Page 20

Tory

The wreckage of Jaxson’s Jeep burned fast, the flames roaring as the twisted metal melted into itself. The fire cast jagged shadows across the landscape, flickering against the wiry shrubs and the gnarled, windswept trees that reached for the dark sky.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. My ears rang from the blast, and every time I blinked, the explosion’s afterimage burned against my eyelids as a blazing orange streak tearing through the endless black.

Jaxson’s Jeep was supposed to be our escape out of this hellhole. Our only chance.

The firelight danced across Jaxson’s face, showing his tight jaw and wild eyes.

His mouth moved, yelling something, but I couldn’t hear him over the roaring flames and the piercing ring in my ears.

My legs felt like stone, frozen beneath me.

All I could do was stare at the burning wreck with the heat prickling my face and the acrid stench of gasoline and rubber choking the night air.

“Tory!” His voice finally cut through my haze of shock, sharp and commanding. His hands gripped my arms, his touch firm and grounding. He shook me hard enough to jolt me back to reality. “Move! We have to run!”

Run? Oh, God. I could barely feel my legs.

He yanked me to my feet, his strength the only thing keeping me upright as my knees buckled. My hand clutched his like a lifeline, my fingers trembling as he pulled me forward. Onyx barked in short, sharp bursts, and growled low in her throat with a bone-deep, terrifying sound.

The heat from the fire was unbearable, licking at my back as we scrambled around the wreckage.

My skin prickled and sweat slicked my palms as we staggered toward the track.

If you could even call it that. The track was barely a pair of twin divots, carved into the coarse sand and cutting through the wild, untouched terrain.

The bushes ahead of us glowed orange, flickering with fire from the blast. Flames licked the branches of the low, twisted shrubs, jumping from one wiry tuft of grass to the next. A gust of wind swept through, fanning the fire higher, and panic rose sharp and fast in my chest.

“Jaxson!” I gasped, choking on smoke as we fought our way through the undergrowth. “The fire?—”

“We’ll make it!” he shouted back.

The sand beneath my feet was coarse and uneven, littered with broken shells and jagged rocks I couldn’t see until I stepped on them.

I only had one shoe, and Jaxson was barefoot.

And poor Onyx. I winced at the thought of her pads burning on any hot pieces of metal, but she didn’t falter.

She kept her nose low to the ground, guiding us like she knew exactly where to go.

Did she? Did he ?

I could barely see. The faint glow of moonlight only just broke through the shifting smoke.

The Milky Way stretched overhead like a pale ribbon across the sky, but it wasn’t enough to light our way.

The bushes clawed at my face and arms, their spindly branches scratching at my skin as we crashed through.

Every breath burned. Every step was a gamble, dodging around the glowing embers scattered across the ground. My feet slipped on patches of damp earth hidden beneath the sand, and my legs shook so badly I wasn’t sure they would hold me much longer.

Jaxson’s grip on my hand was like iron, steadying me every time I faltered.

“We’ve got to keep moving!” he yelled, his voice slicing through my panic .

Behind us, the fire roared louder, consuming everything in its path. I dared a glance back. The flames had spread to the low-hanging branches, the dry leaves igniting one by one in a chain reaction. The heat seemed alive, chasing us, snapping at our heels.

And what about those men on that rubber boat who’d fired the RPG? Were they on the shore yet? How close were they?

“Jaxson,” I gasped, struggling to breathe. “Do you think they’re chasing us?”

“Just keep moving,” he yelled.

I wanted to argue, to stop, to turn around and look, to figure out how much time we had. But he kept me moving, my legs stumbling forward only because of Jaxson’s firm grip on my hand.

Onyx growled again, deep and guttural, sending a chill down my spine. She twisted her head, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air, her body taut, ready to attack.

My mind raced as panic threatened to take over. What if the men from the boat had already reached the shore? What if they were watching us right now, lining up their next shot?

“Jaxson,” I choked out, tears stinging my eyes.

“Shh. Keep going!” His voice was low and rough, yet unwavering.

Keep going? My legs were about to collapse, my lungs screaming for air that didn’t seem to come fast enough. Every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire, and each step was a battle I was losing. My body begged me to stop, to rest, to give in.

I yanked my hand free from his grip, stumbling to a halt as my knees buckled.

“I can’t . . .” The words tore out of me, broken and gasping. “I have to stop.”

Doubling over, I braced my hands on my knees, dragging in sharp, ragged breaths that burned all the way down.

“Tory.”

The softness in his voice startled me, cutting through the roar of blood pounding in my ears. I blinked up at him, barely able to see through the tears that blurred my vision.

He leaned in close and gripped my shoulder, not rough or demanding, but firm and grounding. His face was bathed in the flickering fire glow behind us, his expression tight with urgency. Yet his eyes softened as they met mine, steady and calm despite the chaos around us.

“You’ve done so well,” he said, his voice low and even, like he was trying to pull me back from the edge. “But we have to keep moving.”

“I can’t,” I choked out, my voice cracking as the tears spilled over. “I just . . . I can’t.”

He brushed his thumb against my shoulder in a fleeting gesture of reassurance that softened the terror clawing at my chest.

“Okay. Okay.” His voice was calm, but his gaze stayed locked on the trail behind us. The dread in his expression sent a cold spike of fear through me that was sharp and paralyzing.

My breaths hitched as I fought to swallow the lump rising in my throat. The air felt too thick, and my lungs too tight.

“We need to hide.” He pulled me upright with one firm motion. “Come on.”

Onyx let out a low, uneasy whine as she pressed her nose to the ground, sniffing furiously.

Jaxson’s eyes darted toward the twin divots of the car tracks stretching ahead, scanning them with laser focus. “We need to get off this trail,” he muttered. “They’ll follow these tracks straight to us.”

He tugged me sharply to the side, pulling us into the dense thicket of bushes.

A couple of feet in, he paused. “Stay here. Hold her.”

He guided my trembling fingers around Onyx’s thick leather before I could protest.

“Where are you?”

“Shh.” Without another word, he crouched low and snatched a fallen branch off the ground. Then he was gone, sprinting back the way we’d come.

My heart pounded as I watched him through the gaps in the foliage.

With the firelight flickering in front of him, he stood out like a storm cloud on the horizon as he kept running.

But just as I was about to lose sight of him, he stopped, pivoted, and started moving backward, sweeping the branch over the sand in long, deliberate strokes.

He’s covering our tracks.

The realization didn’t ease the tight knot of fear in my chest. I clutched Onyx’s collar, trying to keep her still as she sniffed and shifted beside me with her eyes never wavering from her master.

Jaxson repeated the movements, methodically erasing traces of our footprints until he finally returned to my side, breathing ragged breaths.

“Let’s go,” he whispered. “That way.”

He nodded with his chin toward the darker undergrowth ahead.

Clutching Onyx’s collar, I stumbled forward as the coarse sand beneath my feet gave way to tangled roots and wiry grass. Low shrubs clawed at my uniform pants like cat claws as I forced myself to stay low.

My cats!

The thought of Oscar and Stella struck me like a bolt out of the blue. Oh God, they were probably tearing up my place by now, yowling at the walls, staging a feline rebellion.

Who am I kidding? They probably haven’t even noticed I’m late. It’s me who misses them.

I could already picture Stella sprawled across my favorite sweater, shedding like it was her life’s mission, and Oscar perched on his favorite windowsill, staring at the world like he dominated it. At least I’d filled their feeder and water bowls before I left. They would be fine for a week.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t be gone that long.

Behind me, Jaxson trailed in silence, sweeping the branch in precise arcs to erase our footprints. Each step forward felt like a battle, and every movement was fueled by fear and sheer determination.

The faint glow of the fire behind us cast jagged shadows across the trail, just bright enough to reveal glimpses of the burning wreck in the distance.

I couldn’t see the men who had started that fire, but I knew they were coming.

My stomach churned, and a wave of nausea rose in my throat.

Swallowing hard, I forced it down, clenched my jaw, and kept moving.

Jaxson stooped low, his movements quick and deliberate as we scrambled deeper into the bushes, weaving through the thick vegetation. Finally, with a sharp exhale, he dropped the branch.

“This way,” he said, grabbing my hand.

He led me farther into the undergrowth, and the bushes grew denser with every step. The twisted branches of coastal scrub trees tangled overhead, forming a canopy that swallowed what little light the moon and stars provided.

Onyx growled softly beside me, her ears pinned back as she sniffed the air.