Chapter 170 Believe Me

Chapter 170 Believe Me

Soren

The shot tore through the forest like a thunderclap, and I threw myself behind the thick trunk of an old oak. My back pressed hard against the bark, my hand clamped over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream. The baby kicked sharply against my ribs—a sudden pain that stole my breath—and I closed my eyes and hoped the bullet hadn’t been meant for me.

Footsteps crashed through the undergrowth behind me, fast and heavy, and I heard a man’s voice shouting orders. Georgina’s people were hunting me, and all I had was a small screwdriver and the hope that I was faster than they were.

I pushed off the tree and kept running, ducking under branches, jumping over roots. The forest was dark, the ground uneven, and every step felt like it could be the last because my legs were already heavy, my lungs burned, and the baby pulled at me like a weight.

Another shot, closer this time. A bullet ripped through leaves somewhere to my left.

“Stop, Soren! You’re only making it worse!”

The voice was close. Too close. I could hear his breathing.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. If they caught me, Felix would never find me again.

A root snagged my foot and sent me sprawling. My knees slammed into the forest floor, my hands scraped across stones. Pain shot through my fingers and ankles, and for a moment I just lay there, leaves in my face, the baby kicking, kicking, kicking.

“Get up,” I whispered to myself. “Get up, get up, get up.”

I forced myself upright and kept running.

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The trees thinned, and I saw a road between the trunks. A narrow strip of asphalt, old and abandoned. I ran toward it because open ground was dangerous, but staying in the forest wasn’t working either.

A car sat at the side of the road. An old sedan, rusty, abandoned. I didn’t recognize it, but it was cover.

I crouched behind it and tried to breathe—quieter, shallower, more controlled.

Footsteps came closer.

“I’ve lost her, old country road. She’s on foot heading east. Cut her off.”

I closed my eyes.

East.

More forest. More darkness.

My body was finished. The baby was demanding rest. Safety.

But there was no safety left.

A man stepped out of the trees.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Shaved head. Gun in his hand. Calm. Too calm.

I pressed myself harder against the car.

He walked slowly around the sedan.

“Come out, Soren. I know you’re there.”

I didn’t move.

“I can smell you. You’re right behind the car. You’re scared. You’re bleeding. You won’t get far.”

I looked down at my shoes. Blood. Dirt. Trembling.

He was right.

“Georgina doesn’t want to hurt you,” he said. “She just wants to talk.”

“She tried to kill me,” I said. My voice sounded stronger than I felt. “She pushed me off a cliff.”

He stopped.

“That was Kai. Not her.”

“Kai worked for her.”

“Kai worked for himself.” He came closer. “Georgina isn’t your enemy, Soren. She’s your mother.”

“She’s sick.”

A dry laugh.

“Maybe. But she’s the only chance you have of getting out of here alive.”

Felix.

His face when they took him away.

His promise.

I’m coming to get you.

“I’m not going back,” I said.

“Then you die here.”

“Then I die free.”

He stepped around the car, and for the first time I saw his face clearly. Older. Tired. Worn down.

“Last chance.”

I raised the screwdriver.

“One more step and I hit you.”

He looked at the tool. My hands. My blood.

And then he moved.

I struck.

The screwdriver caught his shoulder instead of his face. He stumbled back.

I ran.

Toward the road.

Toward the light.

Toward the east.

My legs eventually gave out. I collapsed onto the asphalt. Gasping. Crying. Hand on my stomach.

The baby was still moving.

Alive.

I heard footsteps behind me.

Slow. Certain.

He was coming back.

Then—

An engine.

Fast.

Approaching.

I lifted my head.

Headlights.

I couldn’t run anymore.

The car stopped right beside me.

The door flew open.

Felix.

His face was injured. Blood. Dirt. But he was there.

“Soren. Get in.”

I crawled toward him.

He pulled me inside.

The door slammed shut.

Noah was behind the wheel. He hit the gas.

Gunshots.

Two.

The bullets hit the car.

We kept driving.

Felix held me tight.

“I’ve got you,” he said. “I found you.”

The forest disappeared behind us.

The sun rose over the trees.

For a moment it felt like safety.

Then the baby kicked hard.

And warmth.

Too much warmth.

Wetness.

I froze.

“Felix,” I whispered. “Something’s wrong.”

He looked down.

And all the color drained from his face.

“Noah,” he said. “Faster.”

The car accelerated.

Behind us it went quiet.

Ahead of us the day began.

And I no longer knew if I would reach it.