31. Deacon

Getting Amira out of there was my first priority. She hadn't seen what happened, I was able to stop that, but she will never unhear what happened.

Her tears soak the front of my shirt as I move to leave. The map on her back indicates that we exit here, and then we must do nearly half a circle clockwise before turning left. We can look again once we get there, but we need to get as far away from that team as possible.

My eyes meet Finn's, and I jerk my chin at Marcus. He needs to snap him out of the trance he seems to be in, but it's clear he's going to try to be the hero.

Marcus doesn't know the things I do about Saint and his history. What he just did is child's play compared to the rumors that have been floating around for years. I can only hope most of them are exaggerated, but deep down, I know they aren't. Saint's a psychopath. One who enjoys every minute of the darkness he lives in, and Marcus is too much the white knight to let this pass.

Turning my attention from my team, I focus on reaching the opening without adding to the noise happening on the platform. From our position, we are mostly at their backs, so unless they turn around, we should be able to evade them.

Just as I think that Veronica turns, almost fully facing us, and throws up onto the base of the stairs.

I freeze mid-step; knowing movement might draw her attention.

When she finishes, Kent stands back up and turns to face the platform, not moving to pick up the woman"s tattoo but not noticing our presence either.

My feet take off again, and I do my best to avoid any of the more dried leaves as I make it into the opening for the exit and begin jogging until I hit the first decision point.

Once there, I set Amira down, leaning her against a tree trunk to support her weight. Shifting my ears, I listen, hoping to hear movement from my team, but the crying from the women overpowers everything else. We are only about a quarter mile away from the center of the clearing, so I set myself up in a position to defend Amira should someone else come up this path before my team.

After a few minutes, Finn's silhouette can be seen trotting up the corridor, Marcus just behind. I let out a sigh, relieved to see they both were able to sneak away. When they reach me, I see the war Marcus is fighting with himself, and I hate that we gave him this guilt.

"There was nothing you could've done," I say, keeping my voice low so it doesn't carry.

"I could've killed him. I could've carved the skin from his bones so he knew what that felt like. I could've avenged them," Marcus says, his voice getting louder as he goes.

"You still can, but not today. Doing it today would have only gotten you killed in the process. It would've been two against three, at best, because one of us would've had to secure Amira. You're strong, but not ‘defeat two Alphas on your own' strong. And knowing them, they would've shifted, which would lose us Amira anyway. Walking away was your best option. Walking away saves her life." I plead with him, putting every bit of confidence behind my tone.

He needs to know it was the only way.

"Guys, we don't have time for this. We need to keep moving. They will be headed this way, and we need to get ahead of them. They can shift. We can't. We need to move." Finn interrupts before moving toward Amira.

"We don't need to look right now. I know the next few instructions," I say before turning back to Marcus. "Let's get her out of here."

Jaw still clenched, he nods and moves to pick her small frame up. Tears no longer fall from her eyes, but her body still shakes with her emotion. She curls herself into his chest, and in that moment, she looks much younger than she is.

We can save her.

I tell myself this, knowing how difficult it will be with Team East on our heels. We will need The Fates on our side to pull this off.

Finn takes point, heading in the direction I indicate. Marcus falls in line behind him, carrying Amira, and I take the third spot, watching our six.

Several hours later, we stop briefly to rest and eat. Darkness has fallen, and our movement has slowed considerably. Marcus coerces Amira to eat something even though she wants nothing to do with food, and Finn and I strategize over the best way to stay ahead of the other team.

"They have speed on their side," Finn admits, shaking his head as he continues, "I don't know how we can avoid an altercation."

"If we want to win," I say, not elaborating for a minute. "We could easily take a wrong turn, camp for the night, and allow them to get ahead of us. Then, their speed is of no consequence to us because they will be headed for the finish line, and the teams behind them have no map, so they will be wandering the maze, hoping they can complete the trial with no map to guide them. It would guarantee us second, but it would save her life." I conclude, my eyes glancing to Amira, who is staring off into the trees barely registering our conversation.

"You want to let Conner win?" Finn asks incredulously. His face gives away his disdain for the idea.

"I don't think we have a choice. If they catch us, it will be a fight, one I believe we can win, but at what cost? Even if we defeat all three, without any of us going down, which is unlikely, we'd have to be sure no one shifts, or it"s all for nothing, and we have to kill Amira." My eyes move back to her still frame.

She's been through enough.

"We aren't letting him win a fucking thing," Marcus growls out, pulling both of our attentions.

"How exactly would you like to prevent it?" I ask, knowing I've run every scenario, and if we are exceedingly lucky, we have thirty minutes on them.

"We don't stop. We don't camp. We go all night. Straight to the finish," he says, his face completely serious.

Taking in his resolve I ponder it for a moment.

Could we do 24 hours straight? Would we move fast enough to stay ahead?

Only one way to find out.

"I need to see the map," I say finally, making a decision but waiting until I can find a way for it to work.

Without waiting, I move to Amira and get her attention.

"I need to examine the map again. I apologize, but this is important." When I finish the statement, she nods and turns to allow room behind her. Carefully, my hands slide the fabric up her healing skin, slowly revealing its images.

After finding our location, my finger floats above her and traces the line we need to follow. It has us weaving through several more winding turns, almost zig-zagging back and forth before we do a full U-turn to reach the finish area.

What a way to waste our fucking time.

It must have taken the growers weeks to get this to work. Why those green-eyed vamps, or honestly, any of five varieties, were willing to work with us on anything still baffled me, but this maze is complicated.

At several places along the route, there are options we could take. Go right, and you can shorten your trek, but you have to cross a river.

Been there did that, not with Captain ‘I can't swim' over there.

Or go left and work the long way around to get to the same place by crossing a pre-existing bridge.

I take my time going over our options while both Finn and Marcus stand silently waiting.

"I think we can manage it, but it's going to mean we have to climb down those cliffs you mentioned before this event," I say, looking at Marcus.

"But we're out of rope. It's nearly pitch black out here," Finn says before adding, " and we have Amira."

"It's the only way. Any other route, and they will catch us. This is the only route where they have no advantage with their wolves," I counter and leave the decision to them. Returning Amira"s sweatshirt to its place, I stand, preparing to leave.

"We need to leave now. We've wasted enough time already." With that, I turn and begin walking in the direction we need to go.

Please let this work.

I hear Marcus say something to Amira before he and Finn both fall in line behind me, and we begin the path to the finish line.