman in his arms, her mate lying on the ground, frozen in place, unable to speak but screaming on the inside as he watched, utterly helpless.
I’ll get you back,Zepharos swore, hoping she could feel his mind reaching out to her.Whatever it takes, I will get you back.
But for now, all he could do was watch helplessly as his love and her captors disappeared over the ridge.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The afternoon, evening, and entire frustrating night had passed, and Zepharos had lay immobile the entire time, straining and struggling with every fiber of his being to force his limbs to move. To somehow overcome what he now knew was a very potent stun blast, the device set to a level bordering on dangerous. The trackers had not planned on killing their prey, but if they’d upped the power just a little more, they quite possibly could have.
Then there was the matter of Maria’s human physiology. Zepharos was much larger, and certainly more robustly built. But the Earth girl? Had she not had her runes completed, helping reinforce her body far more than any would have expected, they could very well have stunned her so completely that her lungs would have simply ceased functioning.
But she was alive. He couldfeelit in his Infala, somehow sensing their bond despite their separation. Their runes were nearly identical, the union almost complete. But while this would have normally been a time of celebration, instead he found himself separated from his love.
Zepharos’s mind raced at first, his heart and soul in a fury,nearing panic as he lay unable to help, failing in his most core of duties. He swore to protect her no matter what. With his life, if need be. But even that was denied him.
Calm your mind, Zepharos. Panic will not do her any good, nor will raging against the impossible. You are stuck here, but your mind still functions, so put it to use.
Logically, that made sense. But for one so accustomed to the easy application of physical strength and prowess, it still required quite a bit of willpower to force himself to obey his own directives.
Eventually his mind relented, slipping into an almost comfortable meditation. And with that internal stillness came clarity.
They couldn’t have flown in, he realized.We’d have spotted the ship, and there is nowhere clear enough for them to have landed. A commando squad could drop in, but those were the chancellor’s kids. No way they are up for that sort of action, which means they had to trek in. And that means they will be on foot until they reach their craft.
He knew their new home nearly as intimately as his new mate, reveling in exploring the land around their cozy nest as much as he enjoyed doing the same to Maria’s body. There were few options for entry into their secluded hideaway besides the watery one the couple had arrived by, and that meant he could possibly still catch up to them.
They are burdened carrying her,he mused, running the events of the abduction through his mind over and over.He looked strong. Capable. But only the tracker will be forced to carry her. He’ll have to do it the entire time. No way will those two stoop so low as to do what they see as menial labor, even in this situation, and that works to my advantage.
Zepharos thought about the way the man had looked at them. How he’d had them dead to rights but had, incredibly,seemed to choose to leave them be. It was unexpected. Incredible, really. But it was a reality he could not deny. They were only caught when Flagro Vinchi appeared before the man could steer them in a different direction, and it was that son of a bitch who had shot them.
