“I’m going to break an ankle out here at night, Connor.”
“Don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be fine.”
“No, I won’t.” She shakes her head, and her wildly windblown hair floats around her face flush from the drive. “I would’ve been fine if you had left me alone in my apartment, where I could, you know, take a shower, lay in my soft bed, and work on my story.”
I issue a low warning growl.
We are not having this debate right here.
We are not going to get into the discussion of her story and how fucking stupid it is for her to be writing it when we’re in the woods in the middle of the fucking night.
“Grab your shit. I have to move the ATV deeper into the brush to conceal it, and then we need to keep moving.”
Her brow furrows. “Why?”
“Because this is the time of night that the predators are out.”
Her back stiffens and she whips her head from side to side, searching the woods. “Like what?”
“Bobcats, bears, coyotes…”
Fear creeps into her gaze and she shudders. “And they’d attack us?”
“Maybe you.”
“Ha-fucking-ha, Connor.” Her voice cracks slightly. “Are you being serious?”
“Dead serious.”
Though, it isn’t the predators who live on McBride Mountain I’m actually worried about. They’re mostly afraid of humans and avoid confrontation with us, when possible. It’s the type of predators who came onto the homestead that night with nothing but killing in their heads and sinister intent filling their hearts that worry me.
I followed Raven easily to Atlanta…
And because I had no idea what she was up to, I didn’t even think to be concerned that someone else might have been doing the exact same thing.
I watched our backs the whole way to the homestead to ensure we weren’t being tailed, and there’s no way anyone came up behind the ATV without me knowing, but we need to get somewhere safe.
Fast.
“Get your stuff.”
She inches toward the back of the ATV and slowly reaches in to grab her stuff as she continues to scan around us, searching for any signs of danger. I return to the driver’s seat and maneuver the small vehicle into a tight area of bushes and trees to the left of the barely visible trail where it will be less obvious should anyone come up looking.
I climb out and grab several large fallen branches from the surrounding area to try to help conceal it further, but anyone who comes looking will find it eventually.
When I get back to her waiting on the trail, her annoyance level hasn’t abated.
She taps her booted toe, her arms crossed and chin tipped up. “You understand how unhinged this is, don’t you?”
I snort. “Believe me, I do.”
What I’m doing makes sense in my head.
Sort of.
But if I said it out loud, it wouldn’t.
Not to her.
