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He grunted as I slaston had taken flight and was busy lighting the newcomers on fire

“Stakes! We need stakes!”

Jayce’s voice was panicked, and it was distracting His ely it was al else I shoved ed atit at his gut He caught it and shoved it back at me with an animalistic snarl

“Kai!” I screaotten for the moment “Look at ht now”

He ripped the branch out of ain He’d souys, and as I dodged hiain he pushed me deeper into the woods

Fear flickered through me at the realization I was on my own, isolated out here with no backup But it was also easier to focus withoutin my mind

Refocusing, I reached down intoon my power

Persuasion There it is “Kai, you want to be nice to me”

Whatever the feralto my words at all, he snarled and swiped at me I jumped backward, and as I landed, my heel slipped over the lip of a sharp decline I pinwheeled ht forward, but it was too late I crashed down the hill, s the gnarled trunks ofdown afterdown the hill as easily as if it were flat ground

I rolled to a stop onfro, I tried to scra round

My battered face reflected back atfrom a thousand tiny cuts He lowered his head and sniffedfrom my cheek It would have been hot if I hadn’t known that he just wanted to eat me for lunch, and not in the fun way

Godda to kill me And he won’t even realize it’s me

I didn’t knohat possessed me to do it, but as he moved his head toward my other cheek, I turned my face and kissed him

It was nothing big Just a quick peck on histo claiuished, to remind myself of our bond while I still could

But in the ed