Page 107 of Forsaken Oath

I chuckle despite the unease churning inside me.

I set my phone aside just as a red light blinks to life on my dashboard. The GPS tracker. Right on cue. I grab the small device and stick it in the phone holder attached to my heating vent, making sure it’s secure.

The sun’s last light sinks lower on the horizon, and the sound of engines revving echoes through the field. One by one, cars begin pulling into position, lining up.

The familiar hum of anticipation thrums through me, sharpening my focus until there’s nothing left but the race and the challenge ahead.

For a split second, I think of Peach. Her fierce determination, the way she kissed me like it was the last thing she’d ever do.

I grip the wheel tighter, my resolve hardening.

This isn’t just about winning anymore.

It’s about protecting what’s mine.

And nothing has ever been more mine that Eloise Hawthorne.

“Drivers, start your engines,” the robotic voice says over the radio.

I grip my clutch in one hand, the steering wheel in the other. “Time to drive.”

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One,” the robotic voice says.

The Hellcat’s engine roars to life as I peel out onto the old tarmac. Eloise’s car rockets forward in front of mine, a blur of sleek curves and gleaming paint.

The other cars scatter, some veering left toward the cornfields, others gunning it straight down the cracked airstrip. But my focus narrows to the red taillights in front of me, to keeping Eloise's car in my sights as we race into the unknown.

We hit the first fork in the maze almost immediately. The GPS doesn’t give us the correct path, more like highlighting the maze’s perimeter so we’ll know if we veer out of the maze.

Peach goes left, and I’m hot on her heels as we plunge into the towering corn. The stalks whip past my windows, a disorienting blur of beige and green.

The corn seems to close in around us as we speed down the narrow dirt path. I keep Peach’s taillights in view, determined not to lose her in this twisting labyrinth. The Hellcat’s engine growls as we take a sharp turn, tires spitting dirt.

A flash of movement catches my eye to the right. Between the stalks of corn, another car speeds down a parallel path. I floor the gas, pulling alongside Peach and putting myself between her and everyone else.

We hit another fork in the maze, the path splitting into two narrow dirt lanes that disappear into the sea of corn. I veer left without hesitation, the Hellcat’s tires kicking up clods of earth as we skid around the turn.

For a split second, I think Peach is right behind me, her headlights filling my rearview mirror. But as the dust settles, I realize with a sinking feeling that it’s not her sleek little coupe on my tail—it’s a Mustang, its black matte paint job seeming to absorb the light.

Fuck.

Where is she?

46

ELOISE

The Mustang seemedto appear out of thin air, a sleek black ghost materializing from the wall of corn. Its engine roars as it swerves into the narrow space behind Beau, effectively cutting me off.

“Shit!” I yank the wheel hard to the right, my tires screeching in protest as I narrowly avoid rear-ending the Mustang. My heart pounds against my ribs as I careen down the alternate dirt path, the corn swallowing me whole.

The tires skid across the dirt, throwing up a cloud of dust that fills my vision. For a terrifying moment, I’m driving blind, the stalks of corn mere shadows in the haze.

I slam the clutch and drop to a lower gear as I swerve onto the narrow path. The corn envelops me, a towering beige cathedral that blocks out the fading sunlight, leaving me in a strange, shadowy world.

I keep my foot on the gas, the coupe’s engine roaring as I speed through the narrow dirt lane between the walls of corn. My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, my jaw clenched tight as I strain to see through the cloud of dust.

The GPS shows that I’m still within the maze boundaries, but without knowing the actual maze layout, I have no idea if this path is a shortcut or a dead end. Going backward in this narrow path isn’t an option. All I can do is push forward and hope I find my way back to the main route. And back to Beau.

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