Page 96 of Forged in Blood

Then I will start at the river.

With a heavy ache in my chest that I haven’t felt since I was human, I head back in the direction I came from and hope we find her quickly.

Chapter

Fifty-One

OPHELIA

Iscramble through the trees, the sensation of impending doom growing heavier with each step I take, but every second I’m even more convinced that the boys are in some kind of trouble and that I need to help them.

I stumble over a broken branch and fall to my knees. “Ouch!” I hiss as a sharp piece of bark tears open my skin.

Hushed voices and footsteps draw near, and I hold my breath, willing my heart to stop racing. Vampires will be able to hear me from hundreds of yards away no matter what I do, but perhaps they are my vampires.

The noises grow ever closer, and I push myself to my feet, squinting to see any figures dipping between the trees, but there’s so little light. I take a deep breath and make a run for it, repeatedly chanting Axl’s and Xavier’s and Malachi’s names in my head in the hopes that they’ll hear me if I’m close enough, despite the magic they told me about.

But the noises grow closer, and I instinctively know that the source isn’t friendly. They seem to circle me, taunting me. I run faster, using my hands to guide me through the thick trees. The sound of flowing water reaches me, and I recall something I read once about animals using water to mask their scents. With my heart thumping loudly in my ears and adrenaline thundering through my veins, I run as fast as I can toward the river.

But I’m not fast enough. A bulky body collides with mine, bringing me crashing to the ground. He breathes heavily, and I retch as his stench overpowers me. One of the foster kids I shared a home with was once sprayed by a skunk, and it’s the exact same foul smell.

“Hey, Malone! I got her,” he says to his accomplice.

A sinister laugh rings through the trees beside me.

“Is she a pledge?”

He flips me over onto my back and straddles me, and that’s when I see he’s wearing night vision goggles. “Don’t think so. I don’t recognize her.”

Malone steps closer. “She anyone important?”

He grabs my face and squeezes my cheeks together. I buck my hips and shove at his torso, trying to throw him off, but he’s too strong. He pins my wrists in one of his huge hands. “Nah. She ain’t nothing special.”

“What do we do with her, Jensen?” Malone asks. “We could have a little fun, but we don’t have time.”

“Hmm.” Jensen squeezes my cheeks tighter. “I think we use her as bait. What do you think?”

What the hell?

“Bait?” Malone says.

“Yeah. Smear her blood over the trees. Cut off her fingers.” He trails his hand over my jaw, down my collarbone, and roughly squeezes and twists my breast. I yelp. “Maybe a few internal organs. Keep those fuckers distracted. Scent is a big deal, right? That’s what all the prep has led us to believe. You know we all had to hand over our T-shirts and change into clean ones. They must use dogs to track our scent or something.”

“You seriously think you can just cut me up and nobody will notice?” I scoff.

Jensen picks me up and hoists me over his shoulder. “We can do anything during the Hunt, darlin’. There are no rules tonight.”

I punch at his back and kick my legs, but he only laughs. And he only laughs harder when I let out a blood-curdling scream. “Nobody will hear your screams ’round here, darlin’.”

“Get the hell off me. I’m—” A piece of stale cloth is forced into my mouth, and I gag as the taste of gasoline coats my tongue.

“Still fucking annoying though,” Malone says. “Where shall we take her?”

“I’m thinking the steepest part of the ravine. We get a good vantage point and see where we need to go. Then once we figure out our route, we smear ourselves with her blood, chop off whatever pieces of her we need, and stuff ’em in our packs and go. They won’t be chasing her scent, so we’re home free.”

Malone grunts his agreement while my stomach threatens to relieve me of its contents. I swallow down the bile in my throat as tears leak from my eyes. My heart is going to explode with how hard it’s racing now. Adrenaline and fear race through my veins, sending surges of strength to my limbs, but no matter how hard I struggle, Jensen overpowers me. Why am I so afraid when I never have been before? Is it because I see no way out of this? Maybe it’s because for the first time in my life, I know that someone will miss me if I were to die. I recall Axl’s pain and anguish when he needed my blood. Will that happen to all of them? Will they die without me? A strangled sob escapes my throat. What the hell have I done? And where the hell are my boys?

I don’t know how long we walk, but my stomach aches from being carried over Jensen’s shoulder. After my third attempt to get away and him threatening to tie me up, I stop struggling, figuring I’ll have better odds at making my escape once we get where we’re going. If I’m tied up, that will be a hundred times more difficult.

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