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Rowdy starts up again, slightly changing his direction. Me and Wild follow after, carefully avoiding brush that’s thick and will give away our location.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s scared and cold.”
I know those voices.
“Sadie,” Wild utters as I say, “Raegan.”
It takes everything in me not to yell for my sister. I don’t want the kidnappers to know we’re close. Stealth is more important than ever.
Despite the darkness and steady rainfall, I see movement through the trees. Rowdy holds up a fist, gesturing for us to stop. The shadowy figure lumbers our way and the voices grow in volume. In the mix of their low talking, I hear Dakota asking when they can rest.
There aren’t any tents that I can see or campfires.
Did they manage to escape?
Still, we don’t move or speak in case they’re not alone. The crunching of feet in the brush grows louder as they get closer. Then, like a flash, Rowdy darts forward.
“Sadie, shoot him!” Raegan cries out.
Sadie never gets a chance because Rowdy manhandles the shotgun out of her hand before it can go off.
“It’s me, Rowdy,” he whispers. “We’re here.”
I rush forward, eager to see my siblings. As soon as I get close to Raegan, with Declan in her arms, I yank her to me. Declan shudders between us, whimpering. My nose finds Raegan’s temple and I inhale her sweet scent.
“Ryder?” Raegan chokes out. “You’re really here?”
“I’m here, Rae. I’m here.”
Pulling back, I kiss Declan on the head and then tug Dakota over to us. Then my gaze falls to Sadie, who’s now crying in Wild’s arms and…no one else.
My stomach plummets.
“Where’re Destiny and Ronan?” Rowdy demands, stealing the words out of my mouth. “Where the hell are they?”
Raegan’s knees buckle and if it weren’t for my arm around her, she’d collapse. Her tears are my undoing. Between her hiccupping sobs and mumbling, I make out the fact that they had to leave them behind.
We have to go rescue them.
Rowdy starts swearing over and over under his breath. Then, with a ragged, resigned sigh, he says, “We have to get them dry. When we have more to go on, we’ll go after them.”
Wild is already guiding Sadie back the way we came, but my feet are rooted in place. Ronan and Destiny are all alone now. They’ll feel abandoned. Will the kidnappers punish them for Raegan’s escape?
“Rowdy,” I plead. “We can’t leave them alone with those fucking monsters.”
He grunts, pausing to scoop Dakota up and into his arms. “I don’t want to either, Ry, but we have to.”
I know, deep down, he’s right, but it doesn’t hurt any less. None of us wants to leave them, but Declan is shaking so hard I’m worried about the little guy. This small group of escapees are cold, tired, and scared shitless.
We have to regroup.
Fuck.
“Come here, kid,” I say, regret lacing my words. “I’ll carry you now. Rae’s probably tired.”
Declan reaches for me, burying his face against my chest. I attempt to shield him from the elements as best as I can. Raegan latches onto my elbow.
