“Then I’ll have to be quick.”
He scratches his chin as he scans the trees again. “If you don’t summon me, I could come back at a predetermined time?—”
“And walk straight into danger if I’m already dead? Not a good idea.”
“We’ll see,” he says.
As grateful as I am that he would consider it, it isn’t a good idea. But I can tell I’m not going to influence his decision. After all, I’m not his alpha. “If you choose to come back without being summoned, please return to this spot, where it’s safe enough.”
He nods, presses his palms together, and then, with a flash of light, disappears again.
The air tingles with his magic, and then that, too, fades.
It hits me then that I’m alone. Without my pack. It’s one of the few times they, or the keeper, haven’t been at my side. In fact, it could be the first time since I stepped through the broken wall of my cell that I’m completely alone in a fight.
I tell myself this situation doesn’t scare me.
I survived many years on my own.
But it makes me realize how badly I want to make it back to them. I have family now and I won’t squander that gift.
Keeping my eyes and ears peeled, I proceed up the slope, staying to the east, as Orlan suggested, and remaining within the shadows beneath the trees as much as I can to spare my eyes.
I’ve left the gauzy dress hitched up around my thighs to ensure the material doesn’t hinder me and I keep my claws at the ready.
Up ahead, I finally make out a small log cabin.
It has a shallow porch at the front and appears to be made out of roughly hewn logs. It looks rustic. Old. Definitely drafty.
I slow my pace because the furies must be either within the hut or the nearby trees, but still, I don’t sense anyone.
I certainly don’t sense James’s presence, and he’s the reason I’m here.
Pausing at the edge of the clearing, I force myself to relax.
I don’t have a lot of time before the rune fades, but I can’t rush this. So I lean back against the nearest tree trunk, clasp my hands in front of myself, and prepare to wait.
They won’t tolerate my presence for long. I’m certain of it.
Unless Orlan brought me to the wrong place…
I banish my doubts. I’m here now and I can summon him back soon if this is all for naught.
A few moments later, the scent of wildflowers fills the air around me.
It’s a new aroma, slightly reminiscent of the overly floral fragrance that radiated from one of the angels I encountered after I escaped my cell.
My nose wrinkles.
The scent is incredibly irritating.
“Poison?” I ask quietly while I stay exactly where I am and resolve to avoid any sudden movements.
“Compulsion,” replies a serene voice in a pitch that is distinctly female. A curious tone enters her voice. “Which normally works.”
I locate the sound of her voice behind me and to my left, but much higher than I was expecting. Certainly not at ground level.
I didn’t think furies had wings. I can’t hear the wings beating, and it’ll require a significant shift in my posture to turn and look.
