A sharp, agonized scream rips from deeper in the forest. It’s as ear-splitting as Wilcox’s,worsethan Wilcox’s. I charge that way and barely slow down when I get to the river and put one foot in front of the other across a fallen tree trunk bridge.
I follow Luna’s pained yells until I find her writhing in brush. A miniature bear trap clutches her shin.
“Fuck,” she whines as she reaches for the trap with trembling hands. She doesn’t quite touch it before her eyes pinch shut with a cringe.
At the sound of me approaching, her eyes pop wide. She scoots backward only to curse in pain and cradle her calf.
“No!” she shrieks—shrieks—when I hit the ground in a full slide, knees carving a track through the dirt as I scan the device. Her palm cracks against my shoulder, frantic, beating me back. “Get away from me!”
I catch her wrist mid-slap. “Calm down.”
“Don’tfuckingtouch me!” She throws her other fist, but the motion collapses when the twist of her body yanks the trap—metal biting, jaws sinking deeper into her pale skin. A raw sound tears from her throat, half gasp, half snarl.
I look over my shoulder and half-expect a swarm of Keepers to burst from behind trees, electric coils crackling at their sides. If she doesn’t quiet, they’ll be on us soon.
“Hold on,” I scramble to retrieve a thick, sturdy branch.
She kicks my shin when I return, face twisted as she tries to reach my knee, just causing herself more pain.
“Jesus Christ, Luna,stop it.” I catch her ankle and squeeze. “I’m trying tohelp you.”
“Fuck you.” She yanks against my grip only to writhe in pain.
Furious. Not just scared.Furious—ready tofight, instinctsrabid. Everything pinningmeas the enemy; so intense it’s … wrong.
Something’s off.
Something happened. Something more than the fight.
Dropping beside her, I pin her ankle beneath my knee before she can kick again. I study the metal jaws sunk into her flesh, smeared with blood and dirt. Not so much to hint at an nipped artery; no permanent damage, but … definitely painful.
“Try to hold still,” I say, wasting the gentleness in my voice as I fit the branch between the teeth.
She slaps at my shoulder, at my face—wild, off-balance—but every strike is broken by little stutters of pain. Tiny gasps. Tightening muscles. The trap bites deeper each time she thrashes.
Deep breath; I press on the branch. Metal groans, and my teeth grind with it. Luna’s scream tears through the trees, sharp enough to send animals scattering, loud enough to guide every Keeper straight to us.
The trap gives.
Luna jerks her foot back with a guttural cry, and I fall forward with the release. She curls hard into herself; clamps her hands around her leg; shakes with gasps like she can’t get enough air.
“I know it hurts, Luna, but you have to be?—”
“Get away from me!” She shoves up on an elbow as hatred flares so hot in her eyes it looks unnatural. Blue burns like a fever behind it.
It’s lucky the trees block the sun, because if the light touched her right now she’d be terrifying.
“I’mnotyour enemy.”You fucking idiot.“I’m not one of them. I’m?—”
“You’reworse,” she snarls, slowly dragging her injured leg up with her knee. “I should be beggingthemfor help. Not you, you…” Her eyes dart while she searches for the kill shot. “Yousociopath.”
For a moment, my mind blanks. I blink—hard, slow.
What?
A rustle cuts through the forest. Urgent. Heavy. Not hiking—running.
I turn just enough to see the first black-clad clone break from a tree. Then another. Then more.
