I waste no time wading out into the water. “We stay together.”
We don’t have life jackets, a raft, our packs, or any idea of what the river looks like ahead of us. Only the sure knowledge that she’s ahead of us with a killer. It’s enough. I get to the edge of a current, wait until they are with me, then I plunge out into it, getting snatched up and thrown into a washing machine of white water. I get into the position she said to stay in, putting my legs out first and laying on my back.
Every piece of information Bonnie and Mitchel told us goes through my head. When the white water eases, I flip onto my stomach and freestyle until I get to the next section. We move silently through the landscape. The river simply catches us up and throws us into a headlong speedway.
We move much faster than we would on land, but I’m waterlogged and cold when Cyn calls out.
“Get out,” Cyn says after a couple of hours. I climb out of the water, pulling my mask off. There’s no chance of being accidentally spotted now, and I want him to know who is coming for him. I think when I get out, the river level drops.
Cyn drops to one knee and pulls out his phone, removing it from its waterproof sleeve.
“We’re close. They’ve left the river this way.”
“Thank God, I thought I’d have to learn how to breathe underwater,” Kota grumbles.
I take off my jacket because it weighs so much and leave it on the rock beside the river. The others do the same.
Cyn takes off, running into a part of the forest that we haven’t seen before, and we follow. I would follow him anywhere if it meant saving her.
There’s no going slow. Not with her life on the line.
Each step feels like it takes forever; each minute feels like a lifetime. Cyn leads us through an ancient forest that is eerily still. I take note of the landmarks: a huge boulder, a fallen tree. On the other side of a thick corpse of bushes is a single groove in the mud. Kota kneels, studying it.
“Looks like someone fell.”
A growl rumbles out of my chest. Did he hurt her? Is she injured?
“Which way?” I grit out.
Cyn bolts again without saying a word.
I hear a muffled sound of pain from ahead of us and speed up, stretching out into a run, desperate to get to her.
“Please, no,” I hear Kota whisper.
We burst into a clearing, and I stop dead.
Stretched out between two massive and ancient trees is a weeping Kendall. He looks at us and screams. His arms are tied, so he’s hanging there, helpless.
I can’t see her. Where is she?
“Save me. Oh, god, help me,” Kendall screams.
Bonnie walks around the tree, a smear of blood on her face, her smile wide and bright. Completely relaxed and uninjured.
“Took you long enough.” She cocks her head to the side. “You came to save me?”
Kota nods, and I can feel the relief, the emotion, pouring off him. “Yes, we thought…”
Bonnie’s smile turns soft and affectionate. “I’m fine. I had it under control.”
“Oh,” Rory says in disappointment.
I stare at her. Really, really seeing her for the first time. A strange pain slices through me, but as quick as that belief is destroyed, warmth fills it. Oh, the arrogance we had thinking that she was ours because she couldn’t live without us. How foolish we were.
“You don’t need us at all, do you?”
She looks up, her smile slipping.
