Dragon Bound (Elder Races #1)(55)

Dragos said in a calm voice behind her, “Fast as you can, Pia.”

Right. She tucked her chin in, sought and found her stride, then kicked it out.

Dragos raced after her as the sky became brilliant with sunrise. Pia seemed to have gone weightless. Damn, she ran like a cheetah. Maybe faster. Hell of a thing to watch. She sailed over obstacles like fallen tree trunks and rocks, making the leaps look effortless, as if she simply chose to pick up her feet and fly. He found room in himself for one more surprise as he discovered he was falling behind.

Good girl. If she had endurance as well as speed, they might be okay.

Pia let her mind go blank and lived in the moment. Nothing existed beyond the deep rhythm of her breathing, the athletic flex of muscle and bone, the sound of Dragos running behind her. They had plunged deep into the forest so that the infinite bowl of the sky became obscured with heavy boughs of green, but the morning light brightened and the day grew warmer until her skin was coated in sweat.

The forest was silent around them, ancient tree trunks twisted with secrets and imprisoned by creeping vines. She realized that since the Goblins had brought them over the day before, she hadn’t heard another single creature nearby, not a rustle, peep or tweet. Maybe it was because she was in the presence of the most apex predator of them all. Or maybe it was because Goblins swarmed through the forest like a terminal disease. Or both.

I don’t blame any of you, she thought. I wouldn’t rustle, peep or tweet either if I were you.

Then like a chill mist rising from the ground, a sense of cold Power crept over her. It licked along her overheated skin and tightened over her body, squeezing like a boa constrictor wrapping around its prey.

Panicked revulsion closed her throat muscles, or perhaps the constriction of Power did. She stumbled to a halt, instinct driving her to claw at her neck.

Dragos whirled to face back the way they had come. As Pia looked over her shoulder, he roared. Tendons stood out in his neck, and the massive muscles of his chest and arms clenched with the force of his fury. The memory of what had happened in New York faded to triviality next to this apocalyptic noise. Standing as she was so close to him, even in his human form the Power in his roar ripped through the fabric of the world.

The hair at the back of her neck rose. Terror bolted through her from an atavistic place deeper than conscious choice.

The sound shredded the constriction around her throat. The chill constriction of Power receded. Suddenly she could breathe again. She gulped air.

Dragos turned, the savage bones of his dark face transformed with rage and hate. The hot gold of his eyes were twin suns, and his pupils had changed to slits. “Now we know for sure,” he growled. “Urien is here and trying to slow us down. Run.”

She fell back a few steps, still staring at him. He narrowed that lambent alien gaze on her and tilted his head, the very picture of male exasperation. Alrighty. She threw up her hands in an I’m-going-already gesture, spun on one heel and ran for her life.

Not long afterward, she broke out of the edge of the forest and faltered as she looked ahead at a wide, flat plain. There was no cover for creatures of their size. She glanced back, uneasy, as he caught up with her.

He had the battle-axe and sword strapped to his back again. The rage in his hawkish face had eased but his eyes were still lava hot.

“Can you change?” she asked him.

“Not quite. I tried back in the forest.” He nodded at the plain. “It’s not like they don’t know we’re here.”

She bounded forward, and he got the chance to admire just how fast she could run unfettered by trees and underbrush.

To avoid wasting breath, she asked him telepathically, I still can’t hear them; can you?

No, I think Urien has been cloaking them, he told her. Otherwise I would have heard them a lot sooner. They would never have gotten so close.

That, and he’d allowed himself to be distracted by her sensuality. Damn it, he had known they had lingered too long, but he had done it anyway. This was all his fault. She was in danger again because of him. She messed with his head and his old, well-honed instincts short-circuited. He was never going to get so impatient with his men again when they fell for a beautiful face.

They’re chasing us while believing you can shift into a dragon? Even telepathically her mental tone indicated how suicidal she thought that was.

Unless they know otherwise, he said. Could be why they’re so aggressive. Maybe they do know about the Elven poison and that it should be wearing off soon.

She tripped and almost went down. He leaped forward to grab her arm. She turned a horror-filled gaze toward him. But that would mean the Elves—Ferion—knew we would be attacked.

Or it means at the very least that one of the Elves passed some helpful information on to an interested party, he agreed. He urged her back into a run. And to be fair, for all Ferion knew, you did what you said you would and drove me over the Elven border and left me.

Screw fair, she snapped. I see that Elf again, I’m gonna rip him a new one.

He couldn’t help but grin. I want to be there when you do.

She dropped back to keep pace at his side. When he frowned a question at her, she said, Don’t worry about me, big guy. I can beat any pace you set.

He laughed out loud. I just bet you can, lover.

She tossed her head. I’m just bored with rubbing your nose in it.

Despite their banter, they both knew their situation was growing more desperate. He kept watch behind them and soon he saw a horde of Goblins running out of the forest. Along with them appeared a score of armed riders on horseback.