Page 46 of The Last Sanctuary

She tightened her grip on the knife handle. Her palms were damp. Her pulse thudded in her throat.

She’d never attacked anyone before, animal or human. She didn’t want to start now. What did she know about fighting? She wanted to live, she knew that much.

She wished he would turn around and leave. He’d never know she had been crouched just feet away.Just go, just go.

Damien opened his eyes and looked straight at her.

For an infinite second, she stared back at him, frozen.

He looked at her blankly, as if she were a ghost he didn’t quite believe was real. His gaze lowered and fixed on the small knife in her hands.

Raven exploded into motion. She leaped to her feet and lunged at him. She flicked the blade open as she ran. Panic clawed at her throat. Her only thought was to stop him from warning the others, the hardened criminals less than twenty feet away.

She thrust the knife to his throat before his face had even registered surprise.

He grunted and let out a curse. “What?—”

“Shut up!” she hissed. “Do or say anything to alert your friends, and I swear to you, I’ll slit your throat.”

He raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. “And if you do that, they’ll come looking for me, find me dead, and then they’ll know you’re here.” He kept his voice low. It was the only thing that kept him alive.

Adrenaline spiked through her veins. Her hands shook as she pressed the blade against his Adam’s Apple. Despite her fear, she kept her tone firm. “They already know I’m here.”

He gave the faintest shake of his head. She pressed the blade deeper. “I said, don’t move!”

He winced. “Sorry, sorry. I won’t scream. I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just—just don’t stab me, okay? I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’m the one with the knife. I’ll decide who gets hurt.”

“Fair enough.”

“And I’m the one asking the questions. Tell me the truth, or you’ll regret it.”

“Okay, okay. I got it.” The whites of his eyes shone in the dim shadows. He looked as terrified as she was. “Whatever—whatever you want.”

She let up on the pressure, just slightly. “How did you follow me here?”

His words ran together in a breathless rush. “At the pharmacy, Dekker saw the Haven bumper stickers on your car. He found a pamphlet for the wildlife refuge in one of the gas stations, you know, the touristy ones for visitors.”

Raven’s heart sank. She knew exactly what he meant. Of course, the pamphlets had Haven’s address on them, as well as cute photos of Vlad and Electra and the bonobos, the entry fees, and hours of operation.

“He was pissed. He wanted you real bad. He doesn’t take an insult easily, and you got the best of him. He doesn’t let thingslike that go. Plus, you looked like you might have some loot we would want. So, he insisted we come here. Dekker wants you, and he recognized the car you drove in the parking lot, so he knows you’re here. I think Vaughn could be convinced to leave without finding you. But if you kill me, what do you think is going to happen when they find out what you did? They’ll hunt you down in earnest.”

“You’re insane if you think I’m just gonna let you go.”

Moonlight limned the hard planes of his face. He attempted a smile, but it came out like a grimace. “You can let me go. I won’t say anything, I swear. I told them I was going for a piss. But really, I just needed… I wanted a minute to myself, you know? Look, I’ll just go back and say nothing. None of them’ll be the wiser.”

“Yeah, right. I have no reason to trust you.”

“You don’t know us, but we’re not bad people. We look tough, but?—”

“Liar.”

“I’m not a bad person, I swear it?—”

She shot him a scathing look. “I know what you did. I saw what happened to Carl. I saw you point your gun at Phil’s face.”

His eyes widened. “You were inside the pharmacy, then? Dekker didn’t tell us.”