Chapter 48

Emily.

Once Raina had finished tying me up, she went outside. She must have placed another call because I could hear her voice and no one else. I heard only small snippets. Something about my mom and Dylon. And I heard Eric's name.

But she moved away, probably pacing the forest floor, and I couldn't make out any more of her conversation. Minutes later, she came back and unlocked my handcuffs and took off my gag.

“I know you don't really trust me right now, but I need you to. We don't have long before the trap is set andi won't be able to get you out.”

I shook my head, trying to understand. “What? Wait… What?”

*Who had she been talking to that changed her mind? Or is this just part of the trap?*

“I just need to know you're not going to attack me once I untie you. Okay? Can we agree on that?”

“Why go through the trouble of kidnapping me and tying me up just to let me go? I don't understand.”

“I don't have the time to explain it all right now. But as soon as your mom shows up, Eric will know I was telling the truth and a whole army of Commandos will be coming. Eric won't be led into the trap and you and I will be safe.”

She looked me straight in the eye, not even blinking.

“So, we good? At least for now? You're not going to put up a fight?”

I stared into her eyes, checking for any hint of deception. I saw nothing. Her gaze didn't waver at all. So I nodded.

As soon as she untied me completely, she made her way to the door, placing a finger on her lips before pushing through to make sure the coast was clear.

I thought about how she had betrayed me. How she said she simply saw me as a paycheck. I wasn't so sure about that excuse - I had a feeling there was more going on than she let on. But was this enough for me to trust her? I didn't have much time to debate because a minute later, she came back and ushered me outside.

“There's an old abandoned hunting blind high in the trees not too far from here. Dylon knows nothing about it so if we scatter your scent, he shouldn't be able to find you. We can wait there until Eric arrives.”

“Wouldn't we need to scatter your scent as well?” I asked cautiously.

“Part of my training was learning to mask my scent. I'll be doing that while we lead Dylon on a wild goose chase following your scent.”

I nodded. “Okay. Lead the way.”

*I guess I could always run away from her if I get the chance - if I find out she lied to me again.*

We circled the shack once before bolting off behind it, weaving through trees. At one point, we stopped and turned around.

“Now, it's important we take the exact same route as we did here,” Raina explained. “We'll do this about five times in different directions before heading to the blind.”

“Okay.”

We retraced our steps and when we got back to the shack, Raina picked another direction and started jogging. I followed right behind, hoping her plan would work.

When we got back from the fifth trail of deception,I started hearing voices in the distance. Could it be Eric?

But I saw Raina blanch. “Shit, they're early,” I heard her curse under her breath.

*Who's here? Dylon's men?* Whoever it was, Raina was not a fan of staying to chat. She ran off as fast as she could. “This way!” She commanded. “The blind is this way. If we're fast enough, we might be able to hide inside and wait them out.”

We started off running in the direction of the hunter's blind when I heard shouts behind me. They had spotted us. I ran, following Raina, trying my best to keep up with her strong legs. She had trained for this. I had not. But the voices behind me kept me from slowing down.

“They're too close. If we climb up, they'll just follow and we'll be sitting ducks!” Raina yelled over her shoulder.

“Then what do we do?” I asked, panic in my voice.

“Keep running. Hope that Eric is near enough that we won't tire before he gets here.”

*That's reassuring.*

I steadied my breathing and just focused on following Raina. I couldn't afford to think about anything else. I couldn't slow us down. I couldn't be the reason we were caught.

***

Eric.

I ended the call with Raina, not sure what to believe. How did I know she wasn't the trap instead of the mother? But something in my gut told me I should listen. Tyler had been right next to me, probably heard the whole thing. I turned to him.

“What do you think?”

“I think we should be prepared.”

“They might change things up on us if they know an army is coming.”

“Then you go with Emily's mom, pretending to fall for the trap, and I'll be right behind you with Commando forces.”

I nodded in agreement. “This ends today. No more attacks. No more fear. When I get Emily back, she'll be back for good.”

Not much later, an alarm sounded at the patrol near my house. *Here we go.* I ran to see what was going on, and the I saw Emily's mother on the ground, begging for help.

“Please! You have to come! She's hurt and I'm afraid Dylon and his men have found where I hid her. It's not far, just a shack in the woods.”

When she spotted me, she stopped pleading to the guards and instead turned to me. “You promised to protect us. So please, come protect her. She's my baby girl. I can't lose her.”

It was just as Raina had said. *Pathetic.* I put on a face of concern. “What happened? Where is she?”

She stood up and pulled on my arm. “Please hurry! It's this way!”

I nodded, letting her lead me. I turned to the guards. “One of you, come with me. I may need your help.”

One of them nodded and followed after me. We ran through the forest up and down hills, around trees.

“It's just through here,” she called over her shoulder.

When we broke through the treeline, I saw a small wooden shack with three steps leading up to the door. I could smell Emily's scent everywhere. Rage boiled through me. *How dare they keep her here?!* But the door wasn't shut firmly, it was open and no one was inside. The relief I felt was instant. Warmth flooded from my chest into my arms. *She's not here. She got away.*

“What the–” I heard her mother mumble, surely surprised her daughter wasn't inside. How sickening she would betray her own flesh and blood. The one person that had shown her any kindness. She disgusted me.

I was about to tell her off when I heard growling in the distance. And I could sense Emily's fear of being caught. *Emily!* My heart dropped. Raina's plan must have gone awry. Without a second's hesitation, I shifted and ran off toward the noise.