I wonder if I can take advantage of the situation to save Damien. For the moment, my mind draws a blank. But I keep my ears sharp, hanging onto their words, my eyes following every movement.
“Okay, okay,” mutters Aaron, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “This isn’t a complaint, though. It’s a question.”
There’s a pause, and then Gabriel spits, “Shoot, or I will.”
“I’m just… I’m just wondering… I don’t think Damien should be taking so long. If he actually cares about the girl as much as you say he does, he would be on her track in a minute. He would find us. What if… what if he waited for backup? What if one of the other guys is with him? Logan, maybe?”
My heartbeat picks up. It’s strange to remember how I once dreaded Logan. Now, hearing his name gives me hope. If Damien and Logan come for me together, then maybe…
Maybe he won’t die after all.
But Gabriel snorts. “Impossible. Damien’s not the only one who likes tracking people. I’ve set out a few trackers of my own.Logan is safe and sound at Devil Tower, along with the others.”
My heart sinks in my stomach. So Damien will be alone. He’ll walk into the trap after all.
“He’s waiting for nightfall,” comments Gabriel, more to himself than Aaron. “The minute the moon is hidden in those trees, overhead, is the minute he’ll make his move. About time to get in position.”
He stands up slowly from the bed and walks over leisurely to the door. He stands behind it, gripping his gun in one hand, a smirk at his lips that says he has no doubt his plan will succeed.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” breathes Gabriel in a sing-song voice. He keeps his eyes on the moon in the sky, casting its faint, golden light in the room.
Meanwhile, Aaron walks around me, pressing his gun to my face.
“If she makes any move, any sign she’s trying something, you shoot,” orders Gabriel. “Don’t even hesitate.”
“Boss, you know me,” grins Aaron. “She’s as good as dead.”
“But not yet,” warns Gabriel.
“Sure, boss. Not yet.”
I’m far too worried about Damien to think about my own fate. I arch my entire body, as much as the ropes will allow, straining my eye, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Gabriel seems to expect him to be coming now. And Gabriel doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who’s usually wrong.
Suddenly, I hear the lightest crunch of a leaf outside the front door. Gabriel grows stiff, his finger firmly on the trigger, preparing to shoot. Aaron’s gun presses tighter to my temple.
“Be careful, Damien! It’s a trap!” I scream.
Aaron freezes. “What should I do, boss? Should I kill her?”
“Shut the fuck up!” hisses Gabriel.
But a moment later, all three of us forget everything but the front door that’s just banged open. I might have believed it wasthe howling wind that had gotten the best of the ramshackle door if it wasn’t for the shadowy figure standing right there.
I let out a strangled cry. Gabriel jumps out, lifts his weapon, and shoots, one, two, three times. He doesn’t stop until his cartridge is exhausted. My cry turns into crazed screams when I see the silhouette riddled with bullets. Fear and horror seep deep into my bones as I try to wrap my head around the loss of the man I love more than life itself.
Gabriel was lying. He never intended a slow death. Or maybe he did, and chickened out at the last minute. Clearly, he’s terrified of Damien.
He edges closer to the fallen figure, nudges him around, and lets out a gasp.
I strain my neck, trying to understand what he’s seeing, but his looming body blocks it. Why would he be gasping at a cadaver? He must have seen many of them before.
A second later, he whirls around at the sound of another gunshot. This time it comes from behind me. I let out another cry, more surprised than horrified, wondering if Aaron has killed me after all. But I can’t feel any pain. And I’m still breathing.
Gabriel is staring at something behind me, his face contorted in fear. And one moment later, there’s a loud thump as a body crashes down beside me. I stare down at it and nearly sob in relief when I see the cavernous, lifeless eyes of Aaron staring back up at me.
Then I train my eyes again toward the door and see that the figure Gabriel had shot at was a coat, hanging over a sapling that must have been balanced against the large rock right outside. Now, both the coat and the sapling are on the ground, riddled with bullets.
It was a trick. Damien’s still alive.
