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“Montgomery? And Jackal? Here?” Ryder demanded, his voice sounding like he was jogging. “Where exactly are you?”
“I’m behind the compound. There’s a bit of a forest, and I think I got a little lost. Jackal said… ugh, it’s too long a story. Just come out to—”
She was about to tell him where to go, her rubber-booted foot stepped onto twigs that crackled and then became empty air.
What the—her brain jerked in thought.
Her forward momentum took her down, her hands cartwheeling as she fell face first into blackness.
First the smell of evergreen surrounded her, but quickly after that the putrid smell of decomposing flesh filled her hood, making her dizzy and nauseous at the same time. She pushed against the branches and retched when her right hand sank through them into something spongy and wet. Definitely not dirt.
“Fuck,” she shouted, and heard the terror in the sound.
She scrambled in the oversized coat, unable to get to her feet. The ground felt like it was shifting and oozing under her, keeping her off balance.
“Ryder!” she screamed, having lost the phone in her fall. Everywhere she pushed, with hands, elbows or knees, they sank into goo and sent up another waft of the fetid decay.
“Nita!” The growling sound of his voice seemed to float up from somewhere beside her. “I’m coming!”
“Ryder,” she gasped as every effort she made to get away from the wet remains under her just sent her deeper into it. She heard the desperation in her voice, the syllables wavering between sanity and madness.
Her hand slipped and she dropped full body onto the murkiness in the pit. The smell of decomposition enveloped her, clawing at her throat, filling her with a nauseating mix of horror and dread. Her body hunched and retched. Just as her stomach let go of its contents, the collar of the coat was choking her and somehow she was flying through the air.
She landed, sitting, on the ground, one boot flying into the darkness. Mud and slime clung everywhere, from her hands and forearms, to her knees and into the one boot she still wore. Her hood had fallen back, rain mingling with the tears streaming down her face.
A figure climbed out of the hole in front of her and she scrambled backwards, slipping on the wet forest floor. She heard whimpers rolling out of her chest, and though she hated it, she couldn’t stop it.
“Nita?” asked a voice.
She fell back onto the ground, staring up at the dark figure hovering over her.
33
Ryder ignored the buzzing of his phone as he raced through the maze of hallways in the back of the villa, his heart pounding in his chest.
Why the fuck was this place so confusing? When he finally made it to the hallway that emptied into the foyer, every fiber of his being screamed with urgency.
Nita’s piercing scream echoed through his mind. He knew he needed to remain calm, but for the second time in his life, he couldn’t push down the panic.
His long strides broke into a run, and as he passed the stairs, he slammed into a black figure, sending the other body sprawling against a wall.
“Ryder, what the hell is going on?” Gunner grunted, righting himself. “Where have you been?”
“What?” he asked, slowing to register what had happened and then moving on. When he felt Gunner’s hand on his arm, he jerked away with a growl.
“What the fuck, man? What is it?” Gunner insisted, stepping in front of him and gripping his forearms. Ryder continued going, pushing against the slightly shorter man and making his feet slip against the marble floor. “Ryder!” Gunner shouted into his face. It finally made him stop.
“I’ve got to go. Nita—” An inexplicable emotion closed his throat, making further words impossible. He hitched a gulp of air, feeling his arms tremble in Gunner’s grip. Panic flooded him.
“I have to get to the compound,” he said, his voice low and strained.
Gunner’s eyes changed, and the man stepped aside joined him when Ryder broke into a jog.
“Okay,” Gunner said, his voice back to business. “But if Nita is in trouble, shouldn’t we call one of the team to go to her?”
“I have to get to her,” he insisted, cursing the expansive foyer for being so large. The palm-tree walkway hid the door, but he decided plowing through it shouldn’t be a problem.
“No, let’s go this way,” Gunner said, reading his mind and tugging on his arm to divert him to the left. “The guests won’t see us this way.”
