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“Did you think it would be that easy?"
He shook his head. "No, but I'd hoped. And if she’s as good as Tabatha said, she's probably also a climber."
My gaze automatically flickered to the trees, but I moved further into the forest, avoiding Maxim and Robert. Rook was already way ahead somewhere, rushing about. Saint put out his fist, and I bumped it with mine. "See you on the other side."
"To the victor go the spoils."
Which made me think of Maxim and Robert. I did not want to think about them having spoils with Saff. I tried to keep my brain focused. The further I stepped into the woods, the more hyperaware I was that I might be underprepared for this. I stopped and finally opened up my pack. Inside, I found a compass, the water, and a knife. I put the knife in the sheath at my belt and held the compass. That way, at least, I wouldn't get turned around.
Somewhere to my left, I heard someone scream. And then they went silent. Oh fuck. I didn't know what games these were, but it would serve me well to be on red alert.
I'd been walking through the patch of forest for twenty minutes when a scent on the air caught my attention. Roses. I checked the wind and headed north where the scent had come from.
Wasn’t she aware her perfume was giving her away? Or was that on purpose?
I was moving quickly when my foot hit something, and then someone groaned. I kneeled down and found Rook. He'd been tressed up like an offering and covered in mud. I kneeled down to remove the tape from his mouth, and he shook his head. "Ugh, I couldn't fucking help it."
"Was this her or the others?"
"Her, fucking her. I thought I'd run in here and track her electronic signature. I was so stupid. She walked right up behind me and zapped me with the tranq. I woke up like this."
"Sorry."
"Another fucking month. What does it matter? I just got here."
"Sorry."
I heard footsteps to my left and turned to find Robert, who asked, "Mate, is she here?"
"No, she's been here though."
He glanced down at Rook and winced. "Some of us just aren't cut out for this."
I expected him to move on, but he lingered. Which had me on alert. "Where are you headed next? Back west?" he asked.
“I want to keep going north."
He nodded slowly and pushed past me. “It did occur to me that if you're not actually looking for her I had a better chance."
I laughed. "Aw, mate you don't really think that's going to work out, do you?"
He launched at me, but I’d already pulled my knife from the sheath at the back of my cargo pants. He kicked out a foot for me, and I caught it. Just like with Saff the other night, and I dropped him, using the knife to ink a nice arc on his chest.
“Ah, fuck you,” he moaned.
“I didn't start this."
He tried to roll back up.
I laughed. “You are already marked. Stay down."
“I might be marked, but I'm happy to mark you back."
"That's not realistic, because you wouldn't be getting up from that wound."
“Yeah, I would."
And I realized he had no intention of playing by the rules. I was aware there were probably cameras in here, so I was following the goddamn rules. I didn't want to, but I was. He tried to lunge and kick me off my feet, like a full tackle. He got me, but I didn't go down alone.
