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.And then that sense of floating that had filled her as she moved into her ethereal form for the first time seemed to wash through her body, leaving her a little unsteady as it passed.When she opened her eyes, her hands were glowing a soft gold, the light moving from her body to his.When the light dimmed and she pulled away, Stiles was just as pale as he had ever been.But his eyes were bright once more, and the lesions on his arms were gone.Not just healed, but completely gone.He sat up and ran his hands over his body as though he could not believe what was perfectly obvious.He was healed.“Dylan,” he whispered, his hands sliding over his arms, his chest.He said nothing more, just her name.But his eyes were wide with surprise.And wonder.“You’re going to be okay,” she said, stroking his cheek lightly with the side of her hand.“Well enough to lie to me another day, anyway.”He didn’t rise to the taunt.He just kept staring at her as though he could not understand what he was seeing.He finally stood up and began to pace, almost angrily.“You can’t,” he finally said.“I can’t what?”He just shook his head as he continued to pace, his movement kicking up dirt and debris and covering her with a fine dust.She stood, brushing at her clothing in irritation.“I just took a bath, you know,” she said.“How did you do that?” he asked.Dylan shrugged.“The same way I always do.”“No, Dylan, that was not the same.” He marched to her and grabbed her arms.“You don’t even know what you’ve just done.”Something about his expression made Dylan finally hear his words, hear the seriousness behind them.“What are you so excited about?” she asked.He touched her face lightly.“We are in so much trouble,” he muttered.“What do you mean? Is trouble coming?”That seemed to make something click in his head.“Damn,” he said under his breath.“We have to get you out of here.There’s a group of Redcoats not far from here.”“Redcoats? What are they doing this far from Viti?”“Lucifer,” he said.“He’s been scouring the countryside for you.He nearly got you at Joanna’s.”“How do you—”“We have to go, Dylan.All of us.”He didn’t wait for her to answer.He grabbed her hand and dragged her through the trees back to where the others were sitting down to their meal.“We have to go,” he said, snatching a couple of water bottles from where they were sitting on the ground.Wyatt dropped the piece of bone he had been holding in his hand and began kicking dirt over the fire.He didn’t stop to ask.They had been here often enough that, even though he still distrusted Stiles, he didn’t question his warnings.Maybe he trusted enough in the fact that Stiles wanted to protect Dylan.Or maybe it was something else.She wasn’t sure.She wasn’t even sure why she was following Stiles.The moment Wyatt made a move to follow Stiles, the others fell into line.Wyatt was their leader.They didn’t doubt his choices.Bags were stuffed full of clothing, books, and blankets that had been spread around the camp.Dylan missed her own bag, the one that got left behind when Ichabod stole her away without warning, without the opportunity to consider the things she left behind.Not that she had many things that really mattered to her.Just the few things in her pocket.The moment everyone was ready, Stiles led the way through the trees.They were in a densely wooded area, which seemed likely to prove lucky as the Redcoats gained on them.But Dylan wondered how they could keep from getting lost.The moment they stepped into the trees it felt like they had stepped into a maze that would go on forever.They wound their way through the woods for more than an hour before they came to a small hill that took them down a steep embankment.They came to a stuttering halt, the sound of their feet sliding on the ground reverberating through the trees as pebbles and sticks fell over the embankment.“What are even running from?” Ellie suddenly asked.It was the first word spoken since they left camp.“Keep your voice down,” Wyatt hissed at her.“Why?” Ellie demanded.“How do we even know anyone is following us?”The words hadn’t fallen completely from her lips when something slammed through the trees.Another followed quickly behind.Bobby had been standing behind Dylan, peeking over her shoulder at the embankment below.He seemed curious about what lay down there.Or maybe he had simply been trying to figure out how they could get down there without someone breaking an ankle.Not that it mattered.He fell to his knees as that something, something Dylan never saw, slammed into his back.Chapter 29Ellie screamed.Dylan turned, wanted to touch him, to help him, but Stiles grabbed her arm and pulled her down the embankment.One moment she was staring at Bobby as he knelt behind her, the next she was sliding on her bottom down the hill.She wanted to scream too, more from frustration than fear.She didn’t want anyone to die for her.Wyatt and Sam were running along behind her and Stiles, Ellie between them.At the bottom of the embankment, Stiles turned to the right, running so fast Dylan struggled to keep up with him.She had little choice.He still held her wrist with an iron grip.All she could concentrate on was the next breath, the pain in her calves, the heat filling her oxygen-starved muscles.She finally couldn’t do it anymore.She had to stop.She dug her heels into the ground.“Stiles,” she groaned.He let go of her wrist and she immediately stopped, bending over to catch her breath.She could hear someone come up behind her, but she didn’t turn to see who it was.After a few minutes, after her heart stopped pounding and her breathing slowed, she realized she had only heard one person join them.“Where’s Ellie?” she asked, straightening.“Sam?”Wyatt shook his head.“They couldn’t keep up.”Dylan glanced at Stiles just as he disappeared.Wyatt was struggling to catch his breath, too.He paced around a little, his hands on his hips.“What did he tell you?” he asked.“The Redcoats.”Wyatt looked back over his shoulder, as though he thought he would see Sam and Ellie coming up behind them.“Bobby will be okay,” he said, but Dylan could hear the doubt in his voice.“What was that?”He focused on her, but didn’t speak.She remembered the weapon Jimmy had taken out of the Redcoat’s pocket, the Redcoat that had been pinned to the ground outside their camp [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]