When we’d walked far enough to put distance between us and the lion, we crossed the stream. I removed my sweatshirt and washed the blood off my arm. Then I let the stinky garment float away.
“I think as long as we walk slowly and stay calm, they won’t be able to track us,” I said, shivering in my T-shirt. “Vampires don’t have a scent, and I smell like—”
“A toilet,” he answered. “If there was ever a test of love, this is it.”
“Careful, Poe. I just might want to make out later on after we kill these bastards.”
I froze in my tracks when a gunshot erupted, followed by three more. Christian and I tore through the woods in the same direction. The sounds were close, and I knew Viktor had a gun.
Christian shadow walked, gliding through the darkness like liquid. I’d seen him climb a tree that way, but it wasn’t as easy with uneven ground. A rabbit scurried off when I jumped over a fallen tree. I was having trouble seeing until the moonlight appeared again.
The fourth gunshot made me duck.
Another fired.
“It’s me, you dolt!” Christian yelled.
Confused, I lost my concentration and smacked into a tree.
“Next time fucking announce yourself,” Shepherd snarled. “I almost shot your damn head off!”
When I backed away from the tree and weaved around a thicket of overgrown bushes, I saw Shepherd standing with a gun in his hand and a torch light strapped to his head. His leather coat was zipped up to the collar.
“Nice hat,” I remarked, not winded at all thanks to Christian’s blood. “Where did you come from?”
“You wouldn’t happen to have seen a mountain lion running around, would you?”
“Don’t tell me. Joshua got away?”
He put his gun back in the holster and shifted his backpack. “A lion just came at me. I think I got him in the leg. Mind filling me in?”
Christian scanned the woods.
“Remember General?” I straightened my T-shirt. “They ambushed the campsite, and it was well planned. They put those sonic blockers or whatever on the trees so Christian wouldn’t hear them once the attack began.”
“What do they want? Revenge?” He patted his gun. “I got their revenge right here.”
“They want the kids.”
He cursed under his breath. “We’re in a tight spot. Where is everyone?”
“North, but that’s all I know. A local tracker is helping us. He knows these woods, and before you ask, we can trust him.”
Shepherd rubbed the whiskers on his jaw, which had ventured into beard territory. “He must know of a nearby house. Only an idiot would pitch another campsite.”
I walked past them. “We need to get moving.”
“Everyone all right?” Shepherd patted the shoulder strap of his bag. “I’ve got all my medical gear.”
“I don’t know. Blue’s missing.”
Shepherd walked ahead of me, but I could tell he was worn out from all the hiking he must have done. He suddenly jerked his head toward me and blinded me with that damn headlamp. “You smell like—”
“Roses. That’s what you’re about to say, isn’t it?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.” After a few more paces, he pointed at some brush. “Footprints. They’ve been through here.” He aimed the light at the ground and moved it around. “This way.”
“I hear them,” Christian alerted us. “They’re not far.”
