He’s walking away.
“Faster,” I tell him, and his strides lengthen.
He disappears from my view.
“Get on the plane,” I say, my teeth gnashing together.
I feel Evlynne trying to link and I risk it, just for a second.“He’s almost here,”she says telepathically.
Relief trickles through me. Gray is no longer in sight, but I know from my training with Hawkins that as long as the energy leash is intact, I can continue to incite him.
“Get on the plane,” I say softly. “I’m sorry.”
I’m not sure if he heard that last part. I doubt it, but I know he makes it to the plane because Evlynne nudges me again.
“We’re airborne.”She pauses.“Thank you for that.”
I don’t have the energy to respond. I let out a ragged wheeze as my head starts spinning. My connection with Gray severs abruptly. I slump onto the ground, feeling the blackness closing in around the edges. I struggle to stay conscious, but I’m so exhausted and in so much pain. Every time I inhale, it sends a fire burning through me and triggers wave after wave of nausea.
My cheek presses against the dirt, and I lie there in agony. The mental strain of inciting Gray to leave me is taking its toll.
I’m too tired to react when I register the sound of doors slamming nearby, the unmistakable echo of footsteps moving over the dense jungle floor.
I crank one eye open and look upward. My pulse spikes when a shadow looms over me.
The barrel of a rifle appears, but I lose consciousness before I can see who’s holding it.
Chapter 44
“You’re awake.”
The voice is a low, baritone rasp. It belongs to the man standing with his back to me, his gaze fixed out a small window with iron bars.
Blinking, I twist my head to examine my surroundings. I’m in a cell with stone walls and a dirt floor. I don’t know how I got here. The last thing I remember was passing out from the pain. My leg is still throbbing, but it’s a dull ache now. It hurts so badly that it’s basically gone numb at this point.
Finally, the man turns toward me. Commander Vásquez. I recognize him from the end of my scope.
Up close, he’s older than I first thought, late forties maybe. His skin is tanned and leathery, as if he spends a lot of time in the sun. He wears olive-green fatigues, his tight shirt revealing a muscular torso and broad shoulders, and though he’s not tall, he’s undeniably imposing.
I swallow. My mouth is so dry.
He’s unarmed but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. His arms are enormous and so are his hands. He could snap my neck without breaking a sweat.
The commander’s eyes are sharp and calculating as they sweep over me, taking in my frayed nerves and broken leg. Then he surprises me by chuckling.
“Nobody is going to kill you, girl. I’m not interested in starting a war with the Continent over a lowly sniper. I was simply making a point.”
“What point?” I ask through my parched throat.
“That Tierra Fe is not to be trifled with or underestimated. That I could kill Adrienne and every one of her people if I wanted to. However, that would be expending a lot of energy that could be better utilized elsewhere.” He shrugs. “We’ll arrange for a pickup after we make your leader sweat for a while.”
I don’t relax, but I am a little less fearful about that neck-snapping likelihood.
“Adrienne broke the rules.” He sounds annoyed. “When we set parley terms, we expect the other party to abide by them. She brought unauthorized snipers onto our soil. We don’t tolerate that.”
“You can’t expect her not to protect herself,” I hedge, and hope he doesn’t rip my head off.
“I expect her to follow our rules. This is our land, and Adrienne and her Uprising are nothing but a nuisance. If she thinks she can manipulate us into cooperation…”
