Page 89

“Rae.”

I whirled on Fox, the gun still raised.

His eyes flared wide, but after a hesitating second, he stepped in to gently push my hand down.

“It’s done,” I deadpanned. What else could I say? I just killed his cousin. Whether he wanted me to or not, there was no going back. There was no undoing death.

Fox kept his hand over mine, closed loosely around the gun. He leaned to the side to peer around my frame at the heap of his cousin lying on the ground. His jaw flexed, and his eyes shimmered, but if he was upset in any way about the murder, he didn’t show it.

“Use the radio. Call the others. I’ll check the cabin.”

As soon as his hand slid away, the warmth of his grip leaving me, shivers broke out all over my body. I could barely keep a grip on the gun with the way my hands trembled so violently.

With no time to parcel out why I felt so good about killing someone, I scrambled to catch the radio as it fell from my shaking butterfingers. Pressing every button before I found the right one, I stammered into the microphone, “We’re at the cabin. Checking for her now. We’ll be headed your way soon.”

Static answered me as soon as my finger lifted off the button. I held my breath and counted to five just before Ben’s calm voice sounded on the other end. “Roger that. We’ll be at the edge of the woods.”

The breath I’d been holding sputtered out of me as Fox walked out of the cabin holding my sister in his arms. She tucked her face into his neck, arms loosely draped around his shoulders. She was barefoot, but someone had given her a thick sweater and sweatpants, not leaving her to freeze in the isolated cabin.

“Everly...”

I took two unsteady steps, then broke into a run. Throwing myself at Fox, I hugged both him and my sister at once, struggling to get my arms around them. I pressed my face into her shoulder, beginning to weep.

“You’re alive! You’re here. You—You—”

“Rae?” she croaked.

“I’m here.” Through sniffles and blinding tears, I pulled back to inspect her for injuries. “We’re gonna get you out of here.”

The adrenaline rush finally caught up to me. I felt like I could have stolen Everly from Fox and carried her at top speeds without breaking a sweat. I could sprint ahead, clearing the path, and not feel a thing in my ankle or knee.

“Rae.” Fox grounded me with that single word. “We don’t have long. The next guard will be here any minute.”

I took a step back. “We should get goi—”

The tread of my shoe slipped in something wet. Something warm that had melted the top hard layer of snow, turning it to mud.

One glance down, and I had the sudden urge to vomit.

Blood.

Bloody snow. Bloody mud. Bloody bits of flesh and pine needles.

Gavin lay on his stomach, his neck turned oddly to the side with his eyes and mouth open.

A finger twitched, and I gasped, but he didn’t rise. Didn’t stir. Didn’t look any less lifeless.

“Rae.”

“Right. Right.” I spun away from the corpse. “This way.”

“Not that way.”

I didn’t argue or gripe this time, letting Fox lead me in the right direction. Of course, at that exact moment, my foot fell into a hidden divot, and my ankle turned with an echoing pop.

I cried out, falling forward onto my knee. My bad knee.

Crumpling on my side, tears burning the corners of my eyes and mingling with the ones drying on my cheeks, I held my injured leg up against my body. One, two, three... Then I blew out a breath to release some of the pain.