Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Another crack of his rifle.
Everything immediately goes black.
* * *
* * *
I wake with a start, momentarily confused by my surroundings. Rain patters on my tent and the chill of the evening air burrowing into my bones reminds me that I’m camped out deep in the wilderness on a hunt for my siblings.
“Psst. Ryder.”
Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I sit up as Rowdy enters my tent. It’s too dark to make out his features, but I recognize his voice.
“What’s up?” I ask, voice raspy with sleep. “Is it time?”
He grunts. “Not yet. I heard something. Get dressed.”
With my heart beginning to race, I throw on my clothes within sixty seconds and am out of the tent the next minute. Wild and Rowdy stand huddled nearby, whispering. The rain is cold, drenching me once more, but I’m more interested in what they’re saying since those two don’t exactly directly speak to one another.
“Predator?” I ask when I approach them.
From far in the distance, I hear what sounds like crying. Definitely not a predator. The three of us tear off toward the sound without further conversation, weapons at the ready. I’m hopeful we’re near the camp where my siblings are being held.
We travel for what feels like an eternity when we hear it again. Crying. Young, familiar, terrified.
“Declan,” Rowdy hisses. “This way.”
No longer running, we carefully prowl toward the sound of his voice. If their camp is nearby, we don’t want to stumble upon it unprepared. We need to locate it, make a plan, and then extract our people via whatever means necessary.
Knowing we’re so close has me feeling elated. I just want them all back safely so we can go back home and rebuild our lives.
The crying fades and we all come to a stop. I can’t hear anything over the sound of my heart thundering in my ears.
Come on, Deck. Let your big brothers know where you’re at.
Thunder rumbles above us, making the earth feel as though it’s trembling. I’m desperately trying to see through the dark rain, looking for a campsite fire.
Nothing.
More crying.
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.