by C. R. Pugh
Pierce gripped my upper arm, pulled me to my feet and hissed, “You need to flee.”
“What?” I gaped at him, tears still brimming in my eyes. The urgency in his tone startled me.
“Gunter has likely sent those Warriors back and probably told them about you.” Pierce narrowed his eyes at me. “Did he know about your gift?”
My stomach clenched in fear as I peered over my shoulder, toward Peton.
“Those men will take you into custody, if not for your gift, then for what has been done here. You cannot be seen. The Elders must not capture you.”
I stared back at Pierce’s intense blue eyes and then nodded in understanding. Their Elders must be in league with General Wolfe and he somehow knew about it. It was clear that Pierce didn’t trust the Elders or Gunter. If I stayed, I would put myself and these Warriors in even more danger than before.
I wiped my nose and eyes to clear away the remaining tears. “Then I will go.”
Pierce guided me to the wagon. “Archer!” he shouted. “She needs food and ammunition.”
While Brock was making Thorne comfortable, Archer started rummaging through the supplies in the wagon.
“What will you tell them?” I asked Archer.
“We will come up with something,” Archer said with a grim smile, handing me a bag stuffed full with food, water and weapons. “We’ll make sure that Thorne is taken care of by his sister, Kemena. She is our clan’s finest healer.”
Pierce took hold of my wrist and started dragging me toward the forest but I twisted my arm out of his grasp. I rushed back to the wagon, brushing past Archer on the way. Brock stepped down out of the cart to give me room to see Thorne one last time. I climbed up into the cart and crawled on hands and knees to Thorne’s side. Careful of his wounds, I leaned over and kissed his soft lips.
“You must hurry,” Pierce called out to me.
I jumped down from the wagon and, clutching the bag to my chest, turned and marched back to the forest.
“Where will you go?” I heard Archer ask from behind me.
I pivoted around to face the Warriors and shook my head. “I don’t know yet, but I swear to you, I won’t stop until the General and all his soldiers are dead.” I gave each of the three men stern looks in turn, Pierce last of all. “Now you swear that you’ll do everything in your power to see that Thorne lives.”
Pierce placed a fist over his heart in pledge. “If what you have done works, then I swear it.”
“You must find that bag of syringes,” I added, taking a few steps back toward the Valley. “The Elders must not get their hands on that medicine. They cannot even know that you have it. Keep it hidden and safe.”
“We will get it back,” he agreed. Brock and Archer both nodded, though they didn’t seem to understand the importance as Pierce and I did.
Once I’d turned my back on them to flee into the forest again, Brock called out to me. “And what do we tell the commander … when he wakes up?”
I froze in place, my eyes fixed on the trees. My heart ached inside my chest. What could I say? That I would come back or that he should wait for me?
No, I couldn’t tell him those things.
I glanced over my shoulder at each of the Warriors, then toward the wagon where Thorne rested. My lips trembled and I felt warm tears slip down my cheeks again. Without a word, I turned away again and sprinted back into the Old Sequoia Valley. My heart had shattered to pieces again and my eyes were blinded by my own tears. Even when I felt someone following me, I flew through the brush and trees until I had rid myself of the desperate need to return to the man I loved.
34
Thorne
All sense of time was lost in the dark place. I felt as if my body had been pulled into a great abyss, dragged there by hundreds of icy fingers gripping my flesh. For a moment, I almost gave in to them.
Then the most beautiful voice whispered in my ear. It was the sound of an angel, driving away the fear. Her voice was sad as she spoke to me, begging me sweetly to live. How could I refuse an angel?
Though I struggled, I could not free my body from the cold bindings that held me prisoner. The angel saw my hopeless fight and poured life from her own radiant spirit into mine. Warmth began to fill my belly and, from there, it spread life to all parts of my body.
The icy fingers began to fall away from me one by one …
35
Ravyn
I’d felt someone following me for a while. It was probably Two, tracking me with that noser of his. I veered through the forest, confusing my tracks until I found a suitable tree to hide in and wait for him. He was not the boy I once knew. Avoiding him forever was not the answer, either. It was time to face him and end things. Then I could finally make my way to the coast as I’d been longing to do since my escape. I’d build a home overlooking the great expanse of blue that I’d only ever heard about. It didn’t even have to be as grand as the few homes I’d glimpsed when we overlooked Peton. Nothing elaborate, but it would be mine. Maybe I would be happy. Maybe I could finally put all the pieces of my heart back together.
I had done it after Kieron. I could do it again with Thorne.
Smacking myself in the forehead, I heaved a sigh of frustration. “Four days,” I silently mouthed. “You only knew him four days.”
The familiar stomping of boots drew me back to the present. They were getting closer. Squatting on the limb, not fifteen feet in the air, I pressed the rifle to my shoulder. One quick shot was all I would get.
The boot-steps halted. I held my breath, waiting for him to reveal his position.
“Don’t shoot, Ravyn.”
That voice. I wasn’t expecting to hear it again. “Kaelem,” I whispered to myself.
“That’s right,” he announced.
I frowned, narrowing my eyes. Either his hearing was extraordinary or I was right in thinking …
“Yes, you guessed what I could do back in Linwood. It was how I tracked you. You have very loud thoughts … about cottages on the beach.”
“Come into the open, where I can see you,” I demanded, keeping my finger on the trigger. If he stepped out with that crossbow firing, I would be ready.
Kaelem edged around the trunk of a tree, hands lifted in a gesture of peace, his crossbow slung over his back.
“Was it you that stabbed me?”
“No. It was Hagan. He … look, I’ll not make excuses for him. He did what he thought was best under the circumstances. Things have gotten complicated.”
“Where are your brothers then? Waiting to ambush me? Turn me into the General?” Knowing that he could read my thoughts, I reflected on every gruesome encounter I had ever had with the General so that Kaelem would see for himself.
Kaelem squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth at the horrifying memories I revealed. “Stop! I saw enough the night you stayed with us.” The earthy eyes I had thought so warm a few days ago now seemed troubled.
“Was it also Hagan who told the soldiers that I was in Linwood?”
Kaelem lowered his eyes, his mouth pinched in shame.
“It was you,” I whispered. So Thorne had been correct. I should never have trusted them. But what of Laelynn?
“That is why I have come.”
Lowering my rifle, I snorted. “Tell your brothers to come out where I can see them as well.”
With his empty hands still raised, he glanced over his shoulder and signaled them with his fingers. Silently they stepped out from their respective hiding places, hands raised in surrender, like Kaelem.
“One of you is missing.”
One of the twins spoke up. “Raimond.”
Their miserable expressions told me everything I needed to know. He was dead.
A small part of me thought they deserved it, but no. No one deserved to have their sibling taken from them that way.
“No, you’re right.” Kaelem answered my thoughts again. “When we sent for the soldiers, we didn’t know that Laelynn would help you escape.
She was innocent. But the soldiers were angry, so one of them … a dark one …”
“Two,” I whispered, a sense of dread nearly choking me.
“He took Laelynn and said we could have her back with a trade.”
The lump in my throat was too much to swallow. They were going to trade me to the General. But then how did Raimond …?
“Raimond tried to stop them and was killed in the struggle.”
Laelynn. The General had my friend.
“So you want me to go willingly?” I glowered down at them. “Trade my life for Laelynn’s?”
“We came to beg for your help.”
After throwing the rifle’s strap over my shoulder, I swung down from the tree, landing lightly on my feet.
“If you knew the General, you would know he has no intention of giving her back to you alive. Even if you overpowered me and handed me over.”
Kaelem paled but didn’t give in to the panic I saw in his eyes. “We know. That’s why we came in good faith, for your help to break her out of that place.”
Fear rose up in me when I recalled the endless white halls and fluorescent lights. The place was a maze. I only knew it because I had been a prisoner there for so long.
“That’s why we need your help.”
I pursed my lips. His constant read on my thoughts was going to get irritating.
“I’ll help you.” When their shoulders sagged in relief, I stopped them. “No, I’m helping only because of Laelynn. She was my friend.” I glared at each of them in turn. “If any of you try to double-cross me, I’ll kill you.”
Without waiting for a reply, I marched past them and headed west and the brothers, now only four, silently followed. This was the worst idea in the history of ideas, but I wouldn’t leave my only friend to the mercies of the General. And Kaelem was right. I did know my way around the compound, but it was so risky what they were asking me to do. We’d have to plan it carefully.
And that wasn’t the only danger waiting. Sabers. Howlers. Two.
I mentally closed the door on my plans for journeying to the coast. Those would have to wait. I stiffened my spine and headed deeper into the Valley to face my demons again.
acknowledgements
First, I want to thank my mom, who has read every book I’ve ever written. Don’t ever forget that it was you who helped me use my wild imagination to make up stories as a child. That is where all this began. Many thanks to my amazing editor, Maddy Glenn. Without you, this project would still be sitting on the shelf in hiding. My cover artist, Christian Bentulan, did a beautiful job and brought my Saber to life! My husband, Bobby Pugh, has been wonderful throughout this entire journey, never letting me give up. I am so grateful to have your unconditional love and support. I cannot forget my best friend, Michelle Armstrong, who read through this book before it went to my editor and still thought it was something special. Finally, thank you to all of you readers who took a chance on this book. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
C.R. Pugh lives with her husband and daughter just outside of Dallas, Texas. Though she has always been an avid reader with a wild imagination, she never imagined she would become a writer. Mrs. Pugh is a former teacher who enjoys long-distance running, watching crime-fighting shows on television, and playing with her daughter. Hunted in the Valley is her first novel.