Chewing the inside of her cheek, she glanced around. She doubted she could run. She was in the middle of the woods with no real way of finding a path through the trees or getting away without being tracked. Trying to escape wouldn’t do her any good.
There’s nothing you can do; Eric’s voice jeered in her head.You’re useless.
Only that wasn’t true. She might not be able to run, and she couldn’t fight, but that didn’t mean she was useless. If she bided her time, she might be able to do something helpful.
She watched, waiting. She kept her eyes on the shifters milling about, counting how many she could see, noting their weapons. It was unusual for shifters to lug around guns, unless they were military. If she’d had any doubts as to whether the Night Pack was planning something big, those weapons were enough to dispel them. She couldn’t let them get anywhere near the town. Her eyes lingered on the fire a ways off.
“I’m cold,” she said to her guard. “Can I sit next to the fire?”
The shifter looked at her, skeptical.
“Please?” she asked, shivering and rubbing her arms. “I get cold super easily.”
He frowned, then glanced at the fire. He shrugged. “Come on,” he said. He grabbed her elbow and hauled her over to the fire, shoving her down onto her knees. She gritted her teeth as stones dug into her skin, but she didn’t cry out.
There was another crate. She clambered onto it and sat, staring into the fire, the flames licking the air. Heat brushed against her face, warming the already humid summer night. She took a deep breath, brushing the dirt from her palms, letting her mind settle.
Once again, her eyes strayed around the camp. Her gaze lingered on a large tent, one that people seemed to be going in and out of on a regular basis. At one point, she watched two men step inside, then come out carrying large guns a few minutes later. She tore her attention away from them, trying not to appear too interested in the large tent.
She watched the flames dance before her. The heat was nearly scalding this close. She stared down at the branches that fueled the blaze, looking at each of them, trying to keep her expression neutral even as she calculated. An idea beganto form in her mind. An utterly reckless, incredibly stupid, and dangerous idea. But she wanted to cause some chaos, a distraction. Here was her perfect opportunity.
For a moment, she faltered. Eric’s jeers ran through her mind, calling her weak and pathetic, telling her that she didn’t have the guts to do anything, that she should just give up. At one point, those comments would have pierced her like a knife, crippling her and causing her to draw in on herself. This time, though, she wasn’t going to give in that easily. She wasn’t going to fold in on herself. She wasn’t that girl anymore, and she wasn’t going to let Eric turn her back into that girl.
Her fingers twitched, a final hesitation. Then she steeled herself. If she was going to do this, she needed to act quickly. Without giving herself time to hesitate, she darted forward, reaching toward the fire. She grabbed a long branch that only had one end stuck in the fire. When she pulled it out, it was like she was grasping a flaming torch. Before anyone could even register what she had done or guess what she was planning, she lobbed the fiery branch toward the massive tent. It struck the side and rolled down, but it did its job. The fabric of the tent began to smolder, and then the fire caught.
Somewhere nearby, someone yelled. She didn’t pay attention. Instead, she reached for another log. The heat wrapped around her hand, but she didn’t care. She took another branch and threw it toward the tent.
A hand grasped her wrist just as she finished tossing the second burning branch, but it was too late. The damage was done. The flames around the tent engulfed it. People scrambled out of it, looking back in bewilderment.
“What the hell did you do?” the shifter holding her snarled, yanking her to her feet with a painful jostle that made her cry out.
Her knee rammed straight into his crotch. He groaned, releasing her. She stumbled away, turning and racing away from the scene. She doubted she would be able to get far, but maybe far enough that she could cause a bit more chaos. She sprinted toward the woods as fast as she could manage. The tree line was growing close, and so far, no one else had noticed her fleeing. She might be able to make it.
She made another push. If she was lucky, she could get into the tree line without anyone chasing after her. It seemed impossible. The entire attack had been a risky gambit; she hadn’t expected it to pay off. But still… she might actually get away before anyone caught her.
A hand grasped her by the back of the neck and jerked her backward while another hand snaked around her waist, pinning her against firm muscle. She struggled, trying to wrench free, but her captor held her tighter, her struggles useless.
“You’re causing a lot more trouble than I would have expected,” Eric hissed in her ear. “It seems like I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on you than I thought.”
Somewhere behind them came a bang.
“Sounds like you have some bigger problems than me,” she retorted, a smirk spreading across her face. “Just how many of your weapons got destroyed in that fire?”
He growled, his grip on her neck tightening painfully. She winced. After a moment, that grip loosened, and the snarl mutated into a chuckle that was almost as bad. The sound made her shudder, and she would have flinched away had Eric given her even a modicum of wiggle room.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re going to pay for that before this is all over. I might have to be a bit more creative with your punishment than normal, though, considering all the trouble you’ve caused. Now come on.”
He yanked, dragging her back into camp, the acrid stench of smoke enveloping them.
Chapter 21 - Cillian
Camden, Franco, and Jasper all lagged a few steps behind Cillian as he charged forward, going at an all-out sprint. He would have pushed himself faster, but he needed to track Amber’s scent. Eric had done a good job of concealing his and Amber’s path, and Cillian strayed away on more than one occasion. If his focus faltered, it would be too easy to lose the trail, and he had already wasted enough time without having to double back multiple times. Still, they were getting closer. The scents were still there, if buried, and they were growing stronger every moment.
Off in the distance, Cillian saw a great plume of smoke rising through the air, so dark it was visible even in the dim evening light. The acrid stench of burning metal drifted toward them. Something told him this wasn’t a normal campfire.
The wolves slowed at the sight. Cillian glanced around at Camden, who padded to stand next to him. The two exchanged a silent glance. Something had happened. The question was whether it was a boon or a trap. They approached slowly, keeping an eye on the dark cloud rising from the earth.
The smoke grew closer, the scents of flame and burning metal growing more pungent with every step. It was nearly overwhelming. At one point, Cillian pawed his nose, trying to expunge some of the horrific odor from his snout. What the hell had happened? He couldn’t see any flames, so he had to assume the fire had been quenched, but what had started it in the first place?
