My head was throbbing like a bitch, and so was my arm for that matter, as I bolted toward the thick, tangled vines up ahead. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. I didn’t have the safety net of weapons or even sight, as I ran headfirst into the black void that seemed my only option.
The debris crunched under my feet as I pushed through the thick leaves and branches, trying my hardest not to imagine all of the creepy-crawlies that came out at night. There were bats and, I knew firsthand, leeches, and Shep had mentioned monkeys and…fuck, jaguars.
Had he been serious? I wasn’t sure. But with blood plastered all over my face and who knew where else, I was sure I was as inviting to them right now as a royal banquet dinner would be to me.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.
The last thing I needed to do was worry about all the things that might want to kill meinthe jungle as I ran from the asshole who would no doubt kill me once he took meoutof the jungle.
Why was this happening? I still had no idea. But for some reason I’d been put on some sort of hit list. A hit list put together by the man on the phone. That was who was behind this. The man who’d made last-minute changes to the plan.
Mott…
“That’s not where you told me. Yeah, yeah, okay, so Mott. Got it.”
I kept that on repeat as the only piece of actual information that was useful. It meant something, it had to, and I’d be damned if I died before working out what.
That thought gave me the extra boost of adrenaline I needed to keep going, but as I veered off to the right, my foot snagged on a vine and I pitched forward. I landed with a resounding thud and cursed as pain splintered through what felt like my entire body.
It ricocheted up my arm, and that was when I realized there was a whole lot more going on there than just the cuts from the handcuffs. I rolled to my back and pulled up my sleeve, and saw the deep cut up my arm. I’d been so preoccupied by my fucked-up situation that I hadn’t noticed it before. My capture and the marching band inside my head had taken precedence over everything else.
But as I pulled up my sleeve and got a good look at the mess on my arm, I knew exactly what that fuckwad had done—he’d cut out my tracker.
Putain.Now I was really fucked. I’d thought by getting away and heading out here to the jungle, Shep would at least be able to track me. But as I stared at the jagged scar up my forearm, a red haze of fury clouded my vision.
It was one thing formeto remove my tracker, but a whole other kind of violation that this piece of shit had done it. That he’d evenknownto do it was also a new piece of information I filed away. One that pissed me off with every second I lay there on the ground.
Get up,I told myself as I stared up at the canopy above.Get up, get moving, and get the fuck out of here.But as I moved to sit up, the jungle started to spin.
I clutched at my head, willing it to slow, as I struggled to get back on my feet and stay upright. The lack of food and loss of blood now overpowered the initial surge of adrenaline that had fueled me.
I blinked, trying to get some sort of idea of where to go next, what direction to head in, but it was no use. Every choice looked as formidable as the next. A black void of nothingness, filled with predators of all kinds. Usually I’d be excited by that idea; I would revel in the hunt. But the odds were against me, and that meant I needed to come up with a better plan, because my body wasn’t going to let me run much farther.
The sound of a gun cocking behind me had me going dead still.
“They said you weren’t the smartest of your little group,” the merc said, his voice a little slurred before he spat on the ground beside me. “They were right about that.”
I didn’t hesitate, swinging my arm around to knock the gun from his grip and sending it flying. He must’ve pulled the trigger as it left his hand, though, because the sound of a gunshot echoed through the night air, sending up a flurry of birds or bats or whatever the fuck up out of the trees. I didn’t wait around to see if I’d gotten hit before turning and slamming into his torso, knocking him back a few feet as I took him by surprise.
Merde, even with my adrenaline pumping, it was harder than it should be to tackle him. Normally he’d be on the ground already and I’d be making that ugly mug my punching bag.
But he stayed on his feet, which instantly put me at a disadvantage when he didn’t go down. He tried to wrap his arms around me, but I dug my boots into the mud, hoping that would make it impossible for him to lift me.
Balling my fist, I reached back with all my strength and pounded into his side, one after another, unrelenting. He groaned with each hit, trying to push me off him, but I was like a dog with a bone. I wasn’t stopping. He could’ve just let me go, but now it was going to come down to one of us leaving this place alive. I didn’t like my odds, but I’d never go down without giving him every piece of rage I had inside me.
If I could get my hands on the other gun he had strapped to him, I had a chance. I didn’t know where the hell the one that went flying went, and I didn’t have time to look, so with every strike of my fist into him I lowered my hold on him with my other arm, feeling around for the gun.
Or a knife. Anything, really, to give me an advantage.
But suddenly my head flew back as the merc’s knee connected with my chin so hard I swore I could feel my brain rattling in my head. I fully expected to hit the ground, but when I didn’t, I realized it was only because he gripped my shirt tight in his fist, holding me off balance.
He sneered down at me with pure loathing, and then his fist connected with my jaw so hard Ididhit the ground.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t see. All I felt was pain, and it wasn’t just physical. Because if I stayed down, I’d never see Shep again, and that was more devastating than the realization that my body was failing me right now.
Putain—Shep. He’d blame himself. Even though none of this was his fault.
I just wished we hadn’t wasted time fighting our feelings instead of acting on them. We hadn’t gotten enough time.
