“I would never let anyone hurt Michael. He’s safer with me. With the Guardians.” Flanagan looks up at me, his face normal again, the fangs receded. “Head southwest to the road. It will take you safely through the Border Woods. Everything around you will change, but you can use the sun as a guide. And, Michael.”

“Yeah?”

“Eat absolutely nothing from the forest.”

Southwest to the road. Eat nothing. Got it. I stand on the precipice and look down at what must be a hundred-foot drop. It’s a rugged wall of rock, not a sheer face. There’s a narrow shelf below this one. I’ll just have to jump down to that and climb my way to the ground. Then somehow follow the evening sun—even now sliding behind the horizon—through a dense, magical forest. Insane, but it’s better than staying here.

“You cannot escape him, Whisperer,” Alyona says, keeping her distance. “You were his the moment you were born.”

I ignore her. I feel the belonging, but I know it’s just freaky DNA. As long as I don’t drink any vamp blood, I’ll belong to me. Still human, Blakeley.

“Beloved, please.” Alexei sounds desperate now. I don’t look at him. I don’t dare. “You are in danger if you go back.” They will execute you, Michael. Your bloodline has been outlawed. You must come home where I can protect you.

My bloodline has been outlawed? Like the Sabel bloodline? My veins turn to ice. Am I the freaky result of an experiment?

If the Guardians find out I’m a Sabel or like them, yeah, he’s right. They’ll execute me. Even Flanagan won’t be able to protect me. He may not want to.

I’m not letting Alexei take Flanagan’s students, though. To use and enslave them. That would be on me. I’ll have to risk it.

I jump.

Chapter 26

26

The sounds of a growling, hissing fight follow me as I land on the lower ledge. A wave of worry passes through me, but I know the big guy can hold his own. From the narrow shelf, I half scramble, half fall down the rock face, following gullies and crevasses to the forest floor. My Flame splutters out. I can’t keep it lit while I concentrate on not breaking my neck. The thick suede of my trousers protects my legs from the jagged stone, but the thin shirt exposes my back to every sharp edge. By the time my boots hit solid ground, my skin stings like I’ve been flayed.

I head into dense woodland, pungent earthy scents hitting my nose, but after only a few steps, Alexei’s Call steals my mind, and my feet trip, dropping me to the damp soil. I stay there, panting on hands and knees. God, the Call’s strong. It takes everything I have not to turn around and clamber back to him.