Caiden insisted he could navigate us out of this mess, but my faith in him was as low as the trenches of a darkened sea.
He stomped confidently through the underbrush, his pace almost too quick for me to keep up. My legs dragged wearily behind him, my hair sticking to my forehead with sweat.
A deep, rumbling noise erupted from my stomach, a reminder of just how dire our situation had become.
I couldn’t sustain this much longer.
“Come on, Amelia. Pick up the pace,” Caiden grumbled, never bothering to adjust his speed for my dwindling stamina.
“Maybe if you could slow down, we could avoid tiring ourselves out too quickly,” I retorted, glaring daggers at his back.
“I’m not interested in slowing down. I’m interested in getting back to civilization.” His tone held no room for debate, but I bit back anyways.
“How do you expect to get out of here alive? We have no supplies. Nothing to help us.” If only we had thought to pack essentials before kayaking into this nightmare. If only I had listened to that persistent voice of anxiety that warned me against it.
“I’ll find a way. I was in the military.”
A daunting thought clawed at my mind. What if he decided to leave me behind to save himself? Or worse, what if he turned on me? I shook my head, desperately trying to rid myself of those terrible images. He wouldn’t do that. Would he?
“When did you join the military?” I asked, trying to fill the silence with conversation. It was better than spiraling into my dark thoughts.
His body was tense, rigid as if horrid memories were playing in his mind. “Around nine months after graduation. I stayed for a little while after you left, but I had to get the hell out of that town. Most importantly, away from my asshole father.”
“What did your father do to you exactly? I’ve heard rumors, but it was always different things I would hear.” I saw an opportunity to dig into him, so I took it.
He stopped and spun around, anger swirling in the depths of his eyes. “I’m not talking about my father. Don’t make me go there.”
I shrank back at his intensity. “Sorry. You brought it up. I figured I could understand you a little better since we’re stuck out here.”
“Well, stop trying. I’m not discussing the horrors of his actions with you.” He took a deep breath, frustration etched across his features. “Only one thing is on my mind: escaping from this goddamn wilderness.”
And just like that, the door closed on that conversation. Curiosity nagged at me. I had a good idea of how his father treated him, but I wanted to hear it from his mouth.
Silence swept over us once again. A flicker of movement in theleaves would come and go, the call of a bird whistling through the windless air.
If only I’d chosen differently, I’d be sprawled on my sofa right now, the afternoon sun drifting through my living room windows. Instead, I stood on a dusty trail, my thoughts heavy as storm clouds.
Dark emotions churned in my gut, old memories rising like restless spirits: the pranks that once seemed harmless, the barbed insults, the careless cruelty, and the night Lillian gave up on us all.
My heart thundered, hot rage threatening to boil over.
I clenched my fists until my knuckles ached, forcing the anger back down into its cage.
Then Caiden’s voice cut through my turmoil. “We’ve got a problem.” He skidded to a halt so abruptly that pebbles skittered across the path.
My limbs already trembled with exhaustion. “What? Did you have an accident?” I snapped, my tone heavy with fatigue.
“Fuck you,” he muttered, dark brows drawing together. “No, there’s a ravine. Right in the middle of the path. We’ll have to go around it.”
A cold dread slid up my spine. I peered over Caiden’s broad shoulders. The trail ended in a ragged edge of cracked earth, plunging into a yawning chasm.
Sunlight glinted off jagged stones far below, and the wind whispered up from the depths, carrying dust and distant echoes.
“Looks like there’s no hope left,” I said, voice flat. “I’m just gonna sit here and wait for something to happen.”
Caiden’s irritated scowl deepened. “Wait for what?”
“For my knight in shining armor,” I shot back. “Or maybe a miracle.”
