Page 60 of Take

“She can heal Ink, Xamien. Waleron knows. That’s why he had Adrian hire me.” I heard his sharp intake of breath and then the phone crackle, and I knew he was walking again and suspected he was going for Waleron. Shit, I would, but I wasn’t Xamien who was generally controlled and not impulsive. “Don’t do it, Xamien. Waleron did it to protect the Scars. That’s what he does. That’s who he is. If Max healed Drake’s Ink, the repercussions are too great and now . . .” Now that he was a vampire it was even worse. “Drake will try and destroy the Scars. I think we all know he wants control of the underworld. The Goddess can’t kill him because she’s his creator so we have to before he has the chance to get near Max and bring his Ink back.”

Xamien was quiet but I didn’t hear him walking anymore, and I knew he was contemplating whether to try and kill Waleron or come after me. But Xamien was also sensible and one of the most intelligent men I knew. He never acted impulsively and that was what made him an honorable Taldeburu.

“You touch her . . . your death won’t be swift.” Xamien’s voice was steady and in control, but laced with ominous truth in each word.

“I know.” And I deserved it, but I didn’t care about me. I cared about Max and I had to make certain Xamien stayed close to Waleron. “Drake and I have a few things in common. Both our Inks are dead and we are both assholes. I can convince him I want to join him in his quest for power.”

Xamien scoffed. “You want to die now? Because that’s what is going to happen. Drake will never trust you.”

I put the phone on speaker and set it down on the passenger seat when the road became tricky to navigate. “Maybe not, but I’m not waiting until Drake or someone else comes after her and . . .” Everything in me went silent. It was as if my heartbeat, my blood, my cells stopped for that one moment before she spoke. The calm before the raging storm.

“Jasper.”

The silence broke and my heart thumped and the blood rushed through my veins. “Max. What is it?”

“I don’t know. The air . . . it’s colder and . . . my hands are burning.”

I slammed on the brakes, put the gear into reverse and pressed my foot on the gas heading up the mountain. There wasn’t a road all the way, but I could make it part way back before I’d have to run. I ignored Xamien’s shouting in the phone as I spoke to Max. “Baby, get Holden and Guise.” I waited a second, nearly tangling the car around a tree. I swerved to the right, my neck cranked back to try and see where the fuck I was going. “Are they with you?”

“Yes.”

“You need to tell them. Get your blades, baby. I’m coming back.”

“He’s close,”she whispered. “My hands, they get warm when he’s near.”

Jesus. It was like a sledgehammer slammed into my chest and my breath was gone. Drake was near. How the fuck? How close was he? Could he get to her before me? “Get out of the house. Tell Guise and Holden and get out.”

I tried to spin the car around but the hood smashed into a tree and crinkled like an accordion, steam and hiss started escaping from the engine. “Fuck.” I reached over, grabbed my phone and put it to my ear. “Drake is near Holden’s. He can’t Trace, but I don’t know how many vampires he’ll have with him.” I was already out of the car and running toward the cabin as I said the last words and shoved my phone in my pocket. “Max, he can’t Trace where he hasn’t been.” But if her hands were reacting to his closeness, Jesus, he could be closer than I was.

I ran harder as I reached out to my brother. My lungs screamed for air and I pushed harder, muscles quivering, heart pumping and fear crawling through me like a slow web, suffocating me. “Get her out. Jesus, get her out of there.”

“Wasp, calm down. I’m trying to Track him and I can’t find him anywhere close.”

“Her ability won’t lie. It’s trained to heal him. Fuck, he might not be able to Trace there, but he sure as hell can use his fuckin’ legs. And if he puts one hand on her, she’s gone.”

“We’ll meet you at the river.”

I stumbled then fell to my knees and split my palm open on a jagged rock. No. This wasn’t meant to go down like this. I screamed in my head. Fuck. I got up and ran harder up the hill. I had a mile to go to reach the river.

I slid into Max’s mind and tried to control my breathing as I spoke to her. “Sunshine, you need to cover your hands. He’s a Reflector and feels your emotions. He’ll sense the healing and be able to track you easier.”

“Jasper?”

Just her saying my name with that slight quiver to her voice raised the haunting fear I’d tried to run away from since Beth. “I need you to do it right now.”

“I’m not . . . I’m not scared to die, Jasper. It’s the right thing, but . . . not you. Don’t let it be you who does it.”

Jesus Christ. Those words ripped a hole through my heart and it was as if I was bleeding out. “Fuck, baby, you’re not dying. You’re not fuckin’ dying and he isn’t getting you.”

I swallowed the bile in my throat as I thought of running through the bush toward Beth, her screaming and knowing I was already too late.

Don’t be too late.

Fuck, don’t let me be too late again.

“Okay,”

She was out of breath and I knew they were running. Holden and Guise would keep her safe. They had to.