She spun and kicked against the current as she searched for Declan through the spray and the white water. She was so focused on getting back to him that she didn’t see the boulder until she crashed into it. At first, she tried to push herself off the rock, but then she realized it was an oasis in the chaos.
Blood trickled from her broken flesh as she clawed her way up its surface to collapse across the top. Cleaving to it, she inhaled as tremors shook her frozen body, and her eyes ran over the churning, white water in search of Declan. She realized her tremors weren’t entirely from the cold when she still didn’t see him anywhere.
Where was he?
A body, with a stake jutting out of its heart, floated past her, and she realizedthatmust have been what hit her and Declan and tore them apart. Tipping her head back, she gazed at the cliffs high above her and the four figures standing at the edge of them—Vicky and the others.
When she lifted her hand to wave, they waved back. She suppressed a sob as joy, exhaustion, fear, and hunger warred within her. At least something had gone right lately.
They were okay, but where was Declan? Was he trapped beneath the waterfall with countless gallons of water falling onto him and keeping him trapped?
Whatever happened to him, and wherever he was, clinging to a rock in the middle of the river wasn’t going to help her find the answers she sought. She would find him; she wasn’t leaving here without him. She wasn’t ready to throw her fate back into the rapid current, but she didn’t have a choice.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself over the rock and down the other side of it. The current propelled her away from the safety of the rock, dropped her down a couple of feet, and then pushed her up again. She ignored the discomfort in her ankle as she kicked toward the rocky shoreline.
After another couple hundred feet, she finally made it to shore and pulled herself onto the rocky riverbank. Her muscles shook as, with most of her energy sapped by the river, she dragged herself further onto the shore. Collapsing onto the rocks, she pressed her cheek onto the cool ground as she inhaled a shaky breath.
The idea of lying here and going to sleep was entirely too enticing, but she pushed herself up. Her arms almost gave out when she got onto her hands and knees. The hunger that had been building these past three days was turning into a fiery inferno burning through her veins with every beat of her heart.
She needed to feed, but first, she had to find Declan and get out of here. Shoving herself to her feet, she bit back a snarl when she swayed and nearly went down, but she managed to catch herself before falling.
She was sick of these things, sick of being scared, and sick of not knowing where Declan was. If he were dead, she’d make every one of these things pay for it. She’d tear them apart piece by tiny piece.
She couldn’t recall a time she’d ever been so angry, but it helped fuel her as she limped her way back toward the waterfall. She scanned the river as she walked but didn’t see Declan anywhere. Refusing to give in to her rising panic for him, Willow made it back to the cliff before tearing her eyes away from the water.
Her gaze ran up the rocky cliff face to the edge, but her sister and the others were gone. The cliffs stretched on for a few hundred feet before vanishing into the trees. She didn’t know what lay beyond there, but she hoped the others didn’t try to come down. By the time they found a way down here, she and Declan would be gone.
Or at least she hoped they would. He had to be here somewhere. Her attention returned to the water pounding into the river. Was he trapped under there?
Willow gulped at the possibility and turned to search the shoreline again, but it remained empty. There was only one way to learn if he was trapped or not, but she had to make sure he hadn’t washed up on shore on the other side of the river or further downstream first. If she couldn’t find him, she’d dive back into the water to search for him, but she couldn’t risk getting trapped too if he was somewhere else and required help.
The idea of him somewhere in danger propelled her faster down the river. She wanted to call out for him, to shout his name to the sky and back, but she didn’t dare open her mouth. There were still too many Savages out there for her to risk it.
A crunch sounded behind her, and she whirled to find the Savage who pulled her off the cliff barreling toward her. She didn’t know where he’d come from, but he was almost on top of her. Willow pulled a stake free and prepared herself to fight, but he only made it two more feet before his head disappeared.
Willow felt as if she’d tumbled into a bizarro land as the body continued to run at her. She jumped to the side to avoid the body and the blood it pumped before it hit the ground.
Turning her attention away from the still twitching Savage, she discovered Declan standing five feet away. His shoulders were rigid, and his fiery red eyes burned so hotly they looked like they could torch the earth.
The Savage’s head thudded on the rocks when it fell limply from his grasp. He ran a hand through his drenched hair, pushing it away from the chiseled planes of his handsome face. The unexpected urge to throw herself into his arms hit her, but she restrained herself as she regained control of her volatile emotions.
“Are you okay?” Declan’s voice came out rougher than he intended, but between her emotions and the sight of that thing charging at her, he wasn’t in complete control of himself.
“Yes. Thank you. I was looking for you.”
“I just got to shore.”
“Yeah,” she muttered, unsure of what else to say.
“We have to go.”
She would have given her left hand for a hot shower and a bed, but as much as every aching muscle in her body begged for a break, her brain propelled her into motion. More Savages would come; they couldn’t stay here.
She didn’t realize Declan held his hand out to her until her fingers slid into his like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Chapter Fourteen
Willow didn’t knowhow much more running she could do, but every time she thought she didn’t have the strength to continue, she somehow found it. No matter how tired, ravenous, or battered she was, she couldn’t slow down, and she couldn’t stop. At least her jeans had finally dried out; running in them while they were wet was extremely uncomfortable.
