Free Redemption by Denise Grover Swank Page A

full of terror. “Then what are we going to do, Will?”
    He didn’t have a clue, but he suspected that was the last thing she wanted to hear. He also knew that while she was afraid for herself and for him, her real horror was over what would happen to Jake. “First we’re going get dressed and eat something. We’ll practice this morning then head somewhere else this afternoon. Now that the others know how important the book is, they’ll all come after it. Once we practice and get to a new place, we’re going to scour that thing front to back until we figure a way out of this.” Will ran a hand through his hair. “It’s going to be tricky to practice unless we can figure out a way to mask our power while we’re using it. Otherwise, we’ll be a beacon, practically inviting them all to find us. So we’ll do what we did when you were training before we joined. We’ll drive somewhere and sleep then practice and leave.”
    She nodded. “Will, the voice said only two would survive.”
    “I don’t give a fuck what some voice in a dream said.” He pulled her to his chest, thankful she didn’t pull away this time. “I won’t let anything happen to you or Jake. I’ll make sure you two survive.”
    She looked up at him, biting her lip. “What about you, Will? Do you think I’ll just let you die?”
    “We’ll find something in the book. It will all work out. Now let’s get dressed and get started.”
    She refused to meet his gaze, confirming that she didn’t believe him, but she accepted his answer instead of arguing.
    A month ago, the fact that he and Emma had shared the same dream would have freaked him out. Now a shared dream was the least disturbing aspect of their situation. All of the players had been present, so they must have all had the same dream.
    What bothered Will the most was Jake’s position. He was in the center, between the two groups. Did that mean he was the one that was overcome by that which had no price ? Was Jake the key player in this game? And what the hell did overcome by that which had no price mean? Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.
    There had to be some significance to their placement in the circles, but damned if he knew what it meant. And who was the voice? He wished he knew if it was a good or bad thing that Aiden was no longer in charge. Did that give Marcus the upper hand? Or was someone else—something else—in control?
    Will’s immediate impulse was to read the book again to find out what they could. But if the others were going to come looking for the book, defense seemed the first, most prudent order of business. The more familiar Will was with his new power and working with Emma, the better off they would be.
    Emma was the biggest challenge at this point. He had to figure out a way to make her more confident with her power. Right now, she was unpredictable and, although he’d never tell her, that made her dangerous.
    A half an hour later, they walked down to the beach. Will chose this section of the coast because it had always been fairly deserted when he was a kid. Of course, things changed, but the inlet cove was still uninhabited.
    Emma walked to the water with one hand on her hip, the other shielding her eyes from the rising sun. She’d calmed down after her initial shock, although she’d only taken a few bites of breakfast, saying her stomach couldn’t handle it.
    “Do you have any ideas what you want to try first?” Her hair was in a ponytail, but the wind whipped stray hairs into her face. She batted away the strands, a losing battle. “I think you should practice using water. I’ll practice with fire and later when you’ve gotten used to your power, we can try to combine them.”
    He gave her a cocky smile. “I thought I was in charge of training.”
    She lifted her eyebrows, shifting her weight to the side.
    Thank God her fight was back. “I oversaw your training and we’re getting ready to fight for our lives, Emma. I was trained half my