The Hunt (By Kiss and Claw #2) - Melissa Haag Page 0,31

at the same time something pressed against my backside.

In time with the beat of the music, I moved my hips against the pressure. My partner trembled and wrapped an arm around my waist to hold me closer.

The scent of earth and rain teased my nose, and I breathed in deeply. Another tremble coursed through my partner as something lightly touched my cheek. A hand captured mine, reeling me forward as I moved, until I was pressed against someone else.

Sandwiched as I was between my partners, my movements should have been limited. Instead, we swayed together as one. The hips grinding against my backside forced me into the hips grinding into my front. I inhaled more earth and rain. The flavor coated my tongue, and an involuntary groan escaped me.

Both my partners jerked and trembled suddenly, losing the rhythm completely.

Their support disappeared, and I stumbled as I opened my eyes in confusion.

Anne was whooping and fist-bumping the air as she grinned. Lauv and Meg were rushing to me, each holding a clear bottle. And Fenris was sitting at the base of a tree, his head tipped back and his eyes closed.

I pulled out an earbud.

“She freaking did it. I can’t believe it.”

Meg grabbed my shoulder and partially turned me as Lauv crammed her bottle against my stomach.

“What are you—”

The words died, and bile rose as I stared down at the iridescent goo slowly sliding its way down my shirt. When Meg pressed something against the base of my spine, I knew more was there, too.

I closed my eyes against Anne’s happy-dancing and let the druids collect their pure essence, all the while wishing the earth would open up and swallow me whole. The music that continued to beat in my other earpiece did nothing to soothe me.

“Start getting everything ready, Anne. The fresher this is, the longer the cloaking spell will last,” Lauv said.

“No,” Fenris said. “Eliana’s spell first.”

I didn’t open my eyes to look at him, not even when both girls stopped pressing their bottles to me and moved away.

“We can’t. We don’t have everything we need for that one.”

“Then I’ll hold onto both of these until you get what you need.”

The scuffle of noise was enough for me to finally open my eyes. Fenris held two vials just out of any of the girls’ reach. Barely. He deflected a knee to a groin but not a stomp on his foot. He cringed enough that the distance between Lauv’s grabbing hands and the vials closed by an inch.

“Do it again,” Lauv said.

My eyes went dark at the thought of them trying to hurt Fenris.

“Enough!”

All four froze and looked at me.

“You have until Tuesday to get what you need, and you will start looking for Ashlyn before you even consider leaving Uttira. If you don’t, the Council will be the least of your worries. Do you understand me, druids?”

Lauv nodded slowly. There was no fear in her eyes, just acceptance, which I didn’t trust at all.

I grabbed my phone from the coat on the ground and handed it to Lauv.

“I want all of your numbers. And when I text, you will answer.”

She nodded again and passed the phone to Meg after entering her number. My distrust grew. They were listening too willingly. Why? Anger curled inside of me at the thought they might be entering fake numbers.

When I got it back, I sent all three of them a text and heard three devices chime with notifications.

Appeased for the moment, I nodded to Fenris to return the vials and grabbed my coat from the ground.

“Tuesday,” I repeated. “Do not fail me…or Ashlyn.”

Chapter Seven

I blinked away the black that I knew had crept into my eyes and shrugged into my coat. Though I needed the warmth, I shuddered at what was getting on it. And what was currently sticking to my stomach and back.

Fenris jogged to catch up to me. As he came alongside me, I plucked the other earbud from my ear and handed both of them to him without glancing his way.

“On a scale of ‘hug Fenris because he was right’ and ‘drown him in a sack in the river,’ how mad are you at me?”

“Somewhere close to wishing that knee would have found its mark.”

He hissed a breath through his teeth, then ran ahead so he could jog backward, forcing me to meet his scrutiny. All the anger I felt poured out into my words.

“I hope you run into a tree. How could you do that to me? After seeing