Rhys silently places his bowl and spoon down and gets up. In three quick strides, he flattens himself against the wall and uses a small hole in the door to peek outside. Whatever he sees must be bad because his entire body stiffens and his hands clench into fists.
I suck in a shuddering breath, my body shaking not just from the cold but from the surge of adrenaline and fear rushing through me. I place my spoon and bowl down, careful not to make a noise, and push myself to my feet. My knees threaten to give way beneath me, but I lock them and force my panicked mind to slow down and think.
There has to be some way out of this.
But no matter how hard I try, I can’t come up with anything. And then I hear more footsteps and the sound of multiple male voices and laughter. It almost sounds like they’re having a fucking party out there. They aren’t trying to be quiet. Theywantus to know they’re out there, that we’re trapped like rats in a trap.
Rhys turns to me, a flicker of pain and hopelessness in his honey eyes, but he hides it behind a mask of icy determination. Not that it matters, because we both know the truth.
Unless a miracle happens, we’re fucked.
Time to Get the Girl
Theo
“This is fucking insane,”Tobias hisses as we creep along the dark country road. “I can’t believe you talked me into doing this shit.”
I shrug; not that he can see it since it’s dark as shit and the only light is coming from the half-moon hanging above us. “I told you what I planned on doing and that it was going to be dangerous.” There’s no point arguing with him since he’s right. Between coming out here at night and my injuries, this is an insane idea.
But it’s our best chance of finding Ollie and Rhys. Especially since it’s been a week since they were taken.
“You agreed with it,” Alex adds with an exasperated huff on my other side.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” Tobias snaps back. “And did you really haveto bring the dog?”
“I couldn’t exactly leave her behind,” Alex says as he reaches over and pets a barely visible Harlow on his other side. “Besides, she might help us with tracking.”
I frown. “Do you even know if she’s trained to track?” While in theory it’s a solid idea, in reality we have no idea what commands Ollie trained her with. If she’s even trained at all.
Alex shrugs. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Tobias heaves a heavy sigh. “We’re going to get ourselves killed.”
Maybe, especially since the plan involves stalking the small group of gang members that have been lingering on the outskirts of Haven. I’m not sure why they’re suddenly hanging around outside, but I’m not going to let this opportunity go to waste.
Even if my ass cheek and thigh currently feel like they’re on fire.
The three of us continue on in silence, the only sound being the rustling of the trees and our breathing. Each step is a reminder that I should have taken the full dose of my pain meds, not half, but I didn’t want to risk drowsiness. At least I’m no longer on antibiotics. Although I imagine the doc isn’t going to be pleased with me when I come back to him with ripped stitches.
A low growl from Harlow, followed by muffled voices, has all three of us stuttering to a stop.
“Is that…?” Tobias whispers, his eyes focused on the thick woods to our left.
“Let’s go find out,” I say as I move toward the voices.
Sneaking through the pitch-black forest is ten times harder and more painful than walking on the road. Each snap of a twig beneath our feet has us freezing like deer as we strain our ears to hear if we’ve alerted the people up ahead. Thankfully, they seem occupied with whatever conversation they’re having because we close the distance enough to make out what they’re saying.
“…said we should meet them next to the outbuilding within the next two hours,” a gruff voice says followed by a groan and a sigh.
“Why can’t we just ambush them when they’re trying to get back to the settlement?” another voice complains. “I don’t want to camp outside in the rain for another night waiting for them to never appear because Luke got the wrong place again.”
I frown. Are they talking about Ollie and Rhys? Or someone else?
“Boss says we have the right place and to get our asses there. Unless you want a knife to the gut, I suggest you do as you’re told,” the first voice says. “The bloke’s been in a foul mood since they got out.”
The other voice snorts. “He’s been in a foul mood since the Lodge fucker double-crossed him for a better cut. I don’t think the escape has much to do with it.”
My eyebrows shoot upward. Rhys and Ollie escaped? How? And why didn’t they come back to Haven? My confusion clears as I remember what the other guy said; they’ve been trying to ambush them. Knowing Rhys, he probably saw this coming and has been taking the scenic route from wherever they were held.
