They left Jed leaning on a tree. Mandy and Honey pushed forward. Danny brought up the rear. Deep in the forest, under the thick canopy, full night set down with the finality of a coffin lid. Mandy kept the light low and focused on the tracks. Ahead, the trees opened up into a meadow.

“I’m switching off the light,” she said in a low voice.

“Should we call for backup?”

“What if we’re wrong, and that’s not him? What if we call everyone here and Nathan is somewhere else?”

The dog pulled harder and whined louder. They reached the end of the trail. Tiny lights glowed on the other side of the field, and Mandy broke into a run.

“Shit.” So much for sneaking up on them. Danny and the dog sprinted after her.

The blond man put the tractor in gear. The cage lurched forward. Kevin rammed his feet against the wooden bars. Nothing gave. There was no way out.

“Daddy?”

Kevin reached for his son and gathered him close.

Above him, a feminine sob was barely audible beneath the roar of the tractor engine. A woman’s scream sliced right through the rumble. Hunter trembled in Kevin’s arms.

The cage was dragged into the open. When it was centered over the carefully layers pile of wood, the tractor stopped. Shiny red gas cans lined up like soldiers waiting for orders.

Realization dawned on Kevin. They were sitting in a wooden structure parked on top of a pile of kindling.

The blond man was going to set them on fire.

The shaking started in his hands and spread until his entire body quaked. Tears soaked Hunter’s hair as Kevin contemplated whether he’d have the strength to strangle his son before the flames burned them alive.

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY

Nathan fastened the handcuff around Evan’s wrist to the rope secured around the maypole. From here his son could safely witness his own salvation. Soon, Mandy would join him.

“You can’t go through with it,” Evan begged. “Please.”

“When you’re older, you’ll realize I did the only thing possible. I saved you.” His son didn’t understand, and Nathan didn’t have time to change that. It was his own fault. Nathan’s uncle had taught him everything when he was a child. But Nathan had elected to bring his son up in the modern world. Evan lacked the training of a true Druid. Such a mistake couldn’t be rectified in the span of one winter. He touched his son’s head lovingly.

“I don’t want you to do this.” Evan jerked his head away and strained at his binds. Fresh blood welled around his wrist.

“Please don’t strain, Evan. You’ll only injure yourself.”

“Let me go!” His son pulled harder, but there was no chance he’d escape. The drugs and imprisonment over the winter had weakened him.