“She was hiding in the bushes,” the snitch said.
The sandy-haired man dropped beside Amaris, and instantly, she was fighting back nausea. She’d take the stench of blood over his pungent body odor. He seemed to be the type of person to always wear a scowl or never see a bar of soap. He furrowed his brow, and his lips scrunched together. The moon on his face illuminated a scar draping his chin. It followed his scowl, starting at the corner of his mouth and ending on his neck beside his carotid artery.
Amaris startled and shuffled back as he pulled a knife from his boot. “I’m not a murderer!”
“You’re covered in the man’s blood,” he said, pointing his knife at her. It was too long to be a simple pocketknife. It must have been military issue.
Amaris’s gaze bounced across all their faces, their rage settling around her. Gris returned, her jog slowing as she eyed Amaris. Her blonde brows raised as she stared back and forth between all of them.
Amaris looked to Theo, who hadn’t moved an inch, his expression stone-faced and cold. His first movement was his hand as he gripped the knife dangling from his waist. He was incredibly tall, far taller than Derek, at least. It was an unsettling thought as he stood with his hand wrapped around his weapon. He combed back his hair and revealed the brightest green eyes Amaris had ever seen, but what could’ve been beautiful were encased in dark storms.
The sandy-haired man regained Amaris’s attention when he took the tip of his knife and settled it on her cheek where Derek’s ring had cut her. “Why did you kill him?”
“I didn’t,” she protested, her eyes darting around, meeting their hollowed expressions. “You have to believe me.” Their faces remained unfazed. “Call the cops. My fiancé is a detective. He’ll sort this out.” She panted, attempting to catch her breath, even though she was sittingand barely doing anything besides trying to focus on what the hell was happening.
“Sounds like the words of a rambling fool,” the man with the long knives said. He had one pulled and resting against the outer edge of his crossed arms.
“Rambling?” Amaris breathed. Everything shuffled in her brain.
The morose man grabbed her right hand, and her eyes instantly watered at the pain. Gris and Theo both startled at her cry.
“Please.” Amaris tried to pull back her hand.
He prodded at her swollen and smashed knuckles, dragging his dirty thumb over the glass still embedded in her skin. Her vision darkened as he pulled her to her feet.
“Sunrise is nearly upon us. We’ll take her back with us and determine what is to be done,” he said.
“What?” Amaris shouted, but the man who’d caught her grabbed her arms and started shoving against her back. He forced her toward a small camp. “Let go of me!” She tried wiggling out of his iron-like grip.
Fight!Viv’s voice flooded her mind. Viv had always said,If someone tries to kidnap you, you either get on all fours and bark and chase after them, or you run like hell.
“Alan, keep hold of her for now. She’ll ride with Gris.” Theo gave his order, and Alan’s hand coiled tighter around Amaris’s arm.
More people were scattered around a dying fire with bleary eyes straining against its little light. They had long, matted hair and grizzled beards. None of them were wearing anything suggestive of the current century. Their mumblings immediately silenced as Alan dragged her over.
“Please, someone help me!” she screamed.
No one got up, but whispers erupted around them.
Alan whipped her arm back and pulled against her shoulder. “There’s no one here to help, you murderous scum,” he spat.
She yanked against his hold, but he shoved her elbow deeper into herback. Her shoulder burned as it strained. She forced a breath and waited several seconds.What would Viv do?
She summoned all her courage. Now was the moment. When Alan released the pinch of her shoulder, she turned and drove her leg up into a groin kick. She took off running and didn’t look to see if he shriveled up on the ground or if anyone was running after her. The faint echoes of a curse and the gasps from his friends followed her. She thought someone even laughed, but she couldn’t stop. She should’ve grabbed her phone. She needed to call the police, to call Derek.
What in the actual fuck is happening?Her mind spun like the county fair spinning strawberries.Why are these people kidnapping me? Why aren’t they calling the police?
She raced through the woods, her ankles threatening to roll while using the moonlight to avoid running into a tree. Her hand burned as she pumped her arms and pushed branches out of her way. She shouldn’t have punched that stupid mirror. Anger found its way into her heart, for them, for Derek, for this whole situation, but mostly her own stupidity.
When she leapt over a log, her foot slipped, and she fell forward. Her momentum carried her down the hill in a series of somersaults that twisted her stomach. A sudden stop drove a sharp pain in her side. She fell back, panting as she expelled air from her lungs. She turned her head, and her vision narrowed on the tall and burly figure sauntering down the hill toward her.
Chapter 7
Theo
Theo watched asshe toppled down the hill, knowing better than to chase after her and risk following in her tragic pursuit. She collided with a fallen tree and collapsed on her back, heaving to collect her breath.
It was important to play everything carefully. As he approached her, he eyed her legs and waist but found no traces of weapons. That was strange, considering she’d come from a murder scene, but the real oddity was her appearance. The woman looked absolutely terrible. The sleeves of her entirely too-thin shirt were ripped off, and her odd trousers were cut to her rump. He’d never seen clothes like hers.
