Page 170 of Hate Me

Definitely so much to celebrate.

I answered, “Cas, hey. How did—”

“Get out of there now.”

Adrenaline sparked at his tone, then a chill rolled down my spine. “What? What’s going on?”

“I know you’re out in the open right now. I can’t get my people to you yet. Get in your car and drive like hell for King Manor.”

“Okay, but what’s—”

“Elijah isn’t down. He’s—”

My signal dropped, the call abruptly ending.

I stared at my phone seeing that I had absolutely no reception.

That wasn’t possible… at least, not without direct interference.

A signal jammer, for instance.

That rustling sounded again.

As I went to spin around, a sharp whizzing sounded around me.

A moment later, a stabbing pain tore into the side of my throat.

Instinctively, I slapped my hand to it.

And then I was grasping something and ripping it free to see that it was a fucking tranq dart.

I tossed it on the ground, then pocketed my phone in my jacket and hurried to my car.

Just a few steps in and I felt the fucking shit hit.

The dosage had to be huge for it to impact me this quickly.

Rustling sounded from the cornfields.

It didn’t stop this time.

I looked over my shoulder as I staggered forward toward my car, and that was when I saw a whole unit of shadowed figures emerging and making their way over. I tried to count them, but they blurred into one another.

Shit.

I was gonna lose consciousness really soon.

If I could just get driving and evade these fuckers and then—I stumbled and smacked into the side of my Audi.

Move! Move! Keep fucking moving!

I fumbled for my fob, managing to pull it out.

The footsteps drew closer.

I activated the fob, opening the car.

I struggled to haul open the door and somehow managed it, then went to slip inside, throwing out my hand and grabbing the steering wheel for support as I did.

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