“Run,”Lewis whispered in Gabriella’s ear. “Make it entertainin’.”
Time froze at that moment—huntersand hunted locked in perfect stillness. Gabriella felt her heart hammering against her ribs.
“Remember what I said,”she whispered. “The cliffs, if necessary.”
“I cannae run with this leg,”Madison murmured, her voice trembling.
“Ye have to,lass. Try and save yerself,” Piper hissed with forced confidence.
Her eyes dartedtoward the forest. Madison began to tremble. Flora’s eyes were wild with fear.
A horse shiftingon its hooves broke the moment.
And then chaos.The four girls scattered like startled deer.
“There! The dark-haired one!”a man shouted from atop his horse.
“I’ll take the limpin’one!” another called.
Gabriella ran to her right.It was further across the field but led to the densest part of the forest. If she could get inside, horses would struggle to follow. Her legs burned with each stride. Her lungs couldn’t seem to draw enough air. But fear is a powerful fuel.
“Dinnae look back. Never look back,”she told herself.
Behind her camethe thunder of hooves. Men shouting. The other women screaming.
Gabriella forcedherself to keep running.
A horseman crashedthrough the bushes on her right side, heading directly toward her path.
“Nay!”she gasped, veering sharply left.
She stumbledthrough roots growing above the soil. Thorns and stones tore into her flesh as she landed each desperate step.
“Christ’s blood!”she hissed as a thorn ripped through her skin.
At last,she crashed into the forest with all the force she could muster.
“Please,”she begged under her breath. “Please let me hide.”
This washer only chance to find a hiding place until dusk. She threw herself deeper into the foliage, ignoring the branches that tore mercilessly at her.
One ankle twisted,but held. But this agony was nothing compared to the thought of being used by a man who was likely to treat her as another animal he owned.
Just ahead,she sighted a half-rotten oak. It was huge, and she darted behind it, pressing her back against its coarse bark.
Blood thunderedin her ears so loudly that she couldn’t hear her pursuers.
Behind her,heavy footfalls approached. A man’s voice called out, “Stop runnin’! Ye cannae get far.”
Gabriella froze,then, on instinct, ran rapidly in the opposite direction, moving sideways between tree trunks and ducking beneath branches.
Because she was running almost blindly,she rolled down the short, steep slope before she realized she’d fallen, and landed so hard that the air was knocked out of her lungs.
She lay motionless,accepting that this could finally be over. In a few moments, one of the huntsmen would catch up with her.
But instead ofthe sound of approaching boots, Gabriella heard fighting.
Oh God. They are fightin’over who will have me.
