I just grabbed Raven Perry and forced her to come with me. But it was like the moment she admitted that she was doing a story about the Lorells, something just snapped inside me and I knew what needed to happen.
She may not understand it. Even I don’t. She may hate me for it. And God knows she does. But this is the only way.
If I had left her sitting in her unlocked apartment writing this story, completely oblivious to the world around her like she always is, it would take no time for the Lorells to silence her permanently.
And for as often as I’ve wished Raven would just shut the hell up, the thought of that happening wasn’t something I could stomach.
I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, and in the moonlight streaming in front of the ATV, I can see her perfectly pink lips twisted in a scowl that seems permanent when I’m around her. With her arms crossed defiantly over her chest, she looks like she’s preparing for a fight.
She and I have perfected this dance over the years though, throwing verbal punches. Ducking and weaving around each other like prize fighters in a ring. But this is different now.
The game has changed.
It did the moment I took her from her apartment.
Her gaze remains locked on the trees passing on either side of us as we bump along the path that will end very soon. As soon as we get up to the river, we’ll have to go the rest of the way on foot.
Even if the side-by-side could get up to where we’re going, I wouldn’t take it. And not just because I want Raven to have to suffer through the lengthy, arduous hike.
On foot, it will be much harder to track us.
I don’t want to leave any evidence, any trail for anyone to be able to follow.
We are going to disappear onto the mountain.
From the river, there are any number of places we could have gone, and no one, not even Killian and Liam, will be able to find us where I’m taking her.
Which is exactly how it needs to be.
If anyone knew, it would put them at risk, too. They’ll worry when both of us disappear—and I don’t relish having to deal with the fallout after this is all over—but I won’t put anyone else in danger. Knowing where we are would do just that by making them targets for anyone who might be trying to silence Raven and who are willing to do anything to find her.
I take a long, deep breath and release it, attempting to physically and mentally prepare myself for what’s about to happen as I stop the vehicle near where I plan to stash it but leave the engine running.
Raven glances at me, then scans around us. “Why’d we stop?”
“Because this is where we get out.”
“Here?” She tries to see through the inky darkness of the thick trees. “There’s nothing here.”
I motion ahead. “The river is about a mile that way.”
Her brows rise. “So, we’re going to the river?”
“No.” I shake my head. “This is just where we leave the ATV and switch to foot.”
She unbuckles her seatbelt. “I wasn’t joking, Connor. I don’t hike.”
Her incredulous tone grates on my already fried nerves.
“Well, you will tonight because I’m not carrying you up the fucking mountain.”
She scoffs. “As if I’d let you.”
Her earlier warning about not touching her rings loud and clear in my head.
She’s on her fucking own.
I bite back another retort as I round the vehicle and pull out my bag, tugging it onto my shoulders. The heavy weight settles there as Raven comes to stand across from me, hands on her hips, looking intensely pissed in the moonlight.
