“Fan out!”
“She’s still injured. She can’t have gone far.”
I know they’re only shouting loud enough to try to scare me. But they're underestimating me. And that, will be their fatal mistake.
From my vantage point, I watch their lights disperse deeper into the woods. One veers in my direction, and I don’t run anymore. I just let him come to me.
I watch him advance through the trees, moving with too much confidence. The ego of someone who believes himself to be the predator rather than the prey. But I have a score to settle.
I’m calculating angles, timing, and opportunity. These men aren’t like those in Kharon. These men have done this before. Hunted before. The knife at my hip won’t be enough. I need leverage, surprise, momentum.
The hunter passes beneath my tree, pausing to examine something on the ground. My footprints, maybe, even if I tried to cover them. That’s what makes these men dangerous.
He’s directly below me now.And I’m prepared. I have a rope in one of my pockets, part of my essential outdoor gear, which I’ll use to trap him.
Without making a single sound, I create a sliding knot on one end before slowly lowering it towards him, waiting until his back is to it before dropping it around his torso and yanking hard. The rope snaps taut, pinning his arms to his sides as I launch myself from the branch.
The impact sends us both to the ground, but I’m ready for it, rolling to absorb the shock as we hit. He thrashes beneath me, struggling against the rope, but I’m already moving. My kneesare at his shoulders, pinning him as my hands close around his head.
“You bitch—” he starts, but I silence him with a violent twist.
I told Ares I would have killed him here in the forest if he were human.
The crack of his neck breaking ripples through my palms and straight into my soul. His body goes limp beneath me while his eyes remain wide open with the shock at how quickly I made this happen.
Truth is, I wanted to take my time, to torture him, to ask him if he’s the one who hunted Elias, make this jerk remember him. Though, I don’t have time for questioning, so I’ll just have to kill them all.
I search his body quickly, finding a hunting knife much larger than my own, strapped to his thigh, along with a canteen of water. No gun. At least McAllister was honest about that.
I strap his knife to my leg, then start moving before the others realize this guy is missing, and it leads them my way.
I make my way toward the stream, but I’m not running now. I’m just moving slowly, placing each foot to minimize the noise. When I’m at the water's edge, I step in. My boots are wet anyway from playing with Ares earlier. I was planning to change them as soon as I got to the mansion, but I didn’t get the chance.
The water is even colder now, and I hold onto my jacket, hoping I don’t get hypothermia. I have a lighter on me, but I can’t start a fire to keep warm.Cold is better than dead, so I go upstream, the current washing away my trail.
Two hundred yards up, I exit on a flat rock, leaving no footprints. The hunters will check the stream. It’s the obvious escape route. But they’ll waste precious time until they find my tracks.
Another light flickers to my right. I freeze, pressing myself against a tree trunk as I become part of the shadow. The second hunter passes twenty feet away.
I don’t attack. Not yet. It’s too open here. Too much risk of being spotted by the others.I just watch him pass, memorizing every detail about him. His build, the way he holds his weapon, the way he centers of weight is on his left leg. Any of this might come in handy later when I choose my moment.
I’m moving north now, gathering things I can use as I advance, like a heavy rock that fits in my palm and a few sharp sticks.
The forest grows denser. The pines make room for old oaks and maples, while a dense canopy blocks much of the moonlight. I could have taken that guy’s lantern, but it would only have been dead weight. There’s no way I can use it without giving away my position.
Still, I use the darkness like a cloak, imagining myself at home, like it’s Ares’ darkness surrounding me until I’m one with it. I slide between shadows, placing each foot with the care of a wildcat. My breathing slows and deepens, and the initial panic of the chase subsides into a primal state.
The perfect hunter.
Some distant shouts echo through the trees. They found the guy I’d killed. Good. Now fear will find them one by one, slowly infiltrating their system whether they like it or not. Let them wonder what waits for them in the dark.
I continue north, making my way gradually toward the cabin that guarantees my survival, but that’s just a safety net now—my backup plan.
I don’t hurry. Rushing leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to death. I take my time to set simple traps like vines strung at ankle height between trees or small pits, disguised with fallen leaves, just enough to break a leg. They’re not meant to kill. I don’t expect hunters this experienced to die so easily. They'remeant to slow them down, to make them cautious, to take away their confidence. To remind them that I alone took on a god while their scared asses needed to tie him to a pillar.
Still, I know that’s not normal. Ares should have been able to break through that. There’s something wrong with him, but I can’t focus on that. I need to survive to get him out first. We’ll deal with everything else later.
I climb again, finding another tree. From up here, I can see more lights in the distance, coming my way. They’re tracking me, and they’re good at it. I’ve been careful, but there are still subtle signs that betray me.
