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Ryder threads his fingers through mine. "I'll hold your hand the entire time."
I glance to my left at Reece holding my hand and then to my left at Ryder doing the same. Safeness blankets over me. But any amount of comfort dissipates as a scream pierces the night.
"Shit." Ryder whips around, looking behind us. "Did that just come from one of the caves above us?"
"I think so, but that would mean ..." Reece's gaze is locked in the same direction as Ryder's.
"That the Forsaken are in the caves. Fucking shit. Why the hell are they hunting right now?" He glimpses up at the sky. "It's a full moon."
"I don't know." Reece draws out his gun. "But I don't want to wait around to find out. Let's go. Now."
"I don't think we're going to be able to outrun them. They sounded close. Maybe we should try holding them off for a while," Ryder suggests, backing toward the ledge. "Although, I doubt we have enough ammunition.
Reece points his gun up toward the caves above. "They always travel in high numbers. We'd run out of bullets within seconds."
My heart thunders in my chest as I look around for the Forsaken, but I can't see anyone anywhere.
Suddenly, Ryder sprints forward, pulling me with him and yanking my attention off the caves. For a heart-stopping moment, I think he's going to jump off the ledge, but then he pauses right as his feet reach the edge.
"Hop onto my back," he says, bending into a crouch. "It'll be quicker if I carry you down."
I don't argue and hop on. He gives me just enough time to hitch my arms and legs around him before he takes off down the steep slope with surprising grace and balance. I'd be in awe over his ability to move so flawlessly if another scream didn't shatter through the air.
"Shit, shit, shit." Ryder's shoes scuff against the rock as he rushes downward, grasping onto my legs. "We're going to get out of this. I'm not going to let this happen."
I don't know if he's talking to me or himself. It doesn't matter, though. I can tell he's worried, and I have a horrible feeling this isn't going to end well.
No, I can't let my thoughts go there. I need to stay positive.
Reece runs just to the side of us, using his hand every now and then to keep from falling. He has a gun out and keeps shooting panicked glances up at the caves.
"If we can just get on the trail," he says. "We might be able to--"
Flames abruptly ignite across the base of the cliff, forming a fiery wall that illuminates the night. Ryder and Reece skid to a stop, flip around, and start climbing back up, but they immediately slam to a halt.
At least fifty people cover the cliff side above us. Some are tall, some are thin, and some are bulky and strong. Young and old. Tough and frail. Some are decked out in leather and have piercings and tattoos, and all of them have guns pointed at us.
A shiver courses through my body. My mind flashes back to what Blaise said about the Forsaken gutting us and leaving our bodies to rot in the sun. Is that what's about to happen?
"I'm going to get you out of this," Ryder whispers to me from over his shoulder. "Just stay calm and don't say a word, even if they ask you a question. And whatever you do, don't let them see your number."
"Okay." I don't dare take my eyes off the Forsaken, even as the heat of the fire burns against my back.
At first, no one makes a move. They just stand there with their guns aimed at us. Then someone lets out a shriek, and the group parts, creating a path down the center.
A woman ambles forward into the glow of the fire. She's a few years older than me and beautiful in a fierce sort of way--tall and lean with blonde hair done up in several braids that connect to a single one that's draped over her shoulder. Rows of glinting metal studs dot the skin above her eyebrows, along her ears, and across her collarbones, and silver cuffs cup her upper arm and connect to chains that link to her fingers. Leather pants and a sleeveless top hug her body, and a holster wraps around each of her legs. Tattoos curve around her neck, and blood is splattered across her shoulders and arms. My thoughts instantly go to Blaise. What if his blood is all over her clothes?
"So, you're the idiots stupid enough to enter the caves and wake the spirits." Her voice is smooth as she eyes over Ryder and Reece. Then her lips curl. "Should've guessed you were from the station. Only someone from there would be stupid enough to come to the caves."
Reece and Ryder don't utter a word, their gazes never wavering from her. Reece has his gun tucked behind his back, his finger hovering over the trigger. What will happen if he shoots? Will they fire, as well? Is this where I'm going to die?
She tilts her head to the side as her gaze zeroes in on me. "And who do we have here? Now she doesn't look like she's from the station."
Ryder shifts one of his arms behind him to hold on to me. It's a protective move, one the woman notices.
She rests the end of her barrel against her lips. "Such possessiveness. Hmmm ... I'm guessing one of you is dating her, but I can't tell which one." She points the gun in mine and Ryder's direction. "He's the one carrying her, but"--she swings the gun at Reece--"this one looks like he's about to come unglued." She pauses as if waiting for an explanation. "Or maybe you're both dating her. That seems a little strange for someone from the station, though. They're so big on monogamy over there." She rolls her eyes. "I don't know how anyone could stand living there with all the rules and restrictions. I'd lose my damn mind." Her eyes glide over the three of us. "None of you have anything to say?" She waits a moment then shrugs. "Okay, if that's how you want to play, then that's the way we'll play."
She turns back to the group behind her and addresses a massively bulky guy dressed head to toe in leather with steel cuffs on his boots and wrists. "Wrath, take their guns, bound them, and then we'll take them back to camp and lock them up with the other one."
The other one? Does she mean Blaise? I want to ask Ryder what he thinks, but I bite the urge back, remembering he warned me not to speak.
"Dude, did she just call him Wrath?" Ryder mutters. "What kind of name is that?"
The woman who seems to be in charge twists around with a malicious grin on her face. "Break the rules, and you'll find out."
Ryder mumbles something about how she can go fuck herself, but she doesn't seem to hear him and starts barking orders to the other people looming on the cliff.
"We can offer you money." Reece dares a step forward. "Let us go, and I'll make it worth your while."
"Money?" She looks at him. "What good would that do us? We don't have any purpose for it." Her gaze lazily drinks Reece in. "You might have something else I'd be interested in."
While I'm not positive what she wants, Reece understands, and disgust creeps into his expression.
He scratches at the side of his neck. "If I did ... do it ... you'd let us go?"
She muses over his question. "No, but I might let you stay in my tent instead of in the hole."
Reece steps back. "I'd rather stay in the hole."
Her eyes blaze as brightly as the flames raging behind us. "Remember that when you're begging for me to kill you."
Reece doesn't respond, which only seems to enrage her more.
"Tie them up now! I want them bound tightly, too!" She glares at Reece. "And put the barbed wire on this one. I want him to bleed the whole way back."
Wrath nods with a sickening grin. "Of course, your highness."
Your highness? Huh? Wait. Is she their queen?
Wrath strolls toward Reece, retrieving a strip of metal wire from the pocket of his dark brown distressed leather jacket. Horror slashes through me when I notice the wire has sharp studs along it. They're going to tie him up with that? It seems so cruel, so tortuous, and makes me fear what else they'll to do to us.
Wrath pats down Reece, takes his gun away, and forces him to put his hands behind his back. Then he winds the wire around Reece's wrists, making sure to pull on the ends with unnecessary force.
"It's going to be okay," Ryder whispers, but the strain in his voice i
sn't very reassuring.
I wish I could tell him the same thing, because I don't want him to be scared, but I know nothing about the Forsaken, and don't know the outcome of this situation.
After Wrath finishes tying up Reece, he eyes over his handiwork. The barbed wire is fastened so tightly blood drips from Reece's wrists.
"Get her off your back," Wrath commands, approaching Ryder and me with ropes in his hand.
Ryder slowly straightens his stance and uses his hand to help guide me down to the ground. Once my feet are firmly planted, he positions himself in front of me, shielding me from Wrath's view.
"Look, can't you just leave her untied?" Ryder offers in a desperate move. "She won't go anywhere. She knows there's not a chance in hell she'd survive."
When Wrath doesn't answer, I dare a glance over Ryder's shoulder.
Wrath's gaze narrows on me, his eyes darkening. "I could leave her untied if she lets me carry her." He inches forward, his lips curling. "How does that sound? You want to be my little toy on the way back to camp?"
