Page 97

They’re getting closer and further from us as they go around the maze.

Tahnee’s heart thudded in her chest as the presence flickered in and out, coming and going, sometimes agonizingly close, other times completely undetectable. An occasional slight scraping footstep carried on the breeze, but otherwise, their pursuer was absolutely silent.

The brolga shifted its weight from foot to foot uneasily.

I’d rather just take the wild hog on head-on, it muttered, and Tahnee had to agree.

She waited, wondering whether they should continue through the maze – but who knew which end their pursuer had come from, or which turns they’d taken? They could end up bumping right into them, which, she had to say, would suck.

And I don’t know why I’m dancing around their identity, she thought. It’s James. It has to be James.

Tahnee was sure that James had to still have access to at least one Hargreaves lackey who could fly, even if the two who had originally accompanied Anne had been taken out. It would have been very easy for him to get a bird shifter to fly around and tell him which way to go, but clearly he wanted the satisfaction of taking down Robb by himself – and taking down Tahnee at the same time, since that would be the best way to get at Robb.

Over my dead body, thought Tahnee fiercely… which, okay, was highly possible and a little morbid.

She could very well die, here. But she could think of no better reason for it. If she was going to go out, it was going to be on her terms: protecting Robb, and protecting the futures of humans, shifters, and animals alike.

James, she realized, hadn’t moved for a while, now. His shifter presence had stayed exactly the same distance away, and there hadn’t been even the tiniest rustle or scrape.

Her hand tightened in Robb’s, her knees bending slightly in an instinctive reflex to jump up and take to the safety of the skies.

He’s taunting us, she thought. Savoring the kill.

Well, he’s going to be disappointed.

She waited, her heart pounding against her ribs, Robb’s presence keeping her grounded both literally and metaphorically.

I love you, she thought, stealing a quick look at him and gazing into his blue, blue eyes.

An answering wave of warmth came through the mate bond, and Tahnee smiled.

No matter what happened, she didn’t regret the past few days. Finally becoming one with her mate was a dream she had thought would never come true – and if she had to die, then going down swinging while saving the world seemed like a pretty good option.

The next rustle of the maze hedge came at that moment – but it wasn’t a rustle.

It was a series of overwhelming crashes, the sound of the hedge being torn to shreds by a very heavy, very fast-moving object.

He’s coming straight for us, Tahnee barely had time to think. He’s worked out exactly where we are, and he’s beating a straight line through every single wall of the maze until he reaches us, and he’s not going to stop.

And then, he was there.

Chapter 17

Robb found himself suddenly flying through the air – or through what he supposed were several walls of the hedge maze.

James, he thought dazedly, as the oxygen left his lungs. Taking the full force of an enraged boar to the solar plexus had ensured he wouldn’t be doing much breathing in the next few seconds, but at least he was pretty sure that it was a blunt force injury, and he’d escaped being gored by one of James’s giant tusks.

Thank God for small mercies, he thought inanely as he tumbled along the ground, scraping and rolling over the dirt paths and through the small, scratching branches of the maze itself, and coming to an abrupt stop inside a section of hedge.

And then, as his brain came back online:

Tahnee.

Had she been hit? He couldn’t be sure, but he didn’t think she had.

Opening his eyes, he lifted his head with some difficulty, his eyes refusing to focus for several seconds – but when they finally did, he saw the enormous boar looming over him, eyes blazing with hatred.

But no Tahnee. Hopefully that means she’s okay.