Page 52 of The Queen's Serpent

Tears slide down my face as I put one foot in front of the other, and keep up with Francisco’s steady pace, moving us stealthily through the jungle, and farther away from the place that has been both my home, and my prison, for months. The sound of heavy gunfire, and a larger explosion, has Francisco darting back and pulling me low into a thick grouping of bushes. He raises his fingers to his mouth, urging me to be quiet.

Two men are up ahead, not more than forty feet from us, both dressed in dark blue army attire. They each hold a rifle strapped across their chests, and I can hear the faint sounds of their conversation being spoken in English. “Chances she’s still alive might be slim. I hope for that fucker Diego Cabano’s sake, she is. Stella Stratford has no mercy.”

“He’s going to wish for death if he’s still alive, when she gets her hands on him. Either way, it makes no difference to me. We get paid regardless.”

Francisco grabs my wrist and points in the direction he wants me to go, urging me to stay as low to the ground as possible. I crouch down and keep moving forward, but I’ve taken about ten or more steps when I realize he’s not with me. I search over my shoulder for him, and observe as he stealthily sneaks up on one of the men as he relieves himself against a tree. The metallic shine from a blade in the moonlight, as it slams below the man’s chin and he collapses forward against the tree, is the only sign of his death.

Francisco pulls the blade out and moves towards the other man, who has no idea that his companion is now dead. With an almost unbelievable speed, Francisco darts silently from the foliage and throws himself on the man’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck and taking him to the ground. The soldier tries his best to roll on the jungle floor, and turn the tables on Francisco, but he holds on tightly, and before I can even make a sound, he slits the man’s throat from one ear to the other, and blood bursts from the wound, dark red in the moonlight.Jesus fucking Christ.

I tightly shut my eyes and bite down on the inside of my cheeks, to keep the whimpers that want to escape me silent. Nausea threatens to have me purging my stomach, but I force myself upright and continue moving in the direction Francisco had indicated, as he quickly makes his way towards me.

“Keep going, girl, we have a lot of ground to cover, and more than one predator in this jungle with us,” he hisses as he moves past me to retake the lead, and dread slithers down my limbs.

We continue forward for what feels like hours, my legs and feet aching with all the miles we have put between us and the compound. Every once in a while, I watch as Francisco pulls out a digital compass and stares at it, to ensure we’re still going in the right direction. I want to beg him to stop and allow us to rest a moment, but nothing comes out every time I open my mouth to speak.

Keep going, Issy, don’t be weak. Freedom is this way; you can do it.

The night sky starts to lighten as night gives way to daybreak, and I inhale a deep breath of warm, earthy jungle air. “We will stop up ahead and rest, but we cannot stay long. We have to put many miles between us and Diego.”

He marches towards the trunk of a large tree, surrounded by thick bushes, and removes his pack, pulling a metal canteen from it and taking a deep gulp of water. “Don’t drink too much. You will get cramps, and I don’t know if we will find fresh water again before nightfall returns.”

I replicate his motions, dropping the pack at my feet, pulling the canteen out, and taking a drink. The cool water feels refreshing, and I’m tempted to keep drinking, but I feel his eyes centered on me, and I stop, using the back of my hand to wipe my mouth, and place the canteen back inside of my pack. “How much further until we reach the village?”

“Sixty or more miles. We have much walking to do, and we must cross the river before then. The heat will slow us down, but we have no choice. We must keep moving, or they will find us.”

“Why are you helping me escape?” I question with apprehension as I sit down at the tree’s base.

He groans as he sits down next to me, leaving a distance between us, and rubs the back of his sweaty neck with his large hand. “MyTiaAlisa, said you are not a bad person. You are a trapped, gentle little bird, ready and waiting to be eaten by the serpent. She asked me to help you, to ensure you could get away. She helped raise me when my parents died, and I would do anything for her.“ He shrugs as if leading me through the jungle, while we’re possibly being pursued by Diego, and my grandmother’s men, is no big deal.

“Do you think they are still alive, and have been able to fight off my grandmother’s men?”

A chuckle escapes his lips, and a grin breaks across his face, making him look younger and less harsh. “Santiago is a cat with nine lives, and Diego is the devil; no one can take them down. Worry about you,reina de las serpientes.You’re much easier to kill.”

“What does that mean,reina de las serpientes?Why do you call me that?”I butcher the words saying them, and another amused chuckle leaves his lips.

“Means you are the queen of serpents: snakes,chica. I call you that because you seem to be a snake charmer. At least, that is what I witnessed with Diego, and myTiaconfirmed. You were able to tame him for a while until his venomous nature reemerged.”

I process his words, and a smirk lifts the corner of my lips. I was able to tame him? In what world was I ever able to get Diego to do anything he didn’t want to do?

“Issy, what the fuck!” Diego yells as I launch another vase towards his head.

“You son of bitch, you need to help those four fuckers find my sister, Diego. You need to use your men to scour all of the fucking state to help them locate who has taken her.” I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m being suffocated by the weight of the lossof my sister. Thoughts race through my mind on who could have taken her, and whether she’s still alive. She has to be alive, because she’s one of the strongest people I know.

“Jesus, Issy, fucking breathe, baby!” Diego demands as he wraps his large arms around me, and tries to comfort me, but there’s none to be had while my sister is out there somewhere.

“Promise me you will help find her. Promise me you will kill whoever has done this to her.” I grab tightly to his face, and his olive green eyes meet mine. Worry and anger swirl together in their depths, combined with something else that I can’t name.

He raises his hand and cradles the back of my neck gently, before brushing his lips across mine in a tender kiss. “I promise you, Issy. I’ll end them. I’ll help to find her, but not because you are begging me, but because you are mine, Princesa. Anyone who hurts you in any way will pay with their lives.”

I snap out of the memory and realize that I did have some power over Diego, at least before I told him that it was over between us, and that I didn’t want him in my life anymore. That was the catalyst for the change in our dynamic. That was when his heart became a cold fortress that I no longer held the key to. It was then that he must have come up with this deranged plan to steal me from my grandmother, putting in motion events that would change both our worlds forever.

“Sleep, Isabella. Soon enough, we must keep moving, or the devil and his hell hounds will find us.”

I close my eyes, exhaustion settling on my limbs like a weighted blanket. I’m filled with regrets for the life I’ve lived, the love that I have wasted with my immaturity and selfishness. All the different people I’ve hurt along the way; my grandmother and sister, my friends, or at least what few I had, and I turned my back on Kai, and now Diego. Where does the suffering that I’ve caused end?

You have a chance at a new life, a new beginning, and you can be a better person. You can heal yourself, this weakness inside of you, and live a life worth living. Shed yourself of this self-loathing, and become who you were always meant to be. There is strength buried under the weakness. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be trekking through the jungle to save yourself but, more importantly, to save Diego from you.

I love him,the thought crosses my mind as sleep envelops me, but before the darkness swallows me, a pair of bright blue eyes sear my mind, reminding me he’s not the only one I’ve ever loved and hurt.

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