Page 559 of Reign

The shot catches him high in the chest and throws him backward into the brush.

The others scatter.

Gunfire tears through the trees.

Bark explodes beside my face as I move behind the thickest trunk within reach. Another round strikes the dirt near my foot.

Three left.

One advances toward the wreck while the other two separate, attempting to surround me.

They want me looking uphill.

They haven’t seen her.

That’s the only advantage that matters.

A shadow moves to my left.

I fire.

The second man drops behind a fallen branch.

A shot answers from my right.

The impact hits my upper arm like a hammer swung at full force. My body twists into the tree. Heat tears through muscle, followed by a wet rush beneath my sleeve.

I push away from the trunk before the next shot reaches the same place.

The wreck sits several yards below me. I slide through wet leaves and take cover behind the rear of the SUV as bullets strike metal.

“Elena!” one of them shouts.

Rage erases the pain.

They know she was with me, but they still don’t know where she is.

I lean around the damaged vehicle. Muzzle fire flashes between the trees.

There.

I fire twice.

The third man stumbles, catches himself against a tree, then collapses.

Silence returns too quickly.

One left.

I listen.

Water moving through the culvert.

The damaged engine ticking behind me.

My own breath.

Nothing else.