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Chapter Twenty-Seven: Into the Woods

"How long have we been following this stupid road?"

Bree looked at me with exasperation. "I don't know! We probably passed the woods or something."

It had been several hours since we left the Veiled. The sky was starting to lighten and our surroundings were bathed in a soft, warm, yellow glow. It wouldn't be too long before they discovered that we were missing.

I wondered what Jai would think. Would he be upset that we escaped? And how would Greg react? I honestly hoped I would never find out. Finding out meant that I would see them again and the last person I wanted to see was him. The guy already haunted my nightmares.

"You think we should go back a little then?"

Bree gazed out over the large road we were standing next to. We were surrounded by the open countryside. There was no sign of woods for miles. She sighed. "Come on, let's try and go back a few miles."

"Stupid Hailey. Why couldn't she have given us a map or something?"

"I think she had done enough considering she's our enemy but you're right. A map would've been helpful."

After maybe an hour of walking, we stopped to rest. I looked around at our surroundings this time. There was still more open land. I squinted into the distance, trying to find some sign of a forest. And then I saw it. A dark patch of green just in the horizon. "Bree!" I said jumping excitedly. "Look!"

Bree looked in the direction I was pointing and smiled so wide I thought her face would split into half. "Oh thank God. It's about time we get home."

We only had to walk for about a half an hour before we ended up across the forest.

"You really think the camp's somewhere in there?" I gazed up at the tall oaks that made up the front line of the beginning of the forest.

Bree shrugged. "According to Hailey, yeah."

We both headed into the trees, Bree in the lead. There was something soothing and calming about the woods. But at the same time, I kept my guard up. I just had this feeling that we would be caught at any moment. I bet by now they found out that we escaped. Although I hated her, I couldn't help but hope that Hailey wouldn't be in too much trouble. All she wanted was to be with Greg . . . and to destroy all of us but if you put that aside, she was a pretty decent person.

Bree clutched her stomach after some time. "I'm starving."

I heard my own stomach growling and groaned. "I know. Me too. Where do you think we could find food?"

Bree shrugged. "We could hunt down a deer or something."

I made a face. "That doesn't sound too good to me. How about we find some berries or something else instead."

Bree rolled her eyes. "Fine be that way." We walked for some more time in silence. "I wish they had unlocked my powers before we escaped. I could've just sped us home."

"I know. How do you think we're going to fix that? We need your powers to fulfill the prophecy and all that stuff."

Bree shrugged. "We're going to have to ask former Veiled members when we get back." She glanced at me. "Let's just take it one step at a time, Kaya. First step is to get home."

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Suddenly Bree yanked my arm and pulled us into a nearby shrub. "What the heck?"

Bree put a finger to her lips. "Listen," she whispered. So I did. And what I heard terrified me.

"They should be somewhere around here. It's only mid-day and the girl's powers are locked. They couldn't have gone too far." It was a man's voice.

"But how do you even know if they're here. They could be out in the countryside somewhere." A woman's voice.