Page 83 of A Rebel's Shot

Panic surged through her veins, lending her a burst of desperate speed. She leaped over a moss-covered log, her foot catching on the edge. She tumbled forward, hands outstretched to break her fall.

Pain lanced up her arms as she hit the ground, rocks and twigs tearing into her palms.

No time to dwell on the pain.

Merritt scrambled to her feet, ignoring the warm trickle of blood down her wrists. She pushed forward, ducking under branches and weaving between trees. Herclothes snagged on thorny bushes, ripping as she tore herself free.

Every obstacle felt like a betrayal, nature itself conspiring to slow her down, to deliver her into the nightmare that had haunted her since childhood.

Merritt’s eyes darted wildly, searching for any sign of the plane wreck.

It had to be close.

She couldn’t have run that far, could she?

The forest seemed to stretch endlessly before her, a green labyrinth with no escape in sight.

A deafening roar shattered the air behind her, so close she could almost feel the bear’s hot breath on her neck. Her heart leaped into her throat, choking off a scream. She risked a glance over her shoulder, instantly regretting the decision.

The grizzly was massive, its fur matted and eyes wild with hunger or rage—she couldn’t tell which. It lumbered after her with terrifying speed, closing the distance between them with each powerful stride.

Merritt’s foot caught on an exposed root, sending her sprawling forward. She tumbled through a thorny raspberry bush, its sharp spines tearing at her clothes and skin. The pain barely registered through her overwhelming terror.

As she struggled to her feet, her eyes widened in horror.

Before her was a deep fissure less than two feet wide in the earth, a jagged wound in the forest floor. Her toes curled in her boots, gripping desperately tokeep her balance. She could jump across, but the mountain jutted straight up on the other side.

The crack stretched away from her, a dark gash leading toward the cliff face on one side and the forest on the other.

A crash from behind snapped her around, her breath catching in her throat as she found herself face-to-face with her pursuer. The bear reared up on its hind legs, towering over her. Its rank breath washed over her face as it let out another earsplitting roar.

Merritt’s mind went blank with terror. Without thinking, she threw herself into the fissure, scrambling down into the darkness as rocks and dirt cascaded around her. Her hands clawed at the rough walls, desperate for purchase as she slid deeper into the earth.

A searing pain tore across her arm as the bear swiped at her, its massive paw catching her just before she slipped out of reach. She cried out, the sound echoing in the narrow confines of her refuge.

The bear’s furious roars reverberated above her, drowning out the pounding of her own heart.

Merritt wedged herself farther down, ignoring the scrapes and bruises forming on her body as she contorted to fit into the ever-narrowing space.

She slid and scrambled downward, her fingers bleeding as they scraped against the jagged rock walls. The fissure seemed endless, swallowing her whole as she descended into its depths.

The bear’s frustrated growls grew fainter, but the terror that gripped her heart showed no signs of loosening its hold.

Finally, she could go no farther. The crack had narrowed to the point where she was wedged tight, barely able to breathe in the confined space. Darkness pressed in on all sides, broken only by slivers of light filtering down from above.

As the immediate danger passed, the full weight of what had happened crashed over her again. She’d let go of the rope.

She’d dropped Tiikâan.

The man she loved, the one person who had made her feel safe, was gone.

And it was all her fault.

THIRTY-ONE

Tiikâan clawed at the rock face, fingers scraping against the jagged surface as the earth rushed past him. The ground beneath his hands crumbled, slipping away in loose gravel as he fought for any kind of handhold.

With every desperate grasp, pain coursed through his body. His ribs burned like fire. Panic crept in, a cold claw tightening around his heart.

---