Chapter 79 Chapter 79
Gage paused and bent down to pick up a rock, then looked around the swampy area. Where was she? If she so much as had a scratch on her, someone was going to pay. With. Their. Life. Growling, he leaned back and whipped the rock across the boggy pond. The cracking as it smashed against a tree echoed through the silence.
Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, praying the air would carry her scent.
“Kelsey have Bengal coloring when she shifts?”
Gage jumped at Devin’s voice coming from the trees at his back. Turning, he frowned. “Yeah, deep orange, why?”
Devin exhaled and then leaned over, placing his hands on his knees. “Thank god.” He let out another breath and then straightened. “Sometimes mates can project what they’re seeing and I just got a flash of a really big tiger running like a demon through trees.”
Gage’s heart pumped so fast, he had to catch his breath. “They’re in animal form, running?”
Devin nodded.
“So, they got free?”
“It looks like.”
Gage wanted to scream in relief. “What did you see? Was anyone chasing them? Anything that would help us know where they are?”
Devin put his hands on his hips and stared at the ground.
Gage balled his hands, trying not to grab and shake him so he’d hurry up. Even in his panic and seeing red that someone had dared touch his mate, he still knew grabbing the future king and shaking the bejeezus out of him was bad. Friend or not, they were long past the age where crossing lines was forgiven.
Devin squinted at the ground. “There was a lake on the one side, nothing that is helpful.” He cursed. “Wait, there was a huge rock face, still in natural formation, no drilling or digging…” he stopped and looked at him and then threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know enough about this area to even suggest a direction.”
Gage blew out a breath, trying to keep a handle on his anger. His animal was clawing to go find his mate. According to Cooper, both Devin and he needed to stay in two-legged form or they’d lose it completely. Regardless of how many legs he had, he was close to rampaging.
“Fuck,” Devin kicked a rock across the clearing. “If you’d marked Kelsey, she’d be able to show you where they were.”
Gage glared at him. “Yeah, and how well did marking your mate without consent go for you?”
Devin crossed his arms over his chest and studied him. “She came around.”
Shaking his head, Gage paced over to the edge of the pond and stared out over it. “Obviously, you’re forgetting what you went through before she came back…”
Blair came bounding out of the trees and stopped abruptly. He looked from one to the other and then shook his large white body.
Basically, Gage thought, he’d heard them bitching at each other and decided to abandon searching to play peace-keeper. Gage rubbed the back of his neck and stared back at the pale feline eyes studying him. “Rayne sent Devin some images through their mate connection,” Blair blinked and that was the only reaction he gave away. “The girls are in animal form running hell bent through trees…”
Blair stiffened and glanced at Devin before looking back at him.
Gage nodded. “Yeah they’ve gotten away somehow.” He briefly glanced at Devin then continued. “He saw a large rock formation that appeared untouched by man and machine. Does that ring any bells for you?”
Blair gave him a look that Gage was sure meant ‘duh’ and then he turned and ran into the trees.
Devin jolted. “He knows?”
Gage nodded and then ran into the trees. “Looks like it.” Running as fast as two legs allowed, Gage pushed himself to keep Blair in sight. When he lost the visual, he picked up the pace and slid around a large boulder. Skidding to a stop in the loose soil, he looked up to see Blair standing on top of the large rock. Huffing out a breath, he pulled himself up until he stood beside him.
Blair’s look was sarcastic, before he turned his head to the left.
Gage glanced in the direction and then froze. Off in the distance was the old drop-off they used to climb when they were younger, before any of them could shift. He heard running feet coming up the path. “Dev, up here.”
He stood up and waited until his friend started to climb up the rock. Reaching down, he dragged him up. He pointed to the cliff. “Is that what you saw?”
Out of breath, Devin turned and squinted. “I think it is.” He shook his head. “Not from the same angle, but the tree grouping at the top looks the same.”
Gage patted Blair on the shoulder. “Go find Noah and Gary and meet us back at the truck.”
They both watched Blair leap down and take off into the trees.
“How far is it?” Devin looked back at the large rock area towering over the tree tops in the distance,
“We can’t run the whole way there; it would take about three hours,” he rubbed his hand over his jaw, “too many detours around swamps and bogs. We can take the truck and get within ten miles by road.” He glanced at their destination. “We can be there by dark.”
Nodding, Devin turned and started climbing down. “Let’s go.”