After moving a few more steps back, I get a running start, scrambling up the tree, losing skin on my fingers as I go.
“Oh thank god,” Jade whispers when I make the top. “Now what?”
She crawls toward me, looking nervously over the side. It’s a long way to the ground—I can barely see it in the darkness, but I’ve jumped from far worse.
Jade’s shaking when I pull her close. I’ve seen hard men who would be freaking the fuck out. Heights do that. Combine heights and darkness and you’ve got a recipe for the freeze response.
“I go down, you jump to me. Copy?”
“Yeah.” She pauses. “I’ll do whatever you tell me.”
I choke for a second, trying to swallow.
“That’s my girl. So fucking brave,” I murmur against her temple with pressure clamping down on my windpipe. I’m a volcano. The shit I feel inside me right now takes lethal threat to a new level.
I’m going to commit murder tonight. Multiple times. And it won’t be enough.
I give her a squeeze, then set her back from me so I crab walk to the edge of the tree trunk and drop into the ferns below. The loamy ground absorbs the impact, dampening the sound.
She’s peering over when I look up. Her silhouette is barely a smudge against the trees that stretch above like columns to the sky.
“Sit down, come feet first.”
The swift intake of her breath is all the warning I get before she drops right into my arms.
Jesus. She did it. I squeeze her, nose pressed into her hair.
“I’m okay,” she whispers up to me. “I left some hide up there though.”
I didn’t even think about her bare legs.Shit.
She might say she’s fine, but I’m not okay. I’m not going to be okay until we’re out. Locked in a secure location with every known kind of barricade. And maybe even then I won’t be okay.
A sound suddenly comes from her collar. My collar too. “So clever, you two. Remember, we can see everything. EVERYTHING. Even the view up her dress when she jumps off of the tree.”
My spine nearly snaps in half. I sneer at the camera strapped around her neck, getting real close. “Enjoy your last hours alive.”
A disgusting rasp of laughter scratches through the speaker. “Tick tock. Time’s a burning, are you ready to be target practice?”
I grab her fingers and squeeze, pulling her down the hillside, forcing myself silent.
If Jade wasn’t here, I would not be running. I’d be waiting. Which is what I’ll do next, but we need space. Need to deal with these fucking collars.
My head has to be clear to keep her alive.
Focus.
Eyes on the mission.
When we hit the creek, a sliver of weak moonlight cuts between the trees, catching the ripples on the water.
I drop to a knee next to the stream and claw my fingers beneath the rocks, into the mud with visions of committing every kind of torture I can to that mother fucker.
Cramming his throat full of mud. Check.
But for now, I’ve got a more important job. The mud’s cold, thick. Perfect for my needs.
I tip my chin at Jade, motioning her closer. “Cold.” I say nothing else. The collars are still live. Every uttered word is intel I’m handing to our enemy on the other end.
