He recalled looking into that female’s eyes. They were initially filled with fear. Though her gaze had quickly morphed into determination and what he could only describe as hatred. He knew that the move had been calculated. She’d assessed the odds and had decided that she stood a better chance within the raging rapids than against him. The female with light colored hair had followed suit. She only jumped into the river because the dark haired one had gone first.

She might be slightly crazy but she was also the only human female that held any interest to him. Still small and weak. Still far beneath him, but maybe she would do. It was a big maybe. There was only one way to find out.

He couldn’t understand how Flame had managed to secure the other human female so easily. The male had felled one of the warriors and the water prince. As a royal, Torrent was much stronger and should have been the victor. The only thing that he could think of was that Torrent had set his sights on one of the other two remaining females just as he had. With two males closely on his tail, he set out after her. There would be many others following closely behind their little group. They didn’t have much more than a two or three-minute lead. He was only a half a minute ahead of the water king, if that. The stakes were rising by the minute. Coal felt power flow through him. The human could run and she could hide, but she would not escape him.

For the first time in days, Coal smiled.

There was no escape. He would go to the ends of the earth if he had to.

Coal ran for about an hour, until he heard the sound of moaning up ahead. It was the female with the light colored hair. She clung to a log, her body was up on the trunk and her legs were still in the water. If it weren’t for the moaning, he might think that she was dead.

This was not the female he wanted. Not that he particularly wanted the other one either. Not really. Coal sighed. He couldn’t just leave her there, hanging on for dear life. Although the others weren’t far behind him, he leapt forward and onto the wide trunk. It was solid and secure. Safe to negotiate. Coal spread his arms to balance himself and moved forward. When close enough, he bent and lifted the female. She weighed nothing.

He was mildly surprised when the little thing began to wriggle in his arms. She actually tried to pull away and to escape his grasp.

“Stay still,” he growled. He was all out surprised when she didn’t listen. “Stop that or I will throw you back.” He meant it. She was costing him precious time. His lead was diminishing by the second.