Looking around, I think I’m safe here; I just need to keep quiet, but my breath comes in ragged gasps; my heart feels like it’s about to burst from my ribcage.
I clutch the radio; if something happens, if Roman’s men find me, I need to send a message, at least to let Knox and the others know.
Knox…
He’ll blame himself. I know he will.
I shake my head, pushing the thought aside, and click the radio. I don’t know how far I’ve gone or if I’m even in range, but I have to try. Roman shouldn’t be able to hear this… I hope.
“Knox,” I breathe. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m safe. Don’t worry about me; please get Dante.”
The last word cracks, and I slap a hand over my mouth, muffling the sob that threatens to escape.
A beat of static.
“Oh, pet…” Knox’s rough, calm tone hums through the speaker, and the tears spill over down my cheeks. “I thought,” He stops. More static.
“Knox?” I whisper, the radio shaking in my hand.
“I will find you. I promised Dante.” He growls, and I hear the pain.
Goddamn it. I know he will. It’s only a matter of time, but I need distance, just enough to think.
“Reaper,” I choke out, his name a broken whisper, a sob slipping past my lips before I can stop it.
“Fuck, pet,” he grunts, and the sheer frustration in him shreds me. “Stay hidden. We’re coming for you.”
The radio clicks, and I turn it off, stuffing it into my pocket. Ipull my jacket up over my face, biting down on the fabric to silence the cries bubbling up. It hurts so much. Too fucking much.
Bryn.
We had our differences. God, if this was before the plague, we would’ve hated each other. She wouldn’t have spared me a second glance. But this? All of this? The hunters, the loss, the constant fear—it bonded us. Made us sisters in ways blood never could.
She was the first person I had hugged in four years. The first person to sleep curled beside me on cold nights. I’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone’s skin against mine, the steady rhythm of another heart beating close enough to hear.
If it weren’t for her, I would’ve shot myself when Knox and Max caught us. I was ready, desperate, to keep myself from being taken by them. But Bryn stopped me. She convinced me they weren’t like Cash. They weren’t monsters.
And now… now she’s gone.
Because of that bastard Ethan.
I curl deeper into the cave as the rain pounds harder outside, and I close my eyes.
I just need to rest. Just for a few hours.
Leaning into the rock, I try to steady my breathing, to quiet the storm in my mind like I did when I left Cash.
A sound snaps me awake. The sun is out. Footsteps.
I don’t move. I barely breathe.
A hand gropes inside the small opening and clamps around my arm. I scream, thrashing, but the space is too tight; I can’t kick, can’t fight. So, I do the only thing I can. I sink my teeth into his flesh, biting down until I taste blood, until I tear a piece of flesh.
He howls and staggers back.
“This bitch! She fucking took a piece!”
I don’t waste a second. I bolt, scrambling out of the hole and sprinting toward the river. If the guys are coming, that’s where I’ll find them.
