The Axeman lets out another heartless laugh as he heads back into the darkness of the forest, disappearing.
“Sammy!” Kristi screams, skidding to a stop next to him with the bat raised over her head. It falls to the ground with a hollow thud. She looks from Sammy’s dead body, then back to me, her eyes glistening with bothunbelievable sadness and unrelenting rage. Her hands wrap around the handle of the axe, and she yanks it savagely out of Sammy’s body before turning and stalking right toward me.
I crawl back on my hands, trying to put as much distance as I can between us. My hand hits Lee’s unconscious form, making him stir slightly. “Kristi, wait. You don’t need to do this!” I plead, raising my hands.
Kristi sneers and lifts the axe high above her head. “This is for Sammy!”
The axe seems to come down in slow motion. Before I can scream, it falls to the ground at my feet. I look up and see an arrow plunged into Kristi’s chest, blood bubbling out of her mouth as she grips the air. She falls to the earth with a deafening thud. Her eyes stay open as she stares into mine, gasping for that last breath she can’t get a hold of.
My entire body convulses. I turn and puke. Tears stream down my cheeks and mix with vomit.
How did this happen?
A hand touches my shoulder. I flinch, grasping for the knife strapped to my thigh.
“Easy, easy, Lex,” Lee says with a grimace. “It’s just me.”
I look into his impossibly kind eyes, waiting for the judgment and hateful remarks to finally land. But they don’t. Instead, Lee wraps me in a warm embrace and holds me as I fall apart.
“Is our lady okay?” Lochlan shouts from the tree-line a few yards away. Lee and I look over, and I see that Lochlan has the crossbow pointed in our direction.
He just killed Kristi…to save me.
The realization sends me into another fit of tears as I nod and wave him over. I don’t think my legs will cooperate right now, but I know we need to get back to the bunker and regroup. Replan.
I look over at Sammy and Kristi. Clearly, this plan failed in the most devastating and catastrophic of ways. I collapse into Lee’s arms again as the weight of our loss threatens to bury me.
A choking noise I’ve never heard before startles me when I realize Lochlan is screaming. The Axeman has the handle of the axe under Lochlan’s throat, tugging him toward the forest.
He must have grabbed the axe Lee dropped.
“COME AND GET ME, LEX!” the Axeman teases.
Lee and I jump up just as we watch Lochlan get pulled into the forest by the Axeman, his arms flailing as he fights against him.
“We have to save him!” I shout, racing toward the forest. There’s a strangled gasp behind me. Lee falls to his knees, clutching his ribs.
He throws his hand out as I reach his side. “No! Go after Lochlan! I’ll catch up when I can. I just need a minute.” His voice is strained as he takes short, stuttered breaths. “I think that asshole broke my ribs.”
I kneel and wrap my arm under his and pull him to his feet as quickly as I can. He grunts in pain, but Lee also knows time is of the essence, and we have none to waste when we have to save Lochlan. “In no world would I leave you behind, Lee. We finish this together, or we don’t finish it at all.”
He stares down at me, grimacing, but nods in agreement. “Let’s go save Lochy.”
Chapter twenty-five
We can’t be far behind Lochlan and the Axeman, but dragging Lee’s practically limp body alongside mine is proving to be much more difficult than I initially expected. We’re making almost zero progress in chasing them down. The longer it takes for us to reach them, the worse Lochlan’s chances are.
I need to go faster.
“Dude, how are you this heavy!” I grunt out, stopping again to readjust my arm under his arm. “You don’t look like someone who should weigh this much. No offense. You’re just sort of on the slimmer side. Or so I thought.”
“Shut up, Lexi.” Lee winces before dropping to his knees with a painful moan. “Just leave me. You have to. This isn’t about your lack of woman muscles.” I start to protest, but he stops with a wave of his hand. “Trust me, I’ve seen you throw drunk men off you and the girls plenty over the last few years. But even on the slimmer side of things, I’m dead weight. We both know he’s going to kill Lochlan if we don’t get to him first.”
I reach down and pull out the knife strapped to my thigh. “I know you’re right, but I really don’t want to leave you,” I say, handing the knife to Lee. “Use it if you have to. The bad guys don’t get to win today. I’llrun back and grab the axe Kristi tried to murder me with and go save our boy.”
Lee nods. “I’ll follow behind you as quickly as I can. Be safe, Lex.”
“You too,” I call out, racing back to grab the axe. We didn’t make it very far into the forest, so it’s only a short jog back. I snatch the axe, and my eyes catch on the white envelope Kristi threw at me. I shove it into my pocket because right now, I need to save both Lochlan and Lee and end this once and for all.
