Page 61 of Serpent King's Revenge

We took only a moment to move the bike and conceal it in some brush, then we set out on foot. The moon lit our path through the redwoods, reminding me of a night not too long ago when I’d put a gun to my head and told him to kill me if he was going to discard me like trash.

He’d proposed that night.

I still wore that ring on my finger.

We walked through the woods hand in hand, Nathan reaching up to move branches out of my way. "Watch your head," he said suddenly, and I ducked instinctively as a low hanging branch swept over us.

"Thanks," I murmured.

The air grew colder as we burrowed deeper into the woods, but Nathan's warmth shielded me from the biting chill. The dense canopy above us seemed to knit together, a dark tapestry that stole away the silver glow of the stars one by one…then the setting moon. It was just us, and the night, and our escape into a world where rules were made by those strong enough to enforce them.

"Is that it?" Nathan said, his voice low and rough, cutting through the quiet.

“What?”

He took my hand and pointed, barely visible in the starlight–but I saw where he was pointing. A small, abandoned cabin sat in a tiny clearing, shaded by a massive tree. It might have been spooky under any other circumstance, but I just wanted a place to lay my head after the day we’d just had.

“We should stop here for a bit,” he said. “They won’t find us.”

I walked him toward the cabin, my boots sinking slightly into the soft earth. He followed, his movements deliberate, always controlled. Our eyes met and held when we stepped onto the front porch.

"Are you okay?" His question was simple but loaded with concern that reached beyond the physical.

"Yeah." My voice was steady, a small victory against the chaos that threatened to unravel me. "You?"

His embrace was immediate, wrapping me in a certainty that no amount of darkness could obscure. "I'm okay now," he murmured into my hair, and I believed him, because in his arms, the madness of our world seemed to pause. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m glad I’m here too.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Nathan

We gave it a few hours before we did anything at all.

We knew that prison security was probably on our tails…that we weren’t out of the woods—metaphorically—just yet. The shelter of the ancient redwoods and this rundown cabin was a false comfort, an illusion of safety when our lives were still on the line. Abby had risked everything for me.

I didn’t deserve her. Didn’t deserve this.

But because she’d chosen me, I knew I had to do whatever was necessary to keep her safe.

Crickets sang in the dark trees outside as we made our way into the cabin, which was—to its credit—not as dusty as I’d expected. Still, our footsteps left marks on the floor, which I quickly swept away with a broom leaning against the kitchen counter. It was a little chilly outside—we were into November, if I’d counted my days correctly—and I got to work right away sifting through the pack that had been left just inside the cabin, finding blankets, a change of clothes, a couple candles, and a lighter.

There was no food. I guess we were supposed to arrive here with full bellies.

Abby slumped to a seat at the kitchen table, watching me work. Normally, she would have been proactive and doing as much as she possibly could to help, but I could see the exhaustion in her glazed eyes when I struck a match to light a candle on the table. The flame flickered across her features, those beautiful eyes following me around the room.

I found a blanket, draped it around her shoulders. It wasn’t much, but it would do.

“You still have the satellite phone, right?” I asked.

She nodded, pulling it out of her pocket and placing it on the table. “Knuckles said to call him once we were somewhere safe. He’ll give us the rendezvous point, then.”

I raked a hand through my hair, blowing out a breath. “Fuck, Abby…I can’t believe you all did this. That operation—it was huge. You all risked everything for me…”

“You’re worth it,” she whispered. She reached out and took my hand. “Nathan…I can’t…”

Her brow furrowed, her smile thinned.

She started crying.

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