Chapter 30
My thighs complained as I fought against the sinking mud restraining me. It took every ounce of strength to keep running. Now that the fight was past, I realized how much power I’d used up against Gale.
Exhaustion threatened to creep up on me just as much as the water splashing behind me. If I gave him even a moment to speak, I’d fold. If he dragged me kicking and screaming, I wouldn’t have enough in me to try again.
The emptiness inside me yearned for the nest. It could ease the hole enough to figure out where my head was. I could recover from this moment and heal there. How could I yearn for a place so much? I’d only been there twice.
I didn’t dare look back. A single mistake would cost me everything I fought to gain.
My heart pounded in my ears as his eyes seared my back. Needy desperation that wasn’t mine flooded every cell in my body. Foreign fear pushed him after me. His panic made my breathing come in ragged breaths.
Or maybe it was mine, knowing how weak I’d be if he caught me.
It didn’t change anything. I pushed my speed up a notch, ignoring the muscles of my body begging me to stop.
When I did, I slipped to my knees, sliding across the gelatinous ground.
Brush dug into my skin as I did, and I was sure I could add torn-up knees to my growing list of injuries.
I barely got my feet back under me and zagged away just in time to hear a giant crash and thud when he landed where I’d been.
He snarled his frustration before the sound of plopping water told me he’d gone back into the water. My stomach fluttered with something akin to attraction. Like he loved it when I fought back, even though he pretended it was an inconvenience.
I heard the water creeping behind me. He had the chance to attack me on land and didn’t take it. He went back into the water. That was his domain.
If I kept this on solid land, I had a chance.
Two ponds came up in front of me. I kept to the strip of land separating them. I felt him leap before I heard the splash of the water. This time, I used the mud to my advantage, dipping down and sliding right under him.
His body landed with a loud splash on the other side, sending a fresh wave of sulfur and frustration into the air. I recovered easily this time.
A smirk took over my face despite my best efforts. “Too slow.”
His chuckles filled my mind, but his growls rumbled behind me.
It was too easy with him. Even when he made me want to pee my pants, it was exhilarating. What’s he going to do when he catches me?
That was sobering.
My head was leaving the game. The goal was that he didn’t catch me. That was the point of this.
I’m not staying, I thought more for myself than him.
You aren’t leaving. His mental demand was laced in his desperation to keep me. Too bad he never thought to simply ask me to stay. To show me that he cared.
So close, but it wasn’t quite enough.
The ponds turned into shallow puddles that he wouldn’t be able to drag me into. I dared to let myself hope. I had to be close to the boundary.
A familiar sound that didn’t belong here grew closer: cars on the highway.
There it was.
My nerves buzzed with excitement, but my limbs grew heavier, slowing me down.
Heavy thuds of four feet running across the ground reached me. My breathing stuttered as I realized exactly how fast he was moving. I’d assume he would be slower on land.
I was wrong.
The distance was closing too fast.
A branch snagged on my shirt, holding me in place. I ripped the fabric away, knowing I didn’t have time to preserve anything. My heart jumped into my throat as my pack was grabbed, pulling me back.
I yelped in surprise at the strength he dragged me back. I unclipped my chest strap, running forward again.
He growled. “Talia! You think you can escape me?”
I was close. I could feel it. The energy of the swamp was growing weaker. After being deep in it for days, I recognized its influence.
He was right. There really was an old power in there.
His weight hit me like a freight train. The air whipped painfully against my wet face as I slammed into the ground. My head bonked on the uneven ground, and I gasped as his heavy weight compressed my chest.
The second I struggled to breathe, he adjusted his weight, only using enough of his massive body to hold me in place. I dragged in a ragged breath that hurt my raw lungs.
“Stop,” he snarled.
“Eat me,” I wheezed out with less energy than I would have liked.
I reached for the treeline right in front of me. When my fingers touched the ground, I found the land was almost dry, as if it existed on the other side of an invisible domain. One that hadn’t been hit by the storm.
The border.
No.
I refused to fail inches away from freedom.
Fuck that.
Every muscle in my body worked to scooch forward with his massive weight on top of me. When I managed to get slightly closer, he pinned every limb to the soggy ground. His claws anchored into the mud.
Stay with me.
The begging in his voice was enough to make my soul quiver. His pain created the first major crack in my decision, exactly as I knew it would.
“Why?” My voice broke, unable to get enough air to say it with the fierceness inside me. I had to hope my mind got that across.
The bond will stay. No matter what. You’ll drive us both crazy.
A rational reason.
Functional. Efficient.
That wasn’t enough anymore.
My fingers clawed at the mud, dirt packing underneath my nails, hoping something solid would help me get purchase.
His purr vibrated against my back, calming the adrenaline that was keeping my head above water. My limbs turned to lead in response, and every pulled and strained muscle screamed.
Cheating bastard.
My fingers wiggled across the treeline, but that was the last of my gas. I’d put my body through the ringer, and I wasn’t physically capable of fighting anymore.
Not with this literal weight pressing on my back.
Defeat weaved through my bones. Damn it.
Talia, please.
Familiar sadness jabbed at the raw open place deep inside me that understood why he was like this. I’d make excuses and forgive him, and no one would grow.
I’d be trapped in this cycle forever.
I released the tension in my body and let out a heaving breath of surrender.
Warm hands grabbed mine, forcing me to put some energy into intertwining our fingers, and pulled with a grunt. Gravel bit into my palm as I slid. I recognized that less than perfect pink manicure.
Like she knew the exact moment I gave up on myself again.