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My balled fists tremble at my sides. I know he's trying to scare me, but beneath my fear simmers the desire to lunge forward and savagely claw off his face. I want to hurt him like he wants to hurt me. Hurt him like the wardens hurt me. Hurt him for hurting Reece. I want to hurt him so badly I can barely stand it.
Panic briefly flashes in Wrath's eyes when he catches sight of my expression, but the look promptly vanishes.
"I dare you to follow through with that look," he says in a menacing tone.
I want to. God, do I want to, like I tried a handful of times with the wardens. I might have, too, if Ryder didn't enclose his fingers around my wrist.
His touch yanks me out of my trance and forces me to acknowledge the large group of people surrounding us. If I attack Wrath, then they'd attack us, and we'd all probably end up getting killed.
"That's what I thought." Wrath shoots me a toothy smirk. "I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you when we get to camp. Just you wait."
A ripple of anger vibrates through Ryder. "If you so much as put a hand on her, I'll fucking slit your throat."
I grab Ryder's arm as Wrath stalks forward, his eyes narrowing to slits.
"You better be careful who you threaten," he growls. "If it weren't for the sacrifice, I'd end you right now."
Sacrifice? What?
"Yeah, the sacrifice," Wrath says as if answering my thoughts. "It'll offer us protection from the invasion heading everyone's way. It's why we risked hunting during a full moon. We have to complete the sacrifice by tomorrow or else the deal is off. And we need the deal to go through."
A chill prickles across my skin. We're their sacrifices. That's why they haven't killed us yet.
"Beneath the new moon, I'll watch you bleed," Lex whispers. "And your blood will be like spilled ecstasy that I fully plan on drinking up."
I squeeze my eyes shut. God, no. Not now. Go away.
Lex laughs inside my head.
"Sacrifice?" Ryder says in horror, shuffling back like he's going to run.
"Don't even think about running," Wrath warns. "Or I'll make you watch as I gut her and leave her for vultures."
Ryder freezes, his fingers folding inward into fists.
"Good choice," Wrath sneers then grabs Ryder by the throat and forces him to turn around.
Ryder's gaze collides with mine, and the air gets ripped out of my lungs. I may have told myself to stay positive through this, but the hopelessness in Ryder's eyes makes me wonder if we're going to make it out of this alive.
Chapter Seven
Toxic Smoke
After Wrath removes Ryder's guns from his holsters, he bounds his arms behind his back. Then he orders me to turn around.
Panic swells in my chest. He'll be so close to my wrists. What if he sees my number?
"I said turn around." Wrath quickly loses his patience and roughly pushes me forward.
I trip to the ground, landing on my hands and knees.
"Fuck off!" Ryder yells. "Don't you touch her!"
Wrath ignores him and kneels down, positioning a knee on my back. My muscles groan in protest as he bears down while forcing my hands together. His fingernails stab into my flesh as he ties the rough rope around my wrist.
Before Wrath climbs off me, he leans close, breathing hotly against the back of my neck. "We don't get a lot like you," he breathes. "You reek of innocence. By the time I get done with you, you won't."
Memories surface of me being pinned down to the ground by someone else, and adrenaline rushes through my veins, causing my body to quiver.
Wrath lets out a laugh as he presses his chest against my back. I shut my eyes and mentally count to ten, imagining myself someplace else: in a field with flowers and trees where the air is clean and the sky is bright and I'm happy.
"Get off her!" Ryder growls. "Or I swear to God I'll kill you."
I open my mouth to tell Ryder to let it go, that I can deal with Wrath, but before I can get the words out, Wrath pushes off me.
He storms at Ryder with his fists clenched in front of him. "I ought to kick your ass for that." He lowers his fists. "No, you know what? I have a better idea. I think, when we get to camp, all three of us should go to my tent, and you can watch as I slowly peel her innocence from her bit by bit."
Please, Ryder, don't say anything. You'll only make this worse. I don't want you to get hurt.
By some miracle, Ryder keeps his lips sealed, even when Wrath latches onto my arms and yanks me to my feet.
"Such a pretty, little thing." He traps me against his chest. "Maybe a little thinner than I like, but she'll do."
The muscle in Ryder's jaw twitches, and a murderous look scorches in his eyes. If we ever do escape this situation, I'm pretty sure Ryder will try to kill Wrath.
"They're all secured," Wrath calls out to the woman he referred to as "your highness." Stroking his fingers across my head, he shoves me forward.
The woman leaves the group and walks up to us, holding her gun at her side. "Make them walk in the middle of us. And under no circumstances are they to be killed."
"But what if they try to run?" Wrath protests, tucking Reece and Ryder's guns into his holsters. "They're from the station, so you know they probably will. It's part of their protocol."
"If you shoot them, I'll kill you," she threatens. "We need them alive, at least until tomorrow night."
Wrath grumbles something then stalks off and joins rest of the group.
The woman faces us, tucking her gun into her thigh holster. "Just because I told them not to kill you, it doesn't mean I won't break your legs if you try to run." With that, she marches off, walking a line straight in front of the wall of fire.
The rest of the Forsaken swarm around us and begin herding us like cattle around the wall of flames. Ryder and Reece put me in the middle and stay close. Their presence gives me a drop of comfort. I just wish I could offer them the same thing.
Except for the occasional hushed whisper and the thudding footsteps, a distressing quietness chokes the air as we reach the trail. A mile or so down, Ryder inches toward me, keeping his attention focused ahead. Reece mirrors Ryder's movement, moving beside me. I can feel every time he wiggles his arms. I want to ask him if he's okay, but I don't know if I'm allowed to talk.
"How you holdin' up over there, Reece?" Ryder whispers, glancing back and forth between Reece and the people around us.
"I'm fine," Reece mutters, sounding exhausted.
"Are you counting the steps?" Ryder asks under his breath.
"I'm trying," Reece replies quietly. "But I'm getting a little bit lightheaded."
"That's okay," Ryder says. "I've got your back."
I glance back and forth between them. Counting the steps? Is that code for something?
Ryder dips his head, locking eyes with me. "How you holdin' up, sweetheart?"
"I'm fine," I lie. I'm scared out of my mind.
"Don't worry," he whispers. "We're going to
get out of this."
I hope he's right. I just wish I knew what we were walking into and what Ryder and Reece's plan is to get out of this. Then maybe I could help.
"Stop talking to each other!" Wrath yells from behind us. "Or else I'll come and break her legs. Then I'll have to carry her."
I shudder. I didn't know he was back there.
We sink into silence as we hike for what feels like hours, winding up and down the trail, squeezing between narrow cliffs and climbing over large boulders on the path. Miles and miles pass by in a blur. Unused to being on my feet so much, my legs start to ache, and my footsteps grow heavier. But I mentally scream at myself to suck it up.
Do not show them how much you're affected.
By the time we slow down, the sun is rising and red bleeds across the sky like spilled paint in water. I'm just starting to wonder if maybe we're going to stop and rest when the trail opens up to a flat stretch of land hidden between mounds of towering, jagged cliffs. Enclosing the area are metal wires. It takes me a moment to figure out what it is--a fence. And just over the fence are countless large tents. In the center of it all, greyish purple rises upward and billows toward the sky.
"Everyone prepare to enter camp!" Wrath shouts as he thunders by us and up to the woman in charge. The two of them exchange some heated words, and then Wrath stalks off in a hurry toward the front of the group.
"Hey, Reece, remember that time we raided a channel and got swarmed by a bunch of wardens?" Ryder whispers when Wrath disappears out of sight. "Instead of fighting back, we hid in the channels until we could get a clear shot to get out, but the plan totally backfired because the wardens ended up forcing us out with dreamland smoke."
Reece bobs his head up and down. He looks tired, his skin is pale, and dark circles reside under his eyes. "Yeah. What are you getting at, though?"
Ryder gives a stressing look at the camp ahead. "Well, I'm not sure, but I think that smoke looks an awful lot like dreamland smoke."
Reece drags his head up and dazedly blinks at the smoke funneling up the sky. "Shit, I think you're right."
"You wouldn't by chance have any shade on you, would you?" Ryder wriggles his arms around, attempting to get out of the ropes. "Otherwise, we're about to go on a really bad trip in probably one of the worst places."
"I always have one on me for emergencies." Reece blinks a few times. "I can't get to it, though."
