64
Ro
Shouting from the ring had grown rampant, reaching all the way down here to the furthest end of the camp. The Eleven conversed briefly before exiting their tent. My skin became cold and clammy over what I’d just heard.
Not wanting to accept the sinister reality I’d just been shown, my brain racked itself, trying to think of ways to stop them. I didn’t like what came to mind, and desperately searched for another solution.
I found nothing.
My soul deflated, hope dwindling down to measly embers. It took Braxius shouting from the crowded woods behind to pull me from my drowning thoughts.
“Dae,” I whispered, remembering that I was supposed to meet him.
Because Tio was in danger.
I took off within an instant, darting through the camp. Members ran in a frenzy, shouting about escaped prisoners, paying no attention to me as I sprinted past.
My mind was a dizzying array of thoughts and possibilities, fogging my memory of the camp’s geography. Dae had described how to find the tent that held Tio and Melody, and I recited his instructions with each pounding step. Braxius stuck to the perimeter of the camp, and I was grateful one of us already made it out. We would meet up west of here, where we’d hug the mountain range as we headed south.
The congested crowd blocked the clear route I needed to take. I dodged and pushed past those who got in my way, skidding to a halt when the uproar around the fighting ring suddenly ceased in a deafening way.
The crowd had fallen so quiet I could hear the crackle of a nearby torch. Only through small gaps could I see The Eleven gathered together. The ring, formerly marked by etchings in the dirt, was now marked by fallen bodies. Bodies that had become obsidian husks.
“We expect order!” one of The Eleven shouted.
I silently crept backwards. Years of stealth paid off when I slipped past the last of the corralled audience. Recognizing my surroundings, I didn’t falter as I continued.
I nearly wept with relief when I saw the fallen guards outside Tio’s tent. Dae had already been here.
“Ro!”
That sexy, over-achieving man got started on all the fun without me. I searched for him, but he wasn’t anywhere near. Until he appeared from out of nowhere. Only several yards away, he ran to me. I blinked rapidly, wondering if I’d started losing my sanity.
“This way! Run!” He didn’t stop coming toward me, even while beckoning me to move.
He must have already rescued Tio and Melody, because this man would never let me leave them behind. So I ran, fueled by my trust for him. When we reached each other, he took myhand with a grip that declared he’d never let me go. We hurried toward the front gate.
“Kasia!” he called.
A moment later, the admin woman appeared from thin air just as he had, with Melody and Tio unconscious around her. Dae dropped, scooping Tio’s body and tossing him over his shoulder. I wedged myself under Melody’s other arm, helping Kasia carry her.
I bit down my reservations as we ran toward the front where several guards would be stationed along the entrance. We were going to have to fight our way out, but with two unconscious people to carry, my ability to fight was compromised.
“Are y—”
Kasia shushed me with violent reprimand before I could question it. Our pace slowed. Dae didn’t look concerned, so I merely followed their lead. The two guards from earlier stood alert, eyes and ears honed on the commotion from inside. No one had come to inform them of what was happening.
Physically supporting Melody like this meant I had no access to my bow and arrows. We edged closer. How had the guards not spotted us yet? I tried my best to look calm, like Dae and I had done upon entry, but this was clearly a different scenario. How would we explain taking two unconscious, unrecognizable people from camp into the woods at night?
My palms became slick, my throat dry with every inch we gained. That was all we moved. Literal inches at a time. Were these guards only able to detect big movements? Because why in the gods names had they not stopped us? One even glanced in our direction for a sliver of a moment, but didn’t acknowledge our presence at all.
My heartbeat was louder than anything in the forest, a daunting drum that beckoned inescapable death. In a flurry of panic, I dropped from Melody’s side, twisting to wrench free anarrow. It was nocked and fired before the second guard noticed. By the time he glared at me, finally aware of my presence, my arrow speared his chest.
“What the fuck was that for?” Kasia criticized in a whisper.
I looked toward her, but saw…no one. Not her, not Melody, nor Dae or Tio.
“What the hell is happening!” I whisper-shouted into the night. Dae appeared, striding toward me. “How do you keep doing that?!”
