Pursuing Paige (14 page)

In any case, if Paige
had
escaped her captors, she would return to the Hall
of Judgment. He knew in his heart she would anticipate what he and
Kaiden would do and match her plans to fit. Even though their mate
bond was not yet fully forged, he knew Paige well. She wouldn't
think about her own safety if he and Kaiden were in
danger.

Jarek quickened in his pace, entering the
heart of the city. The population was thick here. It was unnerving
to have so many people all around him, all traveling silently to
their various places of employment, and all of them
mage
, but it was
also a blessing. In this sea of people, no one paid much mind to
him, even though he towered over most of them.

He turned a corner and in the distance rose
the shiny gray spiral of the Hall of Judgment, the grandest
building in the city. Once inside he would need to be incredibly
careful.

His odds getting in and finding Paige were
not good. His odds of getting Paige out if she was still imprisoned
were even worse. But if this was the way he was meant to die, there
could be worse ways. At least he might be able to see the woman he
loved one last time. At least he’d die giving everything to protect
her.

Making his way down the street toward the
shining gray and gold double doors of the tower, he sent out a
mental message to Kaiden telling him he’d arrived.

He got no reply.

The silence made him miss a step, but he had
to continue. Perhaps Kaiden was still too far away to hear him. He
pushed through the doors and entered the incredible, vaulted foyer.
Every sound echoed through the immense space. Not even the vast
number of people milling the area did anything to mute the
cavernous sound. He forced himself not to stop and gawk. How could
these people live like this? Surrounded by all this cold metal, no
earth beneath their feet, no sheltering branches reaching above
their heads. It was, quite literally, unnatural.

Across the foyer, he caught a glimpse of a
man towering above the mages. It was Torrent. It made Jarek realize
just how badly they stood out. Their only saving grace was that the
mages would never expect a Lycaon to come strolling into their
primary government building. They were hiding in plain sight.

Torrent met his gaze and motioned discreetly
to a group of chairs in one of the corners of the room. Jarek made
his way there and sat. Better. Now his height wasn’t so noticeable.
Around him mages roamed, filing papers, obtaining licenses,
visiting inmates, going about their business.

After a few minutes, Torrent sat down near
him. “Where’s Kaiden?”

Jarek met his eyes and gave his head a subtle
shake. “We separated.”

Torrent made a low grunt. He was worried too.
“What’s your plan?”

He stared out one of the huge windows at the
blue sky, the shuffling, shifting sounds of all those around him
filling his thoughtful silence. “I intend to inquire if she’d being
held here. We need to know that first.”

“They won’t let her see visitors. It doesn’t
matter how good a story you tell.”

“Yes, I know.” He went silent for a moment.
“If she’s being held we’ll need to sneak into the prison area. We
know how it’s laid out.”

“You and Kaiden do it. I’ll create a
diversion.”

“A diversion? They’ll capture you.”

His teeth flashed dangerously. “They can
try.”

Just then a dusky blond head caught his eye.
Kaiden milled through the crowd, his gaze locked on them as he
attempted to make his way across the crowds without drawing
attention to himself. Jarek let out a pent up breath of relief.

“I thought you’d been captured,” said Jarek
softly as Kaiden sank into one of the chairs. “You didn’t respond
when I reached out to you.”

“I apologize. I was a little taken aback at
my surroundings. All is well.”

“All is well but for our plan,” answered
Torrent, looking around. “We need to figure out what we’re going to
do here and we need to do it fast. They’ll catch on that we don’t
belong—wait. How can that be?”

Jarek frowned, looking in the same direction.
“What is it, Torrent?”

“
Don’t call attention to her.” Torrent
paused. “If that
is
her.”

In the moment, Jarek spotted Paige moving
through the crowd. She was dressed in the traditional garb of a
mage female, her hair covered by a fine white hat. Jarek’s heart
jerked upward and seemed to land in the back of his mouth. “That’s
her.”

“She escaped?” whispered Kaiden.

“Amazingly, yes.” Jarek stood immediately and
walked toward her. He needed to get her out of this building—out of
the city—as soon as he could. He barely even thought about Kaiden
and Torrent, whom he’d left behind.

He reached her and she looked up, locking
gazes with him. Her eyes widened and she smiled. She was the most
beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Just as he’d touched her arm, a mage
yelled. “
You, stop!
”

They looked in the direction of the voice and
saw a guard barreling toward them with a mage stick in his hand.
The sea of people murmured with concern and parted for him, leading
the man straight to them.

“Jarek!” yelled Kaiden. “Run! Get her out of
here!”

Jarek turned to find Kaiden sprinting toward
them. Behind Kaiden, Torrent was charging the guard. Chaos exploded
in the chamber as other mage guards joined the first—and they were
in the center of it all.

Torrent veered from the original guard toward
a larger group of warriors, transforming as he moved. In a flash, a
huge black wolf towered before them. He snarled, the sound echoing
through the immense room. The group took a collective step back.
Mage civilians screamed and began a panicked stampede toward the
doors.

“
Go,”
sounded in Jarek’s mind. He glanced at Kaiden, who
had clearly received the same message.
“Go!”
Torrent roared again.

This was Torrent’s diversion and incredibly
effective it was, too. He grabbed Paige’s hand and yanked her
forward, Kaiden following. The three of them were soon swallowed up
by the throng of fleeing mages as they bottle necked toward the
door.

In the moment before the crowd enveloped
them, he cast a final look at Torrent. The warriors had surrounded
him and although Torrent would definitely take out more than a few
of the mages, he looked outnumbered.

Yet Jarek was desperate for only one thing,
getting Paige to safety.

The crowd flooded through the doors of the
building and spilled onto the streets. The number of people,
coupled with their uncharacteristic terror was a good thing for
them and they took advantage of the pandemonium. More mage warriors
were beginning to arrive, so the three of them headed down one of
the side streets, out of view.

Once they were away from mage eyes, Paige
hurled herself into Kaiden's arms and then his own. Her sweet body
had never felt so good against him.

"What about Torrent?" she asked, looking back
the way they'd come. "We can't just leave him here."

"We must," answered Kaiden. "To go back for
him would be suicide. The only thing that matters now is getting
you home."

She shook her head, her eyes shiny with
tears. "I don't want to be responsible for his capture and likely
his death. We
can't
leave
him."

Jarek took her by the upper arm, half afraid
she would bolt back to the Hall of Judgment. "Torrent knew the
stakes. He believes in fate. If he's captured by the mages,
something good may eventually come of it. He believes that and we
must also believe it."

She shook her head. "Nothing good can come of
any of this."

“This isn’t your fault,” answered Kaiden with
a hard edge to his voice. “You were betrayed.”

“We never should have trusted her, yet I have
reason to believe she did it for love of her family.” She paused,
looking pained. “They’re going to kill them.”

“
She almost killed Jarek,
Paige.
” Kaiden’s voice
was harsh. “I know she was manipulated, but changes nothing. We
can’t rescue her and her family. Not now.”

Jarek tipped her chin up and forced her gaze
to meet his. "You escaped the mages. Do you know how incredible you
are?"

Tears shone in her eyes. "I just needed to
get out of there, back to you and Kaiden."

Running footsteps met their ears, growing
louder. A group of mage warriors rounded the corner and started
toward them. “Stop!” one of them yelled.

Not likely.

Jarek glanced at Kaiden’s grim face and their
plan was born. They’d discussed this scenario on the journey to the
city. Jarek took a lingering look at Paige, knowing he might never
see her again. Then he whirled, leapt forward, shifting as he
moved, and put himself between the mages and the love of his
life.

* * * * *

Paige stared in horror as Jarek pounced on
the mage warriors, making a barrier between her and them. “No!” she
cried. It was Torrent all over again, but this time it was
Jarek
she was losing.

“
Come on,” said Kaiden, pulling her away.
“We need to go
now
.”

“Not without Jarek!”

“He’ll do everything he can to escape.”

“Not good enough.”

“Jump on my back or everything we lost to get
you out of here will be for nothing.” With that, Kaiden
shifted.

She hauled herself onto Kaiden’s back,
staring at Jarek. He was busy tossing mages to the left and to the
right, yet more kept coming. He went through them like tissue
paper, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it up.

Kaiden bolted forward. She grabbed onto his
fur and held on tight as he ran flat out down the street away from
Jarek.

Unable to see Jarek any longer, she closed
and whispered, “Please be safe, my love.”

Kaiden was a fast runner, faster than Jarek.
That was undoubtedly why Jarek had stayed behind and she was on
Kaiden’s back. Now Kaiden ran faster than she could believe.
Everything rushed past in a blur she could barely make out.

They turned a corner and skidded to a stop.
The mages had closed off the mouth of the street in a huge group,
all of them wielding those batons of doom. Kaiden whirled, but
found their exit similarly blocked.

Oh, god, this was it. It was over. They were
captured. Now none of them would get out of this cursed city
alive.

But Kaiden had other ideas. He ran toward the
mouth of the street, gathering speed. Some of the mages backed away
when it looked like Kaiden was going to run smack into the group,
but then he jumped and sailed over all their heads.

It had been a risk. Kaiden could not have
known how deep the crowd of mages was, yet they landed clear of
them. Several huge bounds and they were far behind, heading to the
outskirts of the city.

* * * * *

Torrent snarled and lunged at the closest
warrior, his jaws closing around the man’s midsection. Tossing his
head, the man went flying, screaming as he went. It was a victory,
yet the magick sticks of the warriors struck his body over and over
again. There were too many of them.

His body listed as the stinging blows rained
down on him, the enraged faces of the mage warriors filling his
vision. He raised his head and howled mournfully. All the mages
halted for a moment, their hands stilling and their faces going
white. Then the blows resumed.

Torrent’s vision went black. His body
collapsed to the floor.

* * * * *

Kaiden didn’t stop running until he was back
in safe territory. When he couldn’t take another step, he found a
clump of bushes and collapsed behind it. He passed out once he felt
Paige slide from his back.

When he woke, he was back in human form, his
head cradled in Paige’s lap. Shock jolted him upward. “We need to
keep moving. I wasn’t careful about not leaving a trail.”

Early evening twilight shrouded her face.
“You weren’t out long and they surely haven’t caught up yet. Take a
moment.
Breathe.
You
nearly killed yourself getting us out of there.”

Jarek. Torrent.
Anguish twisted his
gut.

A dire wolf growl ripped from his human
throat as he forced himself to stand. “I want to kill them all.”
The vehemence in his voice had to be shocking to Paige, since it
shocked himself.

Paige stood. “Please tell me you think
Jarek will be all right.” Her voice had a tremble to it. “Please,
Kaiden.
Tell
me.
”

He closed the distance between them and held
her against his chest. “He’ll be all right.” They both knew it was
a lie. “Come on, we need to keep moving. Quieter now, slower. We’ll
go on foot. We can’t leave a trace of our passing. When the hunters
reach this spot it will be as though we disappeared.”

Taking her cold, shaking hand, they walked
into the forest.

Caroline stood at the window of her
apartment, staring through the rain misted window at the street
below. Two weeks ago, her sister Paige had suddenly disappeared.
Only a year before, her other sister, Kaitlyn, had also abruptly
vanished.

She thought all her heartbreak had been used
up when Kaitlyn had gone missing, but this was a fresh hell.

When Kaitlyn had disappeared they’d
eventually had a mysterious letter delivered to them, one written
in Kaitlyn’s hand. The letter had put their minds to rest—wherever
Kaitlyn had gone, it had been a good place and she was happy there.
But she had no such reassurance where Paige was concerned and her
mind was wild with worry.