Page 51 of Ruthless Vow

I can hear Danila breathing behind me. He’s out of breath. I’m not. I consider sprinting into the desert, but while I might outrun Danila, I can’t outrun a bullet.

And then what? What happens to Sofia?

I miss my sister desperately. The thought of never seeing her again is more than I can bear.

“I’m sorry, Sofe,” I whisper.

“What did you say?” Danila asks. His head is cocked as I glance at him, my gaze dropping to the gun.

To Danila, and to my aunt, I’m just a dying cat being euthanized as humanely as possible.

But Leo saw me as a wolf.

Wolves aim for the throat or the soft underbelly.

Fuck euthanasia.

“I said I’m scared,” I say as I turn to face him, making my voice soft, adding a tremble to my chin for good measure. Ihunch into myself, making myself appear small and scared and weak.

“You don’t have to be scared,” he replies, lowering the gun. “It’ll be over soon, I promise.”

“You promise?”

Danila nods. “I—”

I lunge at him, fingernails out and aimed at his face. His skin tears beneath my nails, his blood warm against my fingertips. I throw all of my body weight onto him, throwing him off balance, taking him to the ground hard.

We land in a tangle of limbs with me atop him on my knees. He tries to aim, but I ram my knee down on his forearm and repeatedly slam my fist against the place where his wrist meets his palm, trying to get him to release his hold on the gun.

Finally, the gun skitters out of his grip and spins out of reach.

With a snarl, he cuffs me on the side of the head. The world spins, but my pulse is racing, slamming adrenaline through my veins to every muscle in my body. I mesh my fingers together and bring my joined hands down on his temple. He roars and punches me in the chest.

My breath is gone. My eyes tear from the pain.

I weave to the side, my hand hitting something hard. A rock.

I grab it and surge up on my knees as I slam the rock down. He knocks my arm aside and I hit his shoulder instead of his face. Doesn’t matter. I just need to keep hitting him. I smash the rock against his forearm as he bucks and pushes me off.

I bound to my feet and run for the gun. He’s a breath behind.

No time. There’s no time.

I won’t be able to grab it in time, so instead, I kick it as hard as I can, sending it spinning away again.

If I can’t have it, neither will he.

“Stupid bitch,” Danila yells as he lunges for me and grabs my ankle, sending me sprawling. He plows his fist into my faceand I turn away just in time, his fist grazing my cheek instead of getting me full on. “I was going to be gentle. But now, not so much.”

“Me neither,” I say, and drive my knee into his balls with every ounce of strength I still have in reserve.

He cries out and collapses to the ground, right between me and the gun.

I surge to my feet and make a split-second decision to forfeit the weapon and instead turn and run. There are boulders in the near distance and a larger rock formation just beyond that. If I can get there, I can hide. But out here in the open, even with the darkness as a shield, I don’t have a chance.

I’m fast. Faster than I was in high school, at any meet, any race. Tonight, I’m running for my life and for my sister’s life. I run legs pumping, terror driving me.

I dart behind a group of boulders and risk a glance behind me.

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