“Quiet!” One of the guards—Lewis, the leader of this whole sick operation—strode past them. His cold eyes assessed each girl like livestock at market. “The lairds will be here soon. Time to see what ye’re really worth.”
P Piper’s stomach churned.
The lairds.
They’d been told what was coming. What this was. A hunt. They would be prey, and men on horseback would chase them through the woods like animals.
To her right stood Madison, the oldest of them at twenty-three. She’d been here the longest—over a year, they said. She’d even survived one hunt already, but Lewis and his men had made sure she wouldn’t escape this time. Her left leg bore fresh injuries, barely healed wounds that must have screamed with every step.
Yet Madison stood tall, her jaw set. She was shaking, Piper could see it in the way her thin frame quivered, but not from fear. From anticipation. From the desperate, feral need to survive.
She’s the strongest of us all.If anyone can escape this, it’s her.
“I see ye admirin’ Madison,” Lewis said, suddenly beside Piper. His breath was hot and sour against her ear. “Daenae get any ideas, plump girl. Ye’re nae like her. Ye’re soft, slow. Ye’ll be caught within minutes.”
Piper flinched but said nothing. What could she say? He was right. She wasn’t strong like Madison or fierce like Gabriella. She was just… Piper. Plump, clumsy Piper who’d spent her whole life being told she was worthless.
On the far end of their line stood Flora, barely eighteen. The youngest. She hadn’t spoken a single word since Piper had arrived, not one. Whatever had happened to her had stolen her voice entirely. Right now, Flora’s face was ghostly white, her gray eyes wide with terror. She looked like she might collapse at any moment.
“Poor wee thing,” Gabriella whispered, following Piper’s gaze. “She willnae last five minutes out there.”
“Maybe—” Piper started, but Lewis’s voice cut her off.
“Enough chatterin’! They’re comin’!”
The sound of hoofbeats grew louder. Piper’s heart began to race. She looked around desperately, taking in their surroundings for the first time since they’d been dragged from the wagon.
They stood at the edge of a massive clearing. Behind them, dense forest stretched into darkness. To the left, the land sloped upward toward rocky cliffs. Ahead, more open ground before the trees thickened again.
“Listen carefully,” Lewis said, pacing in front of them. “When the horn sounds, ye run. Run for the trees, run for the cliffs, run wherever ye like. But ken this—there are a dozen lairds out there, all on horseback, all eager to claim their prize. If they catch ye…” He grinned viciously. “Well, ye belong to them. To do with as they please.”
“And if we are able to get away? Before any laird catches us.” Gabriella asked, her voice sharp.
Lewis laughed. “Nay one gets away from these lairds, lass. They paid too much to be that careless. But if by some miracle ye do, ye’re free. That’s the game.”
“Some game,” Madison muttered, shifting her weight off her injured leg.
Piper's jaw clenched.
A lie.
She knew it was a lie. Madison had escaped once before—made it all the way to freedom—only to be hunted down and dragged back. They'd beaten her so badly she could barely walk now. If escaping truly meant freedom, Madison wouldn't be standing here, broken and bleeding.
The hoofbeats were close now. Piper could see them—six men on powerful horses, riding toward the clearing. Even from a distance, she could sense their confidence, their arrogance. They thought this would be easy.
Maybe they were right.
“Remember,” Lewis said, his voice dropping. “The lairds have paid good money for this. Daenae disappoint them by dyin’ too quickly.” He looked directly at Gabriella. “Especially ye, troublemaker. I made sure to tell them ye’re the feisty one.”
Gabriella’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t respond.
One of Lewis’s men approached, carrying a horn. An actual hunting horn, as if this were some grand sport instead of the horror it truly was.
“Any last words?” Lewis asked mockingly. “Any tearful goodbyes?”
Madison turned to look at them all, her eyes fierce despite her weakened state. “Run fast. Run smart. And if ye get the chance, survive.”
“I’m goin’ for the cliffs,” Gabriella said quietly. “Either I find a way down, or…” She didn’t finish, but they all understood.
