Page 41 of Accidental Blood Lust
Before my eyes, he shivers and drops to his hands and knees as his wolf takes over. A tree branch snaps and I turn to see Mac shifting into his enormous dragon form. Drax and Cassius climb onto his back, and he launches himself into the air, only to tumble back down seconds later.
“Fuck,” he mutters, half-shifted and half-human. “What was that?”
“You can’t fly here,” Rune says.
“What do we do, then?” Drax asks.
Roman makes a grumbly noise then takes off running.
“I think that’s our sign to follow him. He’ll find Lochlan.”
That knowledge causes a strange mix of emotions. Happiness that I know we’ll find Loch, but sadness when I realize why. Roman is connected to him for some reason.
We run through the thick forest after Roman, and without him leading the way, this would be near impossible. The trees seem to close in around us the deeper we venture, the ground softening beneath our feet making it harder to keep our footing.
Roman stops suddenly, sniffing the air, then whimpering before growling and tearing off again. My chest tightens. I don’t think that was a good sign.
Blowing out a breath, I shake my shoulders out. Find Lochlan. Deal with everything else after that.
Please, gods, let him be safe.
LOCHLAN
“Ouch!”
Another branch pops out and scratches my arm, drawing blood, and even though the wound will heal quickly, it still fucking hurts.
I keep running though. I have no idea where I’m going, but I can’t just sit and let them find me. There has to be a way out of this place, an exit somewhere. If I can just get to the edge, I can get back to the mortal realm. Then I need to find Roman and apologize for yet another dumbass move.
Roman.
I swear I can smell him, taste his blood on my tongue, but I must be hallucinating at this point. I’m growing weaker. Expending this much energy is wearing me down, and without blood, it won’t be long before I run out of steam, even after my big fae meal.
Cassius warned me and I still walked straight into a trap. Stupid!
Another branch swings out and slams into me, knocking me to my feet, but I’m up quickly and tearing off into the darkness again. Angry voices come from all around me, making it difficult to know which direction to run, but then I remember Cassius telling me how to focus and block out everything but what I need.
I pause, ducking behind a large rock, and close my eyes. At first, it’s all just garbled noise, but slowly it all falls away and I hear…
Gods!
Jareth.
I shake my head. It can’t be. I focus again, searching the darkness, then I catch a familiar, comforting scent.
Roman.
Roman and Jareth are here. Are they though? Maybe it’s a trick. Maybe they’re close but not actually in this realm.
I squeeze my eyes shut tighter, focusing on the two men in the hopes that somehow, if they are close, they can feel me. The energy around me shifts and Roman’s scent gets stronger.
“This way, guys. Roman found him.”
Definitely Jareth.
I get to my feet and turn in the direction of his voice, but a massive branch slams into me. It knocks the wind out of me, wrapping around my ankles and sweeping me up until I’m hanging upside down.
I almost scream, but I hold it back and instead focus all my thoughts on Jareth and Roman. The trees rustling around me terrify me, and birds begin to squawk, alerting the fae to my location.
