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“Did she get out safely?”

“Yeah. We don’t fuck up.” Nina's chest swells with pride.

“I trust you.”

“Good. We’ll stay here until we’re sure it’s safe to come out.” She leans against the wall, then must think better of it because she begins pacing near the bottom of the stairs.

A gunshot sounds at the other end of the passageway. My heart hurls into my throat. For several seconds, I can’t hear anything but ringing in my ears.

“Shit,” Nina hisses.

“Is it Reaper?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” She glances at the stairs.

“Should we leave?”

“Fuck!” She looks back toward the end of the black tunnel, then up at the stairs. Footsteps pound in the earth. “Up! Go now!”

I scramble up the ladder and try to shove the door at the top open. It doesn’t budge.

“Why won’t it open?”

“Hit it harder. It’s not locked.”

I ram my shoulder into it. A sharp pain shoots down my arm, but the door budges. It’s just swollen shut from the moisture. I push as hard as I can, and eventually, it bursts open. I fall out onto the forest floor. Nina climbs past me and helps me to my feet. We’re about to take off running when footsteps come crashing through the forest.

“Get down,” Reaper commands as he emerges from behind a tree.

I dive to the floor. At the same moment, a gunshot cracks somewhere behind me. I crab-walk away as fast as I can and hide behind a tree.

“All I want is my fucking kid!” The sheriff pokes his head out of the passageway. He rises enough to point his gun outside. He sweeps from left to right, looking for us in the gloomy night. “Give me my son, and I’ll leave the rest of you fucks alone.”

Reaper whips out from behind a fallen tree stump and gets a shot off, but the sheriff ducks back into the passage. His arm pops up a second later, and he returns fire but misses.

I spot the whites of Nina’s eyes in the darkness. She jerks her head to one side. I can’t figure out what she’s trying to tell me, so I stay put.

An eerie silence descends. Danger infuses the air with a static quality that reminds me of the sky before a thunderstorm. I’m afraid to breathe because I don’t want to give my position away. Nina hasn’t left her spot either. As far as I can tell, Reaper’s still behind the log, but with how quietly he moves, I wouldn’t know if he managed to sneak off. This is the only time I’m grateful that he has the ability to blend into the shadows.

“Turn yourself over, and you have a chance at living.” Reaper’s voice comes from another part of the forest. I can’t tell if he’s moving closer or farther away.

“Give me my boy, and I won’t kill every one of you,” the sheriff counters.

“Not going to happen.” Reaper’s deadly tone slices through the air.

“Then you’re a dead man.”

The sheriff bursts out of the passageway, gun blazing. He manages to get off half a dozen shots while racing behind a group of thick trees. A branch snaps, then the forest is still once more.

Staying in one place doesn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. Nina must agree because she motions for me to try to get back to the house. She starts a circuitous path through the trees, but only manages to make a little progress when the gunshots start again. This time, they’re closer.

I drop down behind a massive pine. My whole body quakes as I listen for any sign of where the sheriff might be. I lost track of his location, but I think I’m moving away from him. If I can get back to the house, I can get to a vehicle and go for help.

I don’t know where the hell Scar is or if he has any idea how much danger we’re in. He should never have left us. I wouldn’t be fighting for my life if he hadn’t abandoned me. His obsession with vengeance will get me killed. If I didn’t love him so damn much, I’d be furious, but right now, all I can think about is seeing him again. Where is he?

A hush settles over the forest. I don’t dare move until there’s enough sound to cover me. I try to stop my knees from trembling, but it’s impossible. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. One wrong move, and I’m dead. I want to flee, but which way should I go? And when will it be safe enough to take that risk?

Behind me, a branch snaps. An arm slithers around my throat and pulls me back, strangling me. I manage to scream before my windpipe is crushed beneath the sheriff’s strength. I know it’s him because the stench of rage envelops him.