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“Wait,” I said. “Can you hear that?”
She stopped moving and looked at me as a branch snapped somewhere near us.
We both froze, listening intently for any other sounds. The noises were getting closer, and I could feel my heart racing in my chest. The last thing we needed was to encounter more Viper goons while we were trying to rescue Teo.
An animal raced past us, barely interested in what we were doing. We couldn’t see it, but I thought it might be a lizard.
Sofia poked me on the shoulder and pointed at a large cabin flanked by trees, only visible because of the light coming from inside. “That must be where they’re keeping Teo,” I whispered as I looked at my phone to track his location. “We have to be careful.”
She nodded, and we slowly made our way towards the cabin. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as we approached the door. Before I could reach the door, I heard a sound again. I thought it was another animal, but I motioned for Sofia to stay behind me just in case.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” I heard a familiar voice say.
Teo swayed toward us, clearly disoriented, obviously hurt. Relief washed over me at the sight of Teo, but I couldn’t help noticing the bruises on his face and arms. Anger boiled inside me at the thought of what he had been put through. I could see a cut on his face, long, deep, still running.
Teo’s gaze settled on me for only a moment before he looked at Sofia. “I told you to run.”
Sofia stepped forward, her voice firm. “We’re not leaving without you.”
Teo’s expression softened slightly as he looked at her. “You shouldn’t have come back for me,” he said. “Miranda...”
He motioned toward the cabin. I shook my head. “She’s dead. He made her broadcast it.”
“Sick fuck,” Teo said as Sofia’s eyes widened. “We need to get out of here, quickly.”
“We need to find the Viper,” I said. “He’s in there, and I’m going to kill him.”
“We can’t risk getting caught,” Sofia said forcefully.
“There’s a lot of them, and only the three of us.” I pulled my gun out from the holster and looked at both Sofia and Teo. “Whatever happens, we’re not running without you.”
“Jace…” Teo protested, but I cut him off. He was normally the one to make a call like this, but he was too bruised and battered to argue with me, and we needed to take care of the Viper problem as quickly as we could.
“We leave together. Got it?”
“Okay,” Teo said after a beat. “Fine. I’ll follow your lead.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sofia
Aswegotcloserto the cabin, the air grew thick with anticipation. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, every shadow and rustle of leaves setting my nerves on edge. It felt like we were walking straight into a trap, but there was no turning back now. We had to confront the Viper – for ourselves, and for everyone he’d ever hurt.
I thought about telling them to turn back. We were hurt, we were slowed, there were only three of us. But the Viper had hurt Teo and killed Miranda, and Jace had a spare gun he had given Teo, so I felt like maybe there was a chance we were going to be able to get him.
For a second, I felt a twinge of guilt about what he had done to Miranda. If it hadn’t been for us, she wouldn’t have been there in the first place. But there was no time to feel guilt when we creeped closer to the cabin. Teo scanned the treeline for any sign of danger and the cabin’s sinister silhouette loomed against the moonlit sky.
“Ready?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady as I met their gazes. I kind of hoped that one of them would say no; this was a terrible idea, we should run and turn back.
Neither one of them did that.
“Born ready,” Teo replied, his determination shining through despite how clearly in pain he was.
“Definitely,” Jace echoed.
I swallowed my apprehension and nodded.
“Stay behind us, okay, sunshine?” Teo asked.
I nodded. That had always been my plan. The entrance to the cabin was vacant – no Viper in sight – but it gave me an eerie feeling nonetheless. We walked into what seemed like a typical rustic mountain hideaway; wooden walls and hardwood floors adorned with antique furnishings arranged around an enormous stone fireplace in the center of the room dominated by framed pictures on nearly every wall.
