None of that mattered.
The only thing that did matter was killing her before she got free.
My run switched to a sprint.
Find her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MY STOLEN CLOTHES CLUNG to me as I skidded into the small clearing where my trusty Jeep waited. Its Sahara sand paint glittered with raindrops even in the darkness.
How many hours had it taken me to get here?
Four? Six? Ten?
I’d jogged the whole way, ignoring the stabbing debris against my socked feet. Pushing away the stitches in my side. I’d caught myself when I’d slipped in the mud and forced my tired muscles to keep going, just a little longer.
I’d reached the campsite where I’d slept that first night a few hours ago. I’d navigated the best I could until I’d found the faded ribbons that’d led me to this disaster, and then ran as fast as I possibly could.
I hadn’t looked back.
I hadn’t stopped to rest.
I’d used every second to put as much distance between myself and that ivy-covered palace as possible.
And now, I was almost free.
I’d found my Jeep. My ticket home.
My knees buckled.
My body demanded rest.
My fear was no longer enough to keep me standing.
Don’t you dare. Keep going. You’re not safe yet.
Tripping forward, I gulped down air and tried to calm my tattered heartbeat. Running for that amount of time was different than climbing. My strength was great, but my cardio needed work.
My temples ached with dehydration, tempting me to go to the back of the Jeep and raid my supplies for water instead of the front to escape.
Drink once you’re far away from here.
Balling my hands, I trudged through the wet undergrowth. My soaking socks squelched in a tiny stream that’d appeared from the massive dumping of rain as I crossed the small clearing to my Jeep.
Another flash of lightning lit up the dark sky.
A cymbal crash followed shortly after, making me jump and look behind me.
Was he following me?
Had he woken before the storm?
Am I free?
You won’t be safe until you get out of this damn national park.
Hurry.
My fingers slipped on the clips holding down the Jeep’s hood. Circling the front grill, I popped the other clips and hoisted up the heavy metal. Bending forward, I reattached the battery cables, ensuring the engine looked untampered with and ready to race.
Shivering now I was no longer hot from running, I quickly resecured the clips before dashing to the tree where I’d buried my keys.
Where is it?
Rain continued to pummel me, getting heavier by the second. Each droplet was a grenade, bruising my arms and exploding with wetness upon my head.
Come on...where is it?
I squinted in the darkness, seeking the first ribbon tied in the undergrowth.
I can’t see it.
I skirted around the clearing, waiting for lightning flashes to peer into dark bushes.
It took too long. Far too long. I began to second-guess myself. I began to doubt the past few days hadn’t been a terrible dream brought on by sleep deprivation and food poisoning.
Surely, it couldn’t be real.
Surely, there wasn’t a man living alone out here...untamed and—
A-ha!
A bedraggled, soaking ribbon hung limply in the rain, pointing toward the ground and the small stone I’d nicked with my knife.
Pouncing on it, I dug with my bare hands, scooping away the dirt until my fingers closed triumphantly around metal teeth and a copper keyring of a climbing shoe, courtesy of my brother when I’d first hit online success.
Breathing hard, I pushed off from my knees.
I turned to rush to my Jeep.
Something huge and hard tackled me from the darkness.
Air was knocked out of my lungs; pain detonated from the impact as we fell together, splashing onto the rain-drenched ground.
In a sheet of white lightning, I froze as my captor pinned me to the mud and tried to once again wrap his hands around my throat.
His preferred method of murder.
His only focus to destroy me.
Our eyes clashed in the night. His long hair hung, dripping wet as he fought to keep me down. Instinct fought back. My hands tried to push him away. My hips surged up to knock him off. My skin once again sparked with unwanted electricity.
“You don’t get to leave me. Not you too.” He swatted away my hands, reaching for my throat.
I glanced at my Jeep, just waiting to carry me home.
I curled my fingers around my keys that were my ticket to safety.
And...I snapped.
I lost it.
He doesn’t get to hurt me anymore!
With a bolt of power, I knocked one of his knees out from under him, sending him tipping sideways. I rolled with him, pinning him beneath me, reversing our position.
I didn’t hesitate.
With my hands clutching deadly keys between my knuckles, I struck his face, his throat, his chest. “I curse you!”
Fresh blood bloomed where the metal bit into his skin, mixing red-black in the night with waterfalls of rain drowning us.
I added to his scars. His many, many scars. I would slice his damn throat if I could.