Some of the guards headed in the other direction to follow his orders, but Blake sprinted after us, with close to a dozen guards trailing along behind him. If they caught up to us, we were dead.
I looked over at Devon, who was running along beside me, his strides long, smooth, and easy. Deah was also running well, but Felix had already started to lag behind, sweat pouring down his face. We still had about a mile to go, and I knew that he wouldn’t be able to make it that far before Blake and the other guards caught up with us.
Devon glanced back at Felix, then over at me, his face creasing with worry as he realized the same thing I did.
“Tell us all . . . to run,” I said between gasps of air. “It’s the only way . . . we’re going to make it.”
Devon nodded. I grabbed Deah’s arm and made her stop, and Felix staggered up beside us. Then all three of us looked at Devon.
He drew in a deep breath, then stared me in the eyes. “Run!” he screamed in the loudest voice he could.
Devon’s compulsion magic immediately wrapped around my body, making it feel as though I was a puppet and someone else was pulling my strings. Beside me, Deah and Felix also jerked upright, their fingers twitching, their bodies going into spasms, and their feet and legs churning of their own accord. With one thought, we all started running again.
Deah and Felix had no choice but to run as Devon had commanded, but my transference magic quickly overcame his compulsion, until his power was mine to use however I wanted. And right now, I wanted to get us as far away from the Draconis as fast as possible.
So the four of us ran and ran and ran . . . pulling away from Blake and his guards, although they continued to yell and chase after us. Devon’s magic made it easier for us to run, but his compulsion power didn’t help with anything else. It was still a hot night and sweat soaked my body, streaming down into and stinging my eyes, and the air was so humid that it was like trying to breathe in warm soup. But I didn’t dare break stride, not even to take a second to rest. I’d rather be hot, sweaty, and miserable than dead. Beside me, the others gasped, wheezed, and panted for air as well, but we all kept running.
We rounded a corner and a bridge loomed up in the distance, arching over this section of the Bloodiron River. I used to be wary of the bridge, and especially of the lochness monster that lived underneath it, but not anymore. The lochness was going to save us, just the way it had Devon and me once before.
“We just have to get across the bridge!” I yelled to the others. “Blake won’t be able to follow us, and we can disappear into the alleys!”
Deah looked confused, but Devon and Felix both nodded, some of the tension easing in their red, sweaty faces.
We ran on. Devon’s compulsion magic weakened and finally faded away altogether in the others, who began to slow down. I could have kept right on running, with the magic and strength still pumping through my veins, but I eased my pace to match theirs. We needed to stick together no matter what.
The bridge loomed up before us and I risked another glance over my shoulder. Blake and his guards had closed the gap again and were much closer than before. Blake had his phone clutched up against his ear as he ran, barking orders at whoever was on the other end, but I wasn’t worried. Once we reached the bridge we’d be safe— Headlights flared to life in the distance.
I squinted against the harsh, unexpected glare. An SUV had turned onto the street on the far side of the bridge and was closing in fast on the span. The vehicle’s headlights clearly illuminated us, like four deer out on the road late at night, before it swerved to the side and stopped, blocking off the far end of the bridge. My heart sank as I spotted the symbol emblazoned on the SUV’s doors—a snarling dragon crest.
The vehicle ahead of us belonged to the Draconis. Blake was still coming up behind us, and now he’d cut off our escape route on the other side of the bridge.
Trapped.
We were trapped.
CHAPTER TEN
The others spotted the SUV at the same time I did, and we all skidded to a stop right before we would have stepped onto the lochness bridge.
Deah blinked. “That’s a Draconi car.”
“We’re cut off,” Devon said in a tense voice.
“Now what?” Felix asked. “Because Blake and his guards will be here in a minute, and we can’t fight them all off.”
Devon squared his shoulders and turned to face Blake and the oncoming guards. “You guys run. If you hurry? you can get away from the bridge, duck into one of the alleys that we just passed, and sprint out the far end. I’ll stay behind and hold them off as long as I can. It’s my job as the Family bruiser. Besides, I’m the one that Blake really wants. You heard what Victor said about capturing all the Sinclair leaders. I’m the only one he doesn’t have yet.”