“You ready for a run?” Ryder asked Fluffy. He chuffed at Ryder and sprinted ahead. “Cheater!” she called after him.
Ryder loosened the reins and nudged Black Beauty to make him go faster, and she was soon galloping beside the wolf. The wind whizzed past Ryder’s face as she picked up speed. Her heart raced with every stride.
She was free!
The ride was her best, and her last ride ever. Ryder wanted to keep on riding, but she was concerned that if she rode too far, she might get to another area where there were people.
Ryder hopped off the horse and went to tie the reins to a tree, then stopped herself. The horse could be free as well.
She sat down on the grass and rested against a rock. Fluffy sat beside Ryder and placed his head on her lap. Ryder stroked Fluffy’s fur. “Thank you, Leandro.” She looked into his eyes. “I wish you could turn back to Leandro. I’d like to see you and hear your voice just one more time.”
Ryder knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Actually, don’t bother. You can keep me warm instead.” Ryder closed her eyes, wondering if she’d be Mad when she woke up.
Ryder pulled up her pant leg, and there were still teeth marks from the bite. She pulled her pant leg down to cover it with shaking hands. The adrenaline had left her body. Ryder was drained.
She let the tiredness of the day and the joy of saving her friends comfort her. Fluffy curled up beside her and they fell asleep.
Leandro watched Ryder through the night. He could see her eyes moving under her eyelids as she dreamed. He wondered what she was dreaming about, and hoped it was him. Leandro wished he’d had the confidence to tell her how he felt, or at least asked her for a date. Leandro laughed at that. He hadn’t asked anyone out for a date for a year; not since he was at school, and even then he had been shy. He was the kid who liked to hide in the shadows to pretend he was invisible, and now he was.
He knew that by morning Ryder would turn into a Mad, so he drank in every element of her while she was still Ryder. Her skin was still silky smooth, with full lips he’d never kissed. He laughed inside at the thought of kissing her now with his wet snout. Ryder’s cheekbones were perfectly defined, and her eyelashes were longer than the hair on her head, which had grown a little over the last few days.
He thought she was beautiful, but then he’d thought that from the first moment he saw her.
It wasn’t only Ryder’s beauty that had cast a spell over Leandro. It was…well, Ryder and her heart. She had been prepared to go back and save her friends at any cost. She would die for them. There lay the irony in it all. She had given her life for them to be free.
Live free or die, Ryder had once told Leandro,
How true those words were for Ryder.
Leandro laid back down next to Ryder, and her arm wrapped around his furry body once again. The fear of what morning would bring was hidden behind the peaceful comfort of each other’s sleeping breath.
A gentle breeze danced over Ryder’s skin, and she woke with a start. Her body ached from the battles of yesterday—and the day before and the day before that—but she still felt like Ryder.
What the fuck? Murray had told her his son had turned a few hours later. It had been more than that—a lot more. The sun was at its highest point, which told her it was the middle of the next day. Ryder looked at her bite. It had gone to the bone, and still had dried blood around it. She had been bitten by a Mad, but wasn’t Mad. How?
Ryder's throat was as dry as a cactus. Ha, dry as a cactus. She grinned, thinking about the jokes she’d made with Massimo about his cactus.
Leandro looked at Ryder. He was as confused as she was.
“Massimo’s blood worked!” she screamed out loud. “I’m immune to the Madness!” Ryder actually leaped for joy. “I’m immune to the Madness!” Ryder yelled again. There was no one around to hear her happiness, so she ran over to Leandro and hugged him tightly, then paused. “Or is it just stalled? Like, the reaction takes more time for me?” Ryder played around with the idea. It was too early for her to make a decision. The one thing she knew was that she couldn’t put anyone at risk. Ryder leaned back against the rock. Maybe she would be able to go back to Pinewood.
That thought warmed Ryder. She’d be able to see all of her friends again. She hoped Carter would be wearing Tightwad’s colorful fairy-farted-on sweater, and that Massimo would be singing his favorite ABBA song at the top of his voice.
Ryder thought about the look on Carter’s and Natalie’s faces when they were reunited. Ryder could have that as well.
If the Madness hadn’t taken her, she could go home.
FINIS
THE LINE UNBROKEN
How was the Madness cured? Join Sarah Jennifer Walton in The Line Unbroken and discover how the pieces of the puzzle fit together as she takes her first steps on the path to the Birth of Magic.
Available now at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.
Author’s Notes - Hayley Lawson
August 13, 2018
Hayley here. Thank you for reading Escaping Madness, and also my Author Notes!
Escaping Madness is all about family and laughter. My last week has been filled with the same thing, since we were on vacation.
It’s been a long time since my family and I got to just chill out and enjoy each other’s time. We all have very full schedules, and because
