Page 118 of What Remains

Liz blinked at him. "What?"

"He's still bleeding." He pointed at the trail. "She must have struck blows."

A fierce, proud smile flickered across Liz's face. "That sounds like my sister."

Seth's fingers brushed one of the drag marks. Understanding settled. She fought the entire way—digging her boots into the ground, grabbing at anything, buying time, making sure there was something to find. She knew someone would come for her.

She counted on it.

He looked toward the dense wall of pines, where tracks disappeared into shadows beneath trees. His jaw tightened.

"He's not getting far."

Liz reached out and caught his sleeve. "Seth."

He looked back. Her voice broke on the words.

"Bring her home."

For a moment, the soldier's mask cracked. The look in his eyes

his promise.

"I will."

He adjusted the rifle on his shoulder, settled his grip, and ran without looking back. The forest swallowed him, leaving only the sound of his boots pounding through snow.

Chapter 29

Kill you

"You stupid fucking bitch."

The man bit out the words through bloodied teeth, his fist twisted into the back of Josie's coat. The collar cinched so tightly against her throat that every breath came thin and ragged as he dragged her deeper into the woods. Each time she managed to plant her feet, he jerked hard enough to send her stumbling again, branches tearing at her face while her boots snagged on exposed roots hidden beneath the snow. Cold seeped into the cuffs of her pants and soaked through her gloves as she clawed at anything within reach—a sapling, a low branch, a fistful of frozen earth—anything that might slow him down or leave a sign for liz to follow.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

He yanked her backward so violently her teeth snapped together. "Shut the fuck up."

"Fuck you!"

She twisted in his grip and kicked blindly, her heel connecting somewhere near his knee. He grunted, his hold slipping enough for Josie to surge forward—two steps, three, freedom opening ahead of her—before his hand tangled in her hair. Pain exploded across her scalp as he ripped her back. Her scream tore through the trees a heartbeat before he threw her into one.

Her shoulder struck first, then her head, and white light burst across her vision. For several seconds the entire forest tilted while blood pooled copper-bright on her tongue. Even drowning in terror, her medical mind cataloged the damage with cold efficiency: possible concussion, bruised ribs, shoulder still functional, no obvious fractures. Stay awake. Stay moving. Don't let him take you farther.

The man wiped blood from beneath his nose—the nose she'd broken in the barn—and studied the red smear coating his glove before lifting his eyes to her. Something in his expression shifted. The anger drained away, replaced by something that turned her blood to ice.

"You know..." He took a step toward her. "I'm going to kill you."

Josie's heartbeat slammed against her ribs as she backed away, retreating until her shoulder met unyielding bark. Nowhere left to go.

"But you've been such a pain in my ass." His gaze crawled over her, and her stomach heaved. "I think I'll have a little fun first. Want a taste." His smile widened. "Then I'll put you out of your misery."

She screamed and launched herself at him, fingernails raking across his ruined face. He howled, and she drove her knee upward with everything she had left. The moment he doubled over, Josie ran.

She didn't look back. Didn't think. Didn't plan. Branches whipped across her cheeks, her lungs burned and her damaged ribs shrieked in protest with every breath, but she kept moving even as his enraged roar chased her through the trees.

"You fucking bitch!"