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Too bad I was a fucking lousy shot.
I shivered a little as the cool evening air seeped through my wet clothes, making me regret my snap decision to climb over the fence instead of going around. I’d just been thinking about getting up to move around to try and tease some warmth into my fingers when the faint, romantic music that’d been playing cut at the same time as the lights, plunging me into darkness.
I swallowed hard, peeking around the box I’d hidden behind, but aside from a faint whisper of moonlight from the open tunnel ahead and a fair bit of fog ambient fog from the machine tucked between the painted landscapes, there was nothing to see.
Don’t panic, Vic.I chided myself, taking a deep breath.
Maybe they cut the power to up the ante or something?
I checked my watch. There were still too many hours until sunrise for the Architects to do something so drastic.
Mechanical failure, then?
A noise from the far end of the tunnel, like a slosh of water, alerted me that I wasn’t alone. I gripped the gun tighter, fear making my hands shake.
When I was with Kohl, I felt like I was invincible. Like I could do anything.
But here? Alone in this creepy as fuck ride with murderers lurking around every corner?Yeah, I was scared shitless.
Footsteps warned me that my unwelcome companion was drawing closer, so in my hiding space, I raised my weapon, ready to fire the second that they turned the corner—until Kohl’s purple mask loomed out of the darkness, making me sigh in relief.
“Fuck, Kohl,” I said, standing from my hiding spot and holding the weapon aloft. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“That so, rabbit?” A harsh growl of a voice came from behind Kohl’s mask before they leaped at me, capturing my throat and using it to pin me against the wall. “I fucking knew that dumbass was hiding something in here—just didn’t expect a littlereunionto happen so soon.”
I swung the gun down against my attacker’s temple, trying to ignore the way that the blood was rushing in my ears.
Dylan.I knew that voice anywhere.
How did he find me? The only person who knew I was here was Kohl—
“Where’s Kohl?” I rasped, fighting to speak underthe flex of his fingers. He let out a chuckle that made the hair rise on the back of my neck.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Not now that I’m here. You wanna know a secret, little rabbit?”
“No,” I spat at him, attempting to bring my knee in between his legs, but he was quick, his hand coming down to catch my leg before it made contact.
“I had a feeling you’d be here,” he whispered. “You see, I’ve been keeping tabs on you. How’s that father of yours? Still eating up all your savin—”
I rammed my forehead into his. Pain shot through me, but it had the desired effect. His head shot backward, a curse ringing out through the tunnel.
All I needed was for his hands to loosen just the tiniest bit—and I saw my chance. The second his grasp loosened, I shoved him away.
He flailed wildly, knocking my hand and sending the gun flying.
The platform on either side of the thin stream that ran through the ride had to only be five feet wide, a fact I’d ignored until I watched the weapon bounce into a floating, swan-shaped boat.
He laughed, ripping off Kohl’s mask as I dove for the boat, catching my ankle as my fingers brushed the butt of the gun, and pulling me back so that my face smashed into the side of the boat, my forehead opening and blinding me with a sickening wave of warm blood. I thrashed as he grabbed onto me, jumping into the water and hauling me back as I tried again for the weapon.
“See, I know all about how you’restruggling,” he said with a bitter laugh. “And what better way to make money than to play, huh? What’s the point of being a legacy without the game after all?”
His arms wrapped around my neck, putting me in a headlock.
I used my feet to push against the boat, forcing us back onto the platform.
He let out a grunt and I clawed at him hard enough to draw blood. Luckily, the water had made me slippery enough to shimmy out of his grip.
But not for long.
