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.“Ash?” she gasped.His eyelids flickered.He groaned quietly, the sound catching in the back of his throat.Hope and panic twisted her gut.She pulled his head onto her shoulder and fumbled with the buckle at the back of the gag.Ash slumped into her, his weight almost pushing her over.She jerked at the stiff leather until the end came loose.Gently pushing him back against the wall, she slid the cruel gag out of his mouth.His eyes opened halfway.“Piper,” he breathed.“Ash,” she choked.She grabbed him around the neck and hugged him hard.“I thought you were lost.”“Me too,” he whispered.His breath came faster.She leaned back, terror gripping her as his eyes glazed even as they paled closer to their normal gray.The pain from the collar still tormented him.“Hold on, Ash.You can hold on.” She yanked Eisheth’s keys from her pocket.Shifting beside him, she fumbled around until she fit a key into the manacle on his left wrist.It popped off and hit the steel floor with a loud clank.She unlocked the other one.“Come on, Ash.Let’s get out of here.” She crouched beside him and pulled his arm over her shoulders.“Please, Ash.”Soft sounds of pain escaped him with each ragged breath.He gathered himself and she heaved him up.He staggered into her.They shuffled three steps before his legs gave out.She cried out as he fell to his knees.“I can’t.I can’t do it,” he rasped, barely able to stay sitting.“Go, Piper.Just go.”She grabbed his jaw and forced his eyes to hers.They were hazy with pain and fading consciousness.“Ash, you are not giving up.Do you hear me? I won’t let you!”A spasm of adrenaline made her fingers twitch, her nails biting into his cheek.A shadow slid across his eyes and he straightened abruptly.She immediately let go, opening her mouth to apologize—and then she figured it out.“Ash, you have to shade again.”“What?” he asked blurrily.“You handle pain better when you’re shaded, don’t you?”“Yes,” he croaked.“Shade again.Otherwise we’ll never get out of here.”His shoulders hunched.His whole body trembled.“Can’t.I’ll hurt you.”“You didn’t hurt me before.”He breathed in sharp gasps, fighting to stay aware.“You.got lucky.”“Stop arguing and do it!”He listed to one side.She grabbed his arm and pulled him upright.“Do it, Ash.I’m not leaving without you, so you have nothing to lose.”Resignation slid across his features.He exhaled—and his eyes flashed to black so fast she realized how hard he’d been working not to shade while she was beside him.“Finally,” she said.A low growl rumbled in his chest.Adrenaline surged as she wondered if maybe he didn’t have the ability to stay out of the shaded red-zone anymore.“Let’s go.” She pushed to her feet—and he flowed to his just as quickly and far more fluidly.Oh shit.“Ash?”He studied her with lethal, wolf-like intensity.She swallowed hard and straightened her spine.“This way.”She started to turn toward the door and saw his muscles tense—as though he were getting ready to attack.She whipped back to face him.His lips curled in a silent snarl.With a deep breath, she backed toward the door.He let her get two steps away before he melted into motion after her.She backed into the hallway, only taking her eyes off his to sneak rapid glances at where she was going.He followed her every move, keeping the same two-step distance between them—exactly the right distance to make an attack or an evasion equally effective.He was one-hundred-percent in predator mode.She backtracked in an awkward trot down the hall and out into the room with the desk.Ash only looked away from her to glance at the bloody mess that had previously been his torturer.He didn’t seem to care as his stare returned to Piper.He prowled after her, each step calculated, constrained violence in motion.He stalked her to the security door.She glanced around and saw Zwi, wings plastered tightly against her body.She made no sound as they reached her.Instead, she nervously backed away from her master.Piper mentally cringed.If Zwi was afraid, maybe Ash was even more shaded than she’d thought.Up the stairs, through the dark halls, and out into the sleek, wide-open foyer.As Piper backed past the reception desk, Zwi let out a warning trill.A moment later, Piper heard a jumble of approaching voices.She swore and scanned the room.Beside the reception desk was a filing cabinet.A potted tree filled the gap between the cabinet and the nearby wall.With a wild look at Ash, Piper ran for the cabinet.As she’d feared, as soon as her back was turned, he lunged for her.He barely missed her as she slid across the tiled floor and grabbed the plant.Shoving it out of the way, she backed into the gap between the cabinet and the wall.Ash came up short as he reached her, hesitating as his attention turned toward the voices.She reached out and grabbed his arm, heaving him into the gap with her.For a second, he crushed her against the wall and she thought he would kill her on the spot.His hands clamped below her ribcage, biting into soft flesh before loosening to just shy of painful.She turned so her back was to the wall with his to the cabinet, then grabbed the tree and slid it in front of them as a whole squad of black-uniformed guards came around the corner from some other part of the building.Ash appeared to forget about her as he watched the guards gather in the middle of the room.One began calling orders, splitting the group to search multiple wings.Piper’s heart pounded as she tried to keep still, hardly daring to breathe.The seconds ticked by, their precious time wasting away.A few of the guards were standing dangerously close to the reception desk.She leaned slightly to the side to catch a better glimpse, hoping they weren’t looking her way.Ash growled the instant she moved, the sound an almost inaudible warning [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]