I swallow. Nodding, I say, “I’m sorry.” Medein has been nothing but kind and will make a hell of a match for someone. But there’s only one person who is meant for me, and I won’t let her get away.
Medein smiles somberly. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed. Jay is a lucky girl.”
She stands on her tiptoes to put the cauldron on the wooden shelf. When she can’t reach it, I offer to help her.
“No, thanks. I got it.” With a wave, it floats up to the wooden shelf and perches with a softknock. Medein then takes the same rag and gently dabs the photo before handing it to me. “Don’t blow it.”
I chuckle.
Yeah, I won’t be giving Jay the photo tomorrow. I’ll wait until she knows I’m her mate.
I look past Medein and see that it’s nearly dark outside. “I have to go.”
***
The rogues moved their campground. That’s exactly what I would’ve done in their shoes when Jay was captured for fear she’d give them up under torture.
Not my girl.
Recalling Jeff’s scent, it took no time for me to track the dog down and corner him. Pushing through the branches, I part the forest’s trees to reveal their new stomping grounds.
Jeff wanders nonchalantly, picking the wax out of his ear, then...rolling it in his fingers? And... sniffing it? Ugh.
I yank him by his lapel and push him up against a nearby tree, then grab his right wrist and pin it by his head—successfully avoiding ear wax contamination.
“What the—Help! Somebody, help!”
Then I cover his mouth, but his hands keep getting in the way. “Hey, hey. Stop.”
“Help!”
“I’m not here to hurt—Would you stop squirming?” I try to calm him down, but he just keeps screaming and wriggling in my hold.
If I don’t shut him up now, he’s going to alert his entire horde.
“Shh! I’m not here to hurt you.” I cover his mouth and just like the dog he is, he bites my hand. Instinctively, I pull back. “Ow!”Great, now I’m going to have to get checked for rabies.
“Somebody! Help!”
That’s it. I’ve had enough.
“You leave me no choice.” I step back to give myself enough room to clock his jaw with a right hook—something he’s familiar with—knocking him out.
Except when I do it, he stays out.For now.
Relief washes over me with the temporary silence that blesses my ears. But I don’t have very long before he wakes up.
I scan their campsite from our location. There’s a tent, a pit with dying embers and weak smoke rising from it, a canteen, a hammock, a bookbag—
A hammock!
And attached to it is a rope tied to two trees.
“Alright, buddy. Let’s go, come on,” I grunt as I bend over and strain as I drag him by his legs.
Goddess—fuck! He’s heavy.
Almost to the tree, I’m careless when I don’t notice the rather large rock sticking out of the ground. Jeff may have hit his head on it, which may cause him to have a headache when he wakes.
