Heir of the Dog Black Dog - Hailey Edwards Page 0,50

as I can before I shift, then we run.”

Safe in the cradle of Rook’s arms, I studied the boulder where he stood. It was the lower section of a larger chain than I first thought. As he climbed, more stone revealed itself. The higher he climbed, the taller the peaks loomed. Enchanted rock, it had to be. Rook must have reached the same conclusion.

He paused to catch his breath and turned to see how far we had come, and barked a tired laugh.

We hadn’t gone anywhere.

It was all an illusion.

Rook stood on the same boulder, at the same height as where we started.

“I have a new plan.” He tucked me snugly under his arm. “I will make a run for it.”

Afraid to fight him, worried I might fall and be snapped up by the jaws of a hound, I curled into a tight ball and prayed.

The hunting pack, whose enthusiastic pursuit carried in surround sound—thus making it impossible to pinpoint their location, another nasty trick that was starting to piss me off—burst into view the instant Rook’s feet hit the ground. Those bastards. They must have caught up while we were stuck in that blasted rock illusion.

My first glimpse of them made me quiver. I counted a dozen beasts. All wore thick black fur and each emitted a familiar green light. The faint glow was identical to the runes covering my palm.

Two dogs stood taller than the rest. They shouldered through the middle of the pack, paused to snarl a warning at the others and then lunged for Rook. He spun aside, missing the first hound’s jaws but not escaping the second. Its growl reverberated through Rook’s chest to my ear. That prince was vicious.

I knew to the marrow of my bones that beast was Raven and that this attack was a warning.

The scent of blood, dulled through the filter of the rabbit’s skin, told me Rook was injured. Grunting through the pain, Rook knocked the hound aside and sprinted around the stone. His heavy breaths mirrored mine. My feet tapped in a sympathetic rhythm.

Faster. Faster. Hurry.

The thump of padded feet on mossy ground pursued us. Eager cries lifted the hairs all over my body. Shivering awareness set my whiskers twitching. The sensation of being watched rushed over me, bristling my fur.

In the darkness ahead, I spied two gleaming eyes. One to either side of the trees.

One eye was a tranquil blue, the other a simmering red. Watchers then. Both of them.

Their arrival heralded an avalanche of doubts. What did they know we didn’t? Was this the end? Was a trap set ahead? Were we running toward it? Were they watching a predestined event? Death elevated for their entertainment?

Rook skidded as he rounded a squat tree. A yelp rose behind us as a hound smashed into the trunk.

I wanted to pump my fist. I did grin up at him. Even if he spared a glance down, and he didn’t, I felt pretty sure that the bunny equivalent of a smile was more spastic nose aerobics. Muscles in my face weren’t used to all the phantom muscle memory embedded in this skin. Not that I wouldn’t take nasal discomfort over, well, imminent death.

Bunny brain must be a thing. All I needed was fluff in my head while we were in danger.

We.

Rook had taken a hit for me. He could have flung me at the dogs and ran or shifted and flown into the welcoming skies. But he hadn’t. He had stayed. He was running for our lives to reach púca sanctuary.

I pressed my face against his shirt and breathed in his smoky scent.

Nudging my mind toward clarity, I prepared myself. The burrow entrance wasn’t far from here. I had to be ready to bolt when my paws hit dirt.

Rook could shift in a blink. The learning curve was all mine.

“Between those two oaks,” Rook panted. “Do you see the brambles? When I set you down, run left. The entrance is underneath a sprig of holly. Follow the tunnel until you reach the commons.” He clutched me tighter. “Wait for me there. If something happens... I’m sorry I brought you into this.”

I dug my claws into his arm, clinging to him. I didn’t want to let go. But I had to. The hounds snapped on his heels. The time it would take him to shift, he would lose by getting me near the briar hedge. At least if he socked me away, he could take wing. He was better off alone. Without