Page 85 of Silent Shadows

Then all hell breaks loose, because those fucking assholes are here.

“GO! GO! GO!” one of the Ridgefield guys yells behind us.

ATV engines roar to life.

Branches snap violently somewhere downhill as the entire Ridgefield crew charges toward the sound like a pack of drunk linebackers chasing a bar fight.

Idiots. Absolute idiots.

“Jesus Christ,” I snap.

My body moves before my brain fully catches up.

In one swift motion, I grab Daisy’s waist and pull her the opposite direction into the trees.

“Wait—”

“Move,” I bark, rougher than I intended, my hand finding hers.

We break into a fast downhill jog through dense pine and scrub oak as shouting erupts behind us. ATV engines rev hard enough to shake the forest floor while Ridgefield crashes blindly toward the knocks.

Exactly where I do not want to be.

Pine branches whip across my shoulders as I push through the brush, dragging Daisy behind me over uneven terrain.

“Miles—” she pants.

“They’re driving directly into a possible corridor.”

“That sentence means nothing to me right now!”

“It means we need to get away from them, because whatever just knocked is also moving away from that area!”

Loose rock shifts beneath our boots.

Daisy slips, and I catch her hand fully this time instead of just her wrist. My fingers interlock tight around hers as she stabilizes before we cut hard through the trees.

The forest changes fast once you leave the trails.

It gets denser. Darker.

The kind of dark that arrives before sunset actually hits because the canopy swallows the light first.

Branches claw at us from every direction. Pine needles crunch underfoot while cold air burns sharp in my lungs.

Behind us, engines scream farther into the canyon, away from us.

Then another knock echoes through the woods.

Closer to us now. Much closer.

Daisy jerks beside me. “Miles.”

“I heard it.”

My pulse starts hammering harder immediately.

Not fear exactly. Adrenaline. Recognition.