“If he got it running, we should get back,” Apollo said, holding a hand out.
That…that made leaving this magical moment almost worth it. Accepting his proffered help, Leighton gave the retreating elephants one last, longing look, but really—her mind was on her hand in his. How strong and warm it was. “What a dream come true. A core memory,” she whispered, not sure whether she meant the pachyderms or holding his hand as they climbed up the tricky terrain that fought them. “I’m glad I shared it with you.”
Hold up. Had she said that out loud? She looked to Apollo, but he had a deep scowl on his face as he started toward the Cruiser.
Yeah. Great. She actually had a moment with him but—she slipped, her knee connected with a rock. “Ow!”
“No!” Apollo let go and threw himself up the incline without her.
Confused at what he was doing and why he’d left her, she struggled up the last stretch and wrangled herself onto solid ground. “Thanks a lot for just abandoning me back?—”
Leighton stopped, finding neither Apollo nor the Cruiser on the road. “What…?” she breathed, looking around, as if she were directionally challenged and had forgotten where the Cruiser had broken down. Reality clobbered her, forcing her brain to catch up. “They…left me?!” she shrieked.
But then she heard shouts and followed the sound up the road to where she spotted Apollo sprinting after…taillights in the far distance.
Frozen, she gaped. No. No no no. This wasn’t happening. Why was Bakari driving away? She hurried forward as the distance between both her and Apollo—and the Cruiser—increased. Panic ignited and she started running too. They couldn’t leave her! She did not have any survival skills other than a stubborn streak. “Owen!” she shouted, hating herself for using that name. “Apollo! Wait!”
A second later, he gave another shout and threw a fist in the air. His growl echoed across the lonely reservation as he stopped and gripped his knees.
“I will kill him!” Fisting his hands, Owen knew the sickening truth—this was intentional. A driver didn’t accidentally leave two tourists on the reservation at night.
Heaving breaths that seared, he stared after the pluming dust and fading taillights even as he heard Leighton calling and catching up.
All the facts rushed at him—the royals going without him and Leighton. The treatment she had endured—the way Maaz had demanded Rayan leave Leighton at the camp and come with him. Leighton’s conviction the royals were acting strange, too nice. The Cruiser suddenly dying…
Had it even really broken down? Or had Bakari faked that?
Senses on high alert, Owen felt a conviction burrow into his soul—the royals hadn’t been nice because they liked her. They were nice to distract her. So they could bring her out here and leave her to the literal lions?
Frustrated he had no weapons, no way to protect them, he wished he’d thought to snag one off Crow when he’d low-crawled in. Would it be too much to hope that Omen was planning to snatch her now? This would be the perfect time?—
Comms device!
He dug in his pocket for the earwig, knowing this was his chance to get her away from these royals. All he had to do was radio Omen and they’d be out of here. The royals would be none the wiser. His hand came up empty.
He checked the other pocket. Not there either. He patted himself down as if it might manifest elsewhere. But no—it wasn’t here. It was gone! “You have got to be kidding me!” He’d lost it? How? When?
“Why did you leave me?” Leighton demanded with a feral glare as she reached him. “Why would you do that?”
Owen eyed her. “I wasn’t?—”
“Clear as day—you left.”
Man, he had no time for hysterics. “For the love of— I wasn’t leaving you,” he bit out, raking a hand through his bleached hair, which felt brittle as this night. “When I realized he was leaving us, I sprinted after him, trying to stop him.”
“But you left me!”
A clatter came from his left, jacking his heart into his throat. Leighton stiffened and whirled, eyes wildly searching the tall grass.
Owen scanned, wishing he had some NODs or even the scope of a rifle. They were in a safari reservation. With deadly beasts. “We need to keep moving.”
“You left me!” This time her voice echoed, emphasizing each word. “You didn’t say a word—just took off without me. You weren’t worried about me.”
He eyed her hustling to stay up with him. Something about her words stopped him. He shifted to look at her, hearing past the shrieks. Past the accusations. I scared her. That realization made his heart slow and forced him to dump some of his own frustration at their situation.
“Hey.” Regretting what he’d caused her, he caught her upper arms. “I hear you—it scared you. I scared you. But I swear I would not have left you.”
“But you did!” she ground out, her words strained. “What if a lion was nearby? You didn’t know there wasn’t, and you…just left me.”
