Page 59 of A Shadow of Betrayal

“They don't have electricity, but they have freaking GPS trackers,” I whisper in exasperation. Something loud crashing behind me makes me spin, my hand moving to my side where I wear the Kalis Monroe gave me. But I let my hand fall when I see Colton's short black hair. He's running as fast as he can toward me, his face red and sweaty, and I’m pretty sure I see him favoring his right foot.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” I ask when he stumbles, then crashes to the snow at my feet.

“Here! Go, go, go!” he shouts, grimacing when he looks down at his swollen right ankle. His foot is bent at a weird angle, making my stomach turn as I reach down and grab the wadded-up blue flag in his hand.

“Are you sure? I think your ankle is broken,” I stutter, making the boy glare at me.

“Move your ass! You're wasting time!” I blink down at him in surprise and nod, spinning and dashing through the snow toward the first blue flag. The moment I reach it, the bracelet on my arm beeps, and I know my timer has started. Picking up speed, I run as fast as I can, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth the way Theo taught me.

Something moves in my peripheral, and I slow down momentarily, fear setting in before Creed's warning rushes through my mind. “Don't stop. Keep running,” I say out loud, moving faster while looking down at my feet. I grip the silky fabric of the flag as I concentrate, placing one foot in front of the other, trying to keep my weight distributed evenly enough so I don’t sink too far into the snow. Some flags line the small path, but others move off into the trees, making me weave and duck through them.

I curse under my breath when I slip, the icy path underneath me looking far too narrow, so I slow down a little, willing to let a few extra minutes be added to my final time rather than risk twisting or breaking an ankle. I shudder when I think back on how painful Colton's hurt ankle appeared and watch my feet. My pace is still at a fast jog as I weave through the trees at a slight incline. Thankfully, my stretch of the relay doesn't seem to be very steep, so I guess I should be grateful for that. Though I’m guessing that is Creed’s doing since he was the one to select the relay order.

The sound of a branch cracking behind me is the first thing that sets me on edge, but it's the cries of a baby that make me freeze in my spot and close my eyes. I take another step forward, and the baby's cries escalate. “Shit… don’t do it,” I whisper, then force myself to keep going, praying Creed is right and there is no baby up here.

Whoever is taking humans wouldn't take a harmless child, right?

A shiver of excitement that is all too familiar slowly runs down my spine, and I close my eyes in dread, picking up my pace as my free hand falls to the Kalis blade at my hip. “They don’t come out in sunlight,” I mutter, mocking Jordan. Once I get back to the castle, I'm going to tell him how wrong he is.

The baby’s cries slowly fade as I run, making my anxiety hike at the thought of leaving it behind, but before I can think about turning back around, a shadow moves to my left, making my heart skip. A cold sweat dampens my neck as I search the surrounding trees for whatever it is, every small shift of a branch making me flinch.

“Fuck!” I whisper, then shake my head; I’m just being jumpy. Slowing as I come up to a split in the road, I see one side moving left into the dark trees while the other is brightly lit and moving right with the damn blue flag sitting at the center of the two. Thankfully, I already know I need to move left, and I eye the dimly lit trail that isn't as beaten down as the right side is. There are branches and snapped limbs that cover a good portion of the small path, and I curse.

My heart just about leaps from my chest when I hear someone scream behind me, and I whip around, drawing my blade as I look through the thick pine trees, trying to see what it is. I take a step backward, my eyes flicking from one tree to another, before I shake my head and turn, running as fast as I can down the left side of the trail.

More screams sound behind me, this time echoed by a howl, and I pick up my pace. “Don’t stop; keep running,” I whisper Creed's words repeatedly, jumping over a fallen tree and squinting so I can see the dimly lit path better. “Where is the next flag?” I scan the trees, knowing the flags could be off the trail, but see nothing. “I swear if I got lost because of Creed…” I hiss under my breath, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on me as I crash through the thick underbrush.

I can feel the sting of branches as I push through them, their small sharp edges scraping along my skin as the trees creek ominously above me. I place my hand on a tree and frown when I realize I'm still clutching my Kalis and laugh nervously. It's a good thing I didn't fall while running with it. It would be my luck to wound myself with my own stupid blade. I sheathe it at my hip and drag my fingertips over the new throwing blades that appeared on my bed the day after the Demon fight; glad I have them. I may still suck at fighting, but at least I will stand a chance at taking down a Demon before it can get to me.

Glancing ahead, I see a bright light, the trees opening up, and brilliant blue skies shining above. I pick up my pace, relieved to be out of the trees. More cracking noises, then snapping directly behind me, makes the hair on my neck rise just as something big steps out in front of me.

“Shit,” I breathe, my feet skidding in the snow as I pull up short. It looks similar to the two I fought last week, only bigger and black, reminding me of the one I saved Creed from. I eye the giant Demon as it takes a threatening step toward me.

I match its movements, stepping back and falling when my heel catches a tree root behind me. I fall hard, moving my hands behind to catch myself, then cry out in pain when I feel something stab my thigh. Shifting to keep my eyes on the Demon, who tilts its head back and huffs out a breath, I gape at it for a moment, then shake my head. I swear to God… the terrifying Demon just rolled its eyes at me.

I look down at my thigh and grimace when I find the tree root I had tripped over was, in fact, a large branch that is now embedded in my right thigh. I look back up at the Demon and grit my teeth, wrapping my hand around the stick and yank it out, whimpering a little as it tears free.

Looking back down when the Demon doesn't come closer, I grimace as I push myself up to my feet, trying to ignore the trickle of warm blood that instantly starts running down my leg. I hurriedly bend down, grab the small blue flag, and look back up, but my eyes widen in surprise when I realize another branch of the path is splitting left. I had been concentrating on the light ahead, of getting out of these creepy as hell trees, that I missed the path breaking into another direction I should have followed.

I look back up, then curse, swallowing hard as my hand falls to the hilt of my Kalis.

“Where did you go?” I whisper, staring at the now-empty trail in front of me. Dread pools in my belly, making a cold wave of fear wash over me as I turn and run down the path, my feet hitting the ground fast, matching the furious beating of my heart as I run. I keep my eyes shifting all around me, watching for the Demon. This path is angling down, relieving the ache in my calves as I let gravity do its work, moving as fast as I can without tripping and rolling down the steep incline.

After a few moments of running, I burst out of the stupid trees and breathe a sigh of relief when I see the blue flag moving around in a cluster of trees. The path I need to take to get there follows the edge of the mountain, granting me a breathtaking view of the world below me. Bright fluffy white clouds drift in the sky, so close I feel like I can reach up and touch them with my fingertips.

Panting hard, I slow my sprint and toss a look over my shoulder. My mouth drops open in surprise when I see a ledge to the right, slightly above where I came out of the trees. The opening from the darkened trees above is a sudden drop that has to be at least thirty or more feet. With how fast I had been running and how bright the sky was in the dark, I’m not sure I would have seen it until it was too late.

Confusion wells in me as I jog up a snow-covered hill to the next flag off the trail and stumble through the deep snow, my throbbing thigh screaming in pain as I go. I almost cry tears of relief when I see the last blue flag with a Ranger pacing anxiously. His green eyes snap up to mine as I wade through the snow as fast as I can, and he frowns, his eyes raking down my body, going from my face and settling on the bleeding thigh as I stretch my hand out and throw the stupid blue flag at him.

“Go!” I rasp, plopping down on my ass and taking deep breaths. The Ranger, I think his name is Hanson or something, doesn't bother to ask if I'm alright. He simply dashes off in the direction of the other flag, and I flop back, resting my tired body on the snow as I try to calm down, more confused than ever. I’m not sure what's happening here, but I'm almost positive that Demon stepped out in front of me so I wouldn’t fall off that ledge.

I groan, running my hands over my face, and close my eyes. Why is everything more complicated now than when I first showed up?

THIRTY-ONE

Lennox

I pace in front of the gate, clenching my jaw so damn tight, I'm surprised I haven't cracked a tooth. “You need to stop. You're stressing me out,” Creed snaps next to me, pacing in the opposite direction. I grunt in frustration and look back at the narrow road leading up to the castle. All six flags were brought back to the castle, and though we didn't win, we did get second place. Unfortunately, the Drakos line won the games, meaning they will pull further ahead in the rankings.

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