Page 24 of His Puppet

A surge of respect for the girl flows through me, and my anger melts away.

I let out a laugh and shake my head. Then another laugh. And another. My head guard has come up behind me, and he comes into my view, staring at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Sir?” he asks, concern showing in his expression.

I come down from my laughter and go back to watching Emily. She’s almost made it over a hill, out of view.

“What?” I ask when he doesn’t continue.

“We have the prisoner in our sights. Do we have permission to fire?”

I don’t miss the way he calls her a prisoner instead of a girl. I wonder if he’s as embarrassed by this as I am.

“No,” I say, moving my gaze to him. “In fact, call the men off. Let her make her way up to the road. Let’s see how long she can go before dehydrating.”

He gives a curt nod, turns his head, and talks into the mouthpiece attached to his ear, giving the order.

One side of my lips lifts into a smile.

This just got interesting.

9

Emily

I’ve stopped sweating.

I didn’t know that was even a possibility, to stop sweating, regardless of the above hundred-degree heat. What does that mean? Is therenomoisture my body can spare? Won’t I get a fever? Shit, won’t Idie?

A maniacal laugh bursts from my mouth as I stumble on the gravel and crash to the ground, my hands barely catching me. With my shoulders trembling from fatigue, I push myself back up. This isn’t the first time this has happened. It’s probably every twenty feet now that I fall. It’s only a matter of time before I can’t get back up.

The blisters on the bottoms of my feet protest with each step I take along this deserted road, but they’re no match for the migraine that’s progressively gotten worse over the last couple of hours. Or maybe it’s been several hours. Or ten minutes. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t even know how far I’ve walked, or if I’m anywhere near civilization.

There’s nothing up ahead, and the mafia’s property was out of sight long before I started seeing things. Every now and then, I think I spot a car up ahead. I move to the middle of the road, lift my hands up and wave. I spread my cracked lips and let out a sound that’s supposed to be the word ‘stop’ but comes out incomprehensible.

And then the car vanishes. Notturns down another roadkind of vanishes, but actually vanishes. I blink and it’s gone, because it was never there in the first place.

I let out a tearless cry and trip over nothing. I don’t catch myself on my hands this time, so my face hits tiny rocks that make up this road that leads to either Hell or nowhere. I roll my head and stare at the lone tree on the side of the road. Dread puts weight in my hollow stomach when it looks familiar, like I’ve already passed it. I can’t be going in a circle… That doesn’t even make sense.

My eyes close as I groan.

I thought about going back miles ago. Right around the time I realized I was truly out in the middle of nowhere with very little hope of not passing out from exhaustion only to be eaten alive by buzzards.

That’s the cruel thing about all this. I can see for miles and miles. There aren’t any mountains in my way to give me that ‘just over that hill’ hope.

I breathe dust into my nose, and my body has so little moisture that the dust doesn’t even cake. It settles in my nostrils like a shelf that’s been neglected for ages.

I open my eyes and stare blankly at the small, skinny tree.

The sound of a car rumbling registers, but I don’t bother to look up. I’ve had my hopes crushed too many times while on this road, I don’t have the energy for another.

Tires crunch on gravel as the car slows, drawing near until it eventually stops. The engine continues to purr. A door opens and slams, followed by footsteps coming toward me. This is one hell of an illusion.

“You made it three miles farther than I predicted.” It’s Blade’s voice. “Ten more miles and you would’ve made it to the highway. I continue to underestimate you.”

I don’t speak, mostly because I’m terrified of this truly being in my head. Like if I ignore it, it won’t vanish. As crazy as it sounds, I hope Blade is really here, speaking to me in a voice that sounds impressed. I want him to take me back to the compound, give me food and water, and tell me what comes next. Because I was wrong. I don’t want to die. I’ll do anything to live.

The thing is, when your body shuts down, it takes your mind with it. And when you’re in excruciating pain, you hope for an escape,anyescape. You hope for a savior, even if that savior is the Devil.

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