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“Alright, let’s do this,” he said, climbing out of the SUV.
I put one hand on the door to follow him. Before I could even push it open, Grady reached back and snagged my wrist.
“If things start to go south, you get away, Cali. Run like hell, and I promise I’ll find you.”
I could only nod my head. Vocalizing emotions had always been one of my weak points. He nodded back before letting me go and turning around, allowing me to get out. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I walked to where Tito stood.
“You better not get yourself killed,” he teased, attempting to break the tension between us. He rolled his shoulders and looked upwards at the clear sky. “Sometimes I forget how sheltered you’ve been. I’m going to give you one last bit of advice.”
I readied myself for another rant and received something much simpler—also, a tad confusing.
“They don’t do anything for free. They don’t give without receiving. The worst thing you could do is make a deal with one of them that you can’t retract.”
What? “You’ve been telling me for the past how many hours that I should move as quickly as possible to figure out what’s going on. Wouldn’t making a deal be doing just that?”
I rolled my eyes when he pinched the bridge of his nose dramatically before answering the question.
“Romero isn’t called the devil for shits and giggles. He’ll eat your soul and then shit it out.”
Frowning, I studied his body language and for the first time noticed how distressed he was.
“Why are you so afraid of him?”
“I know you’re not afraid of anything, Cali, but in this case, I really wish you were.” He paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I’ll find a way to contact you after a week or two. If I can’t, I’ll assume you’re dead. If shit goes bad, try and get back to the compound. Never let your guard down and don’t let them get in your head.”
“And if I can’t find them?”
“That’s not probable. You just go straight. You see that?”
I turned ever so slightly in the direction he was pointing, never seeing his other arm move. It happened so fast all I felt was the blade piercing through my skin and an odd tingling sensation, followed by an intense, searing heat.
“Why did you do that?” I instinctively wrapped my arms around my middle and backed away, glaring up at him.
“I’m sorry; it had to be done. You’re the perfect picture of health. They’d never believe you were out here on your own. I have to get back, and you need to go. We don’t know who could be out here.” He rushed past me, getting back in the car with the bloody knife in his hand and peeling off before I could fully process what had just happened.
“Shit,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my side. Blood seeped through the small hole in my shirt, running down my stomach and staining my fingers crimson.
Knowing my only option at this point was to get out of the open, I looked towards the treeline and began to move towards it.
Five minutes into my foray, I deeply regretted wearing jeans. It was so damn hot my thighs began to sweat.
I made it to a small creek and rested my sticky hand on the nearest tree, pausing to catch my breath and evaluate my situation.
Tito didn’t even tell me exactly where to go. How the fuck was I supposed to walk straight when there wasn’t a straight path? “Damn,” I hissed, pulling up my shirt so I could get a better look at the stab-wound that was starting to hurt real fucking bad.
I pressed around the tender area, trying to determine just how deep it was. If he hit something vital, I would have already bled out.
I had no damn clue if that were true or not, but I was going with it.
There was too much blood for me to see anything. Wading into the shallow water, I slowly crouched down and scooped some into my hand. I did my best to clean the area off.
So focused on myself and how unsanitary the water was, I ignored nature’s blaring warning that something was wrong.
There was no sound. No birds, no bugs, and no tiny creatures scurrying through the undergrowth. Not even the wind carried. It was utterly silent.
I was still examining myself when I heard the rapid sound of footsteps, as if someone were running. Not a millisecond later, a solid body was barreling into me from behind. The abrupt impact gave me no time to brace myself and sent us both to the ground.
“Fuck!” I screamed, getting a mouthful of murky water. I ignored the pain shooting through my side and focused on the man damn near straddling my back.
