Chapter 54

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Ambrose stares at Aengus a moment and something in his expression shifts.

"Noah, go," he says, low and urgent. "Get the fuck out of here—get somewhere safe—go now!"

"I w-w-won't leave you!" I argue, hating that my stammer has chosen this moment to reappear, even as I begin to shake with adrenaline and mounting fear. "I w-won't run!"

Keeping one eye on the shadowy hound as it paces nearer, head lowered and blood-red eyes lit with a malevolent glow, I swallow hard and do my  best to sound fierce as I go on.

"If I'm y-your heart then he w-won't hurt me—he needs me as m-m-much as he needs you!"

"Twenty seconds," Aengus cuts in. "And you're only partly right, mongrel. I do need you. I just don't need you alive."

Ambrose hisses with anger, then startles me as he catches me by the upper arms and spins me around so my back is to the stairs, shielded from Aengus' view.

"Noah—listen. You're not running," he breathes. "You're going for help. You're no coward—I know that. You're my fierce, brave, beautiful—my lovely little wolf—and I need you to go. Please."

"Ambrose..."

"Go!!" he yells and shoves me with such force that I startle and stumble back until I'm barely balanced on the top stair, and I hear something like the authority of an alpha in his tone. A momentary war rages  in my heart between two conflicting urges: stay with my Mate and fight at his side, or obey my Mate and flee.

The decision is made for me when the creature growls again, and I glance its way.

Its shadow-smoke shape shifts constantly, and never quite settles on a distinct form; only its eyes and its long white teeth never change.

I shut my eyes briefly, but I can still hear it, and still smell the sulfurous tang of its decaying scent.

Maybe it isn't real. Maybe Aengus is just fucking with my head like some imitation Professor X. Then again, something knocked over the table and broke the vase, and something else tells me that—however talented he might be—Aengus Thorne is not that talented.

I open my eyes again and suddenly I'm convinced of three things: first, that—whatever it is—the creature is real; second, that it will kill me if it catches me; and finally, that I'm no good to Ambrose if I'm dead.

"NOAH!" he shouts again, and the anguish in his voice is unbearable. I meet his eyes, seeing in them the reflection of my own fear, and then I turn and run.

"Ten seconds," Aengus calls after me, sounding almost bored.

Leaping down the stairs, I sprint across the entrance hall, bolt through the front door and dash out into the yard. As I run, I can't help counting in my head.

Nine... Eight... Seven...

Reaching the gate, I don't stop to open it, instead vaulting over the low stone wall before darting across the street towards the thick woods on the other side.

Six... Five... Four...

I pause at the edge of the trees, momentarily struck with new indecision.

I  know I should look for Freya or Dane, or head towards town where there might be other people, or at least Shift to my wolf-form, so I can run and see better in the dark—

Three... Two...

Panic strikes me through the heart, and I plunge into the dense brush, cutting towards the trail that leads around the lake.

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