Page 124 of Ravaged Saints

They scream, wondering where I am, and I look to where Knox went. Some guys are still shooting in their direction, but I can’t reach them.

My radio clicks, but all I hear is a gunshot, then silence. The kind that stretches, thick and suffocating.

“Recon?”I ask.

“It’s not us; Reaper is here.”Ryker’s words are swallowed by the rapid gunfire in the background. “We’re almost out of ammo.”

I check mine—fuck. Only two left.

Then it hits me. If it’s not them on the radio…

I storm out, boots digging into the damp forest floor, dead leaves crunching under me. The trees loom tall around me, gnarled branches clawing at the sky like skeletal fingers. The moonlight barely touches the ground, swallowed by thick foliage, and the shadows stretch in every direction, hiding threats, hidingher.

“Aspen!”Silence.

Fuck!

“Aspen, answer.”Knox crackles through the radio, sharp with urgency. But there's nothing—no breath, no movement, no goddamn reassurance.

“Aspen, pet, please answer.”His next plea breaks, raw and desperate. My chest tightens painfully, and my legs move faster than my mind can follow.

Then her breathless response slams into me.“I got them. I shot them both.”

I freeze, and the world stills.

“How did they find her?”I ask through the radio.

There is a minute of silence.

“Ethan has another radio; he is hearing us!”Knox snaps.

“Run out of there, Aspen,”he orders.

“We will find you; just fucking disappear, doll.”My teeth grind together, my pulse hammering.

Silence.

Then a shaky breath.“But… what if you don’t? You are all I’ve got.”

Her words break me, my heart beating fast; she is part of us; they both were.

All of a sudden I see movement ahead, three men, heading in Aspen’s direction.

I raise my gun and squeeze the trigger—one drops. The other dives behind a tree, firing back, and I duck, my heart slamming against my ribs. One bullet left.

Another bastard moves to run, and I take the shot. He collapses, but then—

Click.

Fuck, I’m out.

Two more men appear, slipping through the shadows like predators. They’re closing in. They’ll take her. They’ll—

No. Not while I’m breathing.

I grip my radio, my tone steady even as my hands shake.“Reaper.”

A second later, Knox answers.“Grit?”

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