Halfway there, the screams die down and silence descends upon the settlement. My stomach clenches and roils with nausea because that’snot a good sign. It either means everyone is dead, or the Scourge have subdued everyone.
I push myself harder, running as fast as I can, even as my lungs scream for air and my legs burn. However, the true scale of how fucked we are doesn’t hit me until I round the corner of the last caravan and finally see what’s going on.
Nearly half of Haven huddle together, their backs against the wall as they watch the Scourge gang members in front of them. Four bodies lie on the ground—both Scourge and Haven members—blood pooling around them as they stare up at the sky with unseeing eyes. Several other people are curled up on the ground next to them, shaking and crying as they try to stem the bleeding from their wounds. The stench of gunpowder, blood and terror is thick in the air.
Kneeling in front of the Scourge are Rachel and Tobias. They’re both looking up at the gang members with pure hatred in their eyes, although thankfully they appear unharmed. Rhys’s sister, Harriet, and her husband are behind them, pinned to the wall by two other Scourge bastards holding knives.
The Scourge who seems to be in charge, pushes the barrel of his shotgun into Tobias’s face. “I could blow your head clean off your shoulders, you fucking idiot,” he sneers. “You sure you want to keep running your mouth?”
Tobias says nothing. He just glares up at him with a defiant tilt of his chin, looking so much like his sister.
I grimace at the sight. Ollie will be devastated if Rachel or Tobias get hurt during this, but there’s no way I can take on over a dozen armed gang members by myself. I need to buy time until the cavalry arrives. Which means I need to channel my inner princess and do something stupid and reckless.
The leader taunts Tobias and Rachel some more, but I don’t pay attention, instead focusing on creeping around the edge of the caravan and to the treeline across the dirt road. Harriet and Matt spot me tiptoeingbehind the gang members, their eyes widening slightly. I shake my head, not wanting them to give me away. Harriet’s gaze turns calculating a second before she struggles against her captor, drawing everyone’s attention to her.
“Settle down, bitch, before I slit your throat,” one of the Scourge snarls.
My stomach clenches, and for one second, I’m terrified that I might have just got Rhys’s sister killed. Thankfully, she stops struggling immediately, and the captors relax.
I keep moving and don’t take a breath until I’m in the safety of the trees. There, the flickers of my plan form into something more solid.
I crouch, grab a few pebbles and stuff them into my pocket before moving deeper into the trees. Once I’m hidden in the shadows while still having a good angle on the gang members, I take out my pistol and two pebbles.
The first thing I do is throw a pebble as hard as I can toward where I came from. It slams into the side of the caravan, the noise causing everyone to jolt. The gang members swing their heads in that direction, a mixture of confusion and bloodthirsty glee on that faces.
The leader sneers and turns his attention back to Tobias. “Seems like you have a friend desperate to join us,” he taunts before snapping his gaze to the gang member beside him. “Go grab the fucker and bring them here.”
The gang member grumbles but does as he’s told.
I wait until he’s disappeared around the edge of the caravan before throwing the second pebble. This one clatters to the ground beside another caravan two down from the one the gang member is investigating, causing everyone to swing their gazes towards it. With their attention elsewhere, the leader’s gun has shifted, no longer pointed at Tobias.
Perfect.
He’s the first one to die, dropping from a well-placed bullet to the side of his head. But now I have a problem; the gunshot is too loud in thequiet of the forest, giving away my position. It’s only a matter of time before they storm the forest to find me.
But it appears luck is on my side, and I’m feeling greedy.
The gang members don’t move at first, too stunned by the sight of their dead leader on the ground. I take advantage of that and kill two more before they finally spring into action, shouting curses as they come straight for me.
Using the shadows of the trees, I slip deeper into the forest while throwing pebbles in the opposite direction, hoping to confuse them. It works and in the pandemonium, Tobias and Rachel get their hands on some weapons and fight back. This fragments and confuses the gang members even more, especially since the people from Haven are screaming their heads off and crying, only adding to the chaos.
Thinking they’ll be easy pickings, I shoot, catching at least one guy in the arm. But I’ve overestimated myself and got too cocky. Because now every gang member in the forest knows exactly where I am and boy do they show it.
I barely dodge the incoming bullets, a couple whizzing by so close I can feel them brush against my hair. Bits of bark and dirt fly into the air as bullets slam into the ground and nearby trees. I dive behind an oak tree and into the muck, grimacing as it soaks into my clothes.
This is definitely not my idea of fun.
Twigs snap and mud squelches as gang members trudge through the small, dense wood, barking orders at one another. It becomes apparent that while they don’t know exactly where I am, they have a good idea and are circling to surround me.
Fuck.
I try to move, but one of them spots me and charges. I drop like a sack of shit, narrowly dodging a deadly swing from his machete and fire, hitting the guy in the thigh. He screams and collapses to the ground, his weapon clattering to the ground, forgotten as he clutches his injured leg.
“You fucking bastard!” he wails.
I roll my eyes.What a drama queen. Using his screams as cover, I scramble through the mud and leaves, hoping to slip out of the woods and toward the caravans. But luck is no longer on my side because as I near the edge of the treeline, more people shout and a shotgun blast explodes to my left.
White hot agony sears across my left ass cheek and thigh, and I grunt, barely suppressing a yell as I stumble to the ground. Holy fuck, getting shothurtslike a bitch. Now I understand that guy’s reaction. The pain is all-consuming, causing my vision to waver and my stomach to roil with nausea as I fight to stay conscious. There’s another shotgun blast, although this one thankfully misses and hits the dirt next to my head.
