Page 82 of Alphas Never Hide

So,Ineeded to either delay us until they arrived or escape and find my way back to them.Orwhat ifIunderminedConny’smagic?Ifall thoseWillowLakerswere to be believed andIhad as much magic as a purebred faun, it might be possible.

Haydenshowed meIhad magic.Butcalling it up, using it, and doing all the steps in between when my brain was panicking and struggling to get more air in my lungs?Yeah.Notthe best conditions for experimentation.AndIdoubted whatever magicIhad would be enough to counterConny’sfancy flute.

Iwas going to be bitter about the whole flute thing for a long while.IhopedIlived long enough to get over myanger.It’dhappen, eventually.Butit could take a century or two.

Itwas time to act.Isucked in as much air asIcould with a shoulder digging into my diaphragm and focused my energy inward.Haydenhad said to breathe in deep and let it out slowly.Thatwasn’t an option right now.So, moving on.Thenhe’d said something about tapping into the place that warmed whenIshifted.I’dalways felt that in my chest.Hehadn’t specifically described it as the place where my magic lived, butIwasn’t an idiot.

Hmm…Thatwas going to be tricky, because with the way my lungs were burning, my chest felt like it was on fire and that had nothing to do with my magic and everything to do with lack of oxygen.

Whycouldn’t anything ever be easy?

Whatever.Ihadn’t lived through a bazillion years—yes,Imight have rounded that number up by a zillion or two, but this moment didn’t require exact numbers—of torment from the fauns in my old herd without learning how to survive and roll with the punches.

Iwas getting a touch lightheaded, though.Ijust hopedIdidn’t pass out beforeIunleashed my heroic escape plan, whatever that was.Oh, hey, what ifIdid aVulcannerve pinch with my stomach muscles?Isqueezed and wiggled, but nothing happened.Theguy was completely unperturbed.Hedidn’t even grunt or reposition me.WhatIwouldn’t give to have an engineer with aScottishaccent ready to beam me out of here.Butat leastIwasn’t wearing a red shirt.Smallvictories.

Actually, being an android likeDatawould be the best.Hedidn’t have to breathe, and he’d be able to subdue theseguys, because they were the real problem.Icould deal with the zip ties.I’dwatched videos on how to do it, although they hadn’t covered how to break them when flung over someone’s shoulder.IfIdidn’t have the bag over my head,I’dtry chewing through them or rubbing them against my horn.

Andwhy was everyone so quiet?

Itwas creepy.

Itwas also past time to do something about this knee-to-the-nuts kind of dayIwas having.Iclosed my eyes.Icouldn’t see anything through the bag anyway.Isucked in another deep breath, or at least as big a one asIcould.

Yoo-hoo?Magic?Comeout, come out, wherever you are…

Itwas official.Iwas losing my mind.Butmy little chant worked.Alittle fluttering sensation tickled deep inside me.Mymagic.Itwas there.Waitingfor me.Inudged it and praised it and begged it to grow.Ienvisioned it as the yellowy green magic that’d poured out of me last night whenI’dbeen inHayden’sarms.Bright.Beautiful.IrememberedHayden’smagic too and how his had joined with mine.Werewe still linked through that magical cable?

Justin case we were,Itook a moment to think about the joy and happiness and…Yes, the loveIfelt for him was there too.ThenIasked theEternalMagicto connect us like an old telephone operator.Themagic inside me warmed and tingled, then it was gone with a whoosh.Messagesent.Ihoped he received it.

Becauseif my plan didn’t work,Ineeded him to knowIloved him.Ishould have told him last night or thismorning or even the momentImet him in the woods and realizedIwas relieved when my kick to the head hadn’t killed him.Ifit’d been his brotherI’dkicked and knocked down,Iwould have kept kicking until he couldn’t get up anymore.

Asa sign that we were fated mates, that wasn’t the most romantic thing that could have happened between us, but whatever.Noneof us were perfect.

Nowit was time for my next party trick, whichIliked to call “the faun kicks some ass,” which is also known as “the faun finds a way to get off this guy’s shoulder and hides under a bush until my mate rides in on a centaur’s back like a white knight”.Becausethat’d be epic.

Thiswas it.

Igrabbed onto my magic with both hands and squeezed the shit out of it, metaphorically speaking, asIchanneled my determination to get the fuck out of this situation.

Chapter Thirty-Three

RYLEY

“Throwhim in there,”Robbieyelled, betraying his sense of urgency.

Damnit.Ihadn’t escaped yet.Apparently, my magic wasn’t much good at kicking ass.

Icouldn’t see anything, butIhad a pretty good idea of what was happening as the smell of exhaust permeated the thin fabric covering my head.They’dcarried me all the way to the road and now we’d arrived at a vehicle of some kind.

“Gently!”Ishouted even louder.

Theguy was not gentle.

Igrunted as my captor dropped me onto what felt like the bed of a pickup truck.Yeah.Thatwas going to bruise.Ithadn’t been that long sinceI’dstowed away inHayden’struck like this, so the experience was jarringly familiar.

“Keepmoving,”Robbiesaid, pinching my thigh to get me rolling further onto the truck bed.

Imoved away from his hand, slithering and rolling along the hard metal ridges, untilIwas out of his reach.Thetruck jostled a little as someone else climbed on after me.Thetailgate slammed shut, followed by the doors on the cab of the truck.Thenwe were moving.