“We're good. Really good. In all honesty, I’m still kicking myself for how I reacted when he told me about the journal andhis mother.” I brushed my hair out of my eyes, regretting how short I had cut it—not being able to twist it into a braid was already annoying.
“Since we've met, we've spent more time apart than we have together, and I just made things worse in that aspect by being so pissed. And then the stuff with Sawyer…” I trailed off, all the memories of the past few months flooding back in and threatening to knock me off my horse. “Anyways, I feel like we're finally in a good spot. I’m happy with him. Truly, truly happy. Granted, all that might go to shit when he realizes what we are doing, but I’m hopeful he will understand.”
Pia huffed a laugh. “He will absolutely not understand why you decided to go on a death march, but he loves you, so he’ll get over it.”
I really, really hoped so.
“How long until you think they realize we're gone?” I asked, subconsciously directing Honey to the left.
Pia’s face turned towards the sky, evaluating the moonlight. “It’s probably six in the morning now. Kohen usually wakes up by eight, and he’ll be stunned to see me out of bed so early, which will raise some red flags.”
I laughed. Pia loved her sleep just as much as I did. “So probably by eight o’ two?”
“Yeah. If not sooner,” she giggled.
“We better get a move on, then.”
Pia followed my lead as I increased our pace to a canter.
We hitthe day one mark, and exhausted didn't even come close to describing the fatigue that cursed my body. We hadn’t slept atall yet despite Pia’s nearly constant nagging to stop for a few hours.
The adrenaline was the only thing keeping us going, but the soon to come crash was inevitable.
“Maeve, can we please stop? Just for an hour or two?” Pia begged once more through a yawn. I had never seen her look so exhausted.
“No,” I said simply. “Sebastian and at least Kohen are unquestionably on our tails. They're used to not sleeping, and I have no doubt in my mind that they are closer than we think.”
“An hour isn't going to make or break?—”
“Pia, if you want to turn around and go back, then go,” I snapped, yanking on Honey’s reins and pulling her to a stop. The lack of sleep was getting to me, too, but I needed to trudge on. “And while you're at it, if you see the guys, steer them in the wrong direction.”
Her dark, heavy eyes raked over me, her eyelids fighting to stay wide. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Well I’m not stopping.” I estimated that Sebastian and whoever else were probably about three or four hours behind us. The calculation was by no means real math, but based on their experience riding, I knew they wereat leastthat close to us.
“I hate you,” she grumbled, the dirtiest scowl I’d ever seen on her pointed right at me.
“No, you don't. If you hated me, you wouldn't be here.”
“Whatever.”
“I should have compelled you to stay back and keep quiet,” I countered.
“Would’ve, could've, should've."
“Okay, I’m done with this convo?—”
Honey’s ears perked up, her head drifting to the side. Pia’s horse did the same, and my eyes followed their driftingattention. Pulling back on the reins, we stopped and I held a silencing finger to my mouth.
Branches cracked around us, the sound much too loud to be a squirrel. A low growl flowed into my ears, not close, but not exactly far away, either.
My eyes flowed over to Pia. “Hykah,” I breathed, and she nodded in dreaded confirmation.
“Do we stay and fight it?” she asked, her voice barely able to be made out.
I contemplated. We could take our chances and try to surpass it, but on the other hand, if we left it alive, Sebastian and the others would likely run into it.
I dropped my reins, and dismounted Honey.
