Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (69 page)

Connor
ran as normally as a human would through a forest
,
while carrying another.

Fifteen minutes later a familiar mind
began reaching for a connection
.
“Connor, I heard a gunshot. Is everyone alright?”

“The deputy might have a concussion, but he’ll survive and I’m unharmed. Mathew on the other hand isn’t. Together the two of us served
some
overdue justice.”
Connor sent mental images of the event.

“Good.
Now, l
et nature do the rest.”
Jack said in a menacing way.

“Is Maggie ok?”

“Yes and she wants us to go back and help you.
You were right, she is a strong willed child.
”
Jack said in a lighter tone.

“Tell her I’ll catch up soon.
Tell her not to worry anymore and that I’m fine.
”
Connor
cut the link and continued to run
in the night
.

About five minutes later
Connor
caught up to them and
told them what happened but
he
used
telepathy because the
more vivid
details
were too sensitive for Maggie
to hear.
They
understood everything and soon
continued
.

Truth and Lie

Throughout t
he day Sarah
gave telepathic updates
to
both her m
other and Kara.
She
knew
her m
other didn’t need it because she has her bond with
her mate
, but
Sarah
did it anyway
just to keep
her
mind occupied
and away from stray thoughts
. She also didn’t try contacting her
mate because he needed to concentrate and find the
little
child.
What became highly astonishing was just how far Maggie went. She must have been terrified from getting lost and only made matters worse by trying to rescue herself. Maggie had gone miles away since this morning. What an astonishing little girl…

Sarah
clipped the walkie-talkie on the same side of
her
hip that held
her
dagger just incase
either were needed
.
At least the obnoxious man who hindered Maggie’s rescue had been escorted from the premises.

The inside of the l
og cabin was beautiful. T
wo levels
stood upon the foundation with a
concrete
basement
waiting below
. The floors were covered in a purple and white carpet that also matched the stair’s
scheme
. The stairs were situated on the north side of the living room. The kitchen
awaited on the far side
of the house and was very old fashion with a wood burning stove
instead of gas or electricity
.

Maggie’s grandparents were distraught to say in the least. When
Jillian
, Kara and
Sarah
were finally able to approach
them
before the boys left,
the older looking couple
heard the great news
.
Sarah
said that
her
husband found her trail and ran off to save her. The relief of those simple words made their hope
’s
rekindle.
They wanted to go with them, but heeded her words that they would only slow down the rescuers.
The grandmother was a well fed woman and her husband was still fit for
a man in his early sixties. The couple
kept thanking
the three
women
f
or coming and
kept
offering
s
omething to eat.
Jillian and the others
politely declined because
they
didn’t feel like eating while
their
mates were
out
being heroic.

The house was
constantly
full of people who either wanted to help
search
or were reporters
looking for a big scoop. When the three immortal women
were away from the
overwhelmed
grandparents the press wanted to interview the
m
. Luckily the man
,
Jim
,
who i
s also a reporter, kept the news hounds away
before Kara blew her top
.
Jim
seemed very kind and respectable of
Sarah’s
husband. He explained how he took Connor’s class and kept his children entertained throughout their outdoors experience. He seemed like a good human friend.

Sarah, Jillian and
Kara were pretending to be quietly and absentmindedly sitting on the steps. Jim sat with
them
, but he wasn’t pretending like
they
were
, he was genuinely being quiet and patient
. The rain had past only
few hours ago and was replaced by the darkness of night. The thing was, the
inside and outside of the property
was brightly lit because someone brought portable
floodlights.

Sarah
made
her expression
become a
bored
mask, but inside
she
was getting excited
when she focused on her bond easing as he came closer
.
She
could feel how close Connor
approached
and it wasn’t too far.

Suddenly
the radio at her
hip click
ed
and hissed
. “
Sarah
, are you there?” There was complete
silence from everyone around them
at the sound of his call.
It was Mark’s voice on the radio.
She wasn’t expecting him to be the one to talk.

She
fumbled with the
receiver
at
her
hip until
she
unhooked it from
the
belt.
Sarah
clicked the button to call back. “I’m here
, Mark
!
”

“Maggie is safe and unharmed.” At that
,
everyone started celebrating. “But we will need
to have
an ambulance
ready
and the EMT’s on standby
.” Everyone went quiet again.
What could have happened? Did little Maggie get hurt?
“Deputy Burrow’s had an accident and he most likely has a concussion
… Strike that he does because he’s seeing double.
”

“Where are you at?” she
asked.

“My buddy’s
running with a full grown man
in his arms
, so maybe
…
ten minutes away. We’ll be coming in from the north side
of the property
.” Mark
cut
the
transmission
on the radio
just as Connor entered
Sarah’s
mind.
“Something else has also happened, but I’ll tell you all at the same time
,
on the way home.
”

She
stood up and ordered someone to fetch the E.M.T. and get
them
ready.
E
veryone
began
scrambling
to the north side of the clearing
. Some had flashlights and they turned it all towards the tree line.

Maggie’s grandparents
were right there,
staring at
Sarah and the others
with hopeful expressions
. The grandfather
quickly
spoke up. “Is it true? They found my granddaughter?
Maggie’s safe? Truly?
”

With pride Sarah
said “My husband said he would find her and he did. Stick
close to
us
and she’ll be here before you know it
.”
Jillian
and Kara flanked
her
sides while the little girl’s grandparents followed
close
ly
behind.

They
made it to the edge of the trees
without any problems
and Sarah
looked to
her
right and saw a pair of emergency person
n
el with a
stretcher
,
rolling
toward the gathering crowd
in the wet grass.
A
pair of fire rescue men
were also at the ready
as well
because they had their
large
medical
bags resting on their shoulders
.
Sarah
looked back to the shadows of the forest and
her heart
took off
racing because she
could feel Connor closing the distance
and quickly
.

Seven minutes later the crowd
became
silent and listen
ed
for anything
that could tell where they were
. Kara
quietly
whispered in
Sarah’s
ea
r “There close. I can hear them and I can also smell
sweat and
blood
on the breeze
.
”

Then a few seconds later Sarah
could hear heavy footfalls running t
hrough the forest.
Brush and twigs snapped loudly.
Her
heart leapt at seeing them coming out of the shadows. In the lead
rushed
Mark. He wore only his leather pants and had a blade through his belt that glistened off the lights
pointed in their direction
.
In his hand
clutched
the radio
.
Next came
Jack
wearing a red shirt and blue jeans along with hiking boots. He also had a machete at his hip.
L
ittle
spindly
arms
wrapped
across his neck and
she
knew Maggie
clung to
his back.

Then o
ut of the shadows came her
Knight. He had on his black sleeveless shirt and his hiking boots that were caked in mud. In his massive arms was Deputy Burrow. His
dark
eyes were open, but he
looked to be
in a daze.
The man
was filthy and covered in
his own
blood.

The crowd
started
frantically scrambling towards them. They stopped under Connor
’
s
focused
glare as he didn’t stop running.
The group knew to either clear a path or get trampled by
the hulking tracker
.
He looked
around
and saw the st
retcher and ran directly at the rescue team
. As he easily placed the deputy down he said loud enough for the crowd to hear. “On the way back, he
was walking backwards while talking to Maggie and
tr
ipped on a root and fell
backwards
;
hit
ting
his skull
rather hard
. That was over an hour ago. He
’s see
n double
since
and I
believe that
he might have a serious concussion.
He had the will to stay conscious the whole time so I don’t believe blood is pooling in his brain.
Go now
,
just incase I’m wrong
!” The E.M.T’s obeyed his order
without any other questions
and hurriedly put the man in the ambulance
before driving off
.