Page 16 of Hitched to the Vampire King

She did? How? Everything looked the same to me. But she hurried onward before I could question her further.

“Just up ahead,” Avery continued as she rather elegantly hopped over a fallen tree. Guess scoring her freedom had given her a fresh dose of adrenaline. “Once we reach the lake, we’ll be home free.”

Home free? And a lake?Whatlake? How did she know exactly where we were? I certainly had questions, but I needed to focus my energy on tackling the terrain and not the endless—and unanswered—questions roaring through my head.

We pressed on, Gabriel and I following Avery while the bayou threw its absolute best at us—thick mud that weighed down our feet, dense underbrush that snagged our clothes, and the constant, eerie calls of wildlife that had me picturing unspeakable things. Vampiric gator-like things. It didn’t take long, though it felt like forever, for the foliage to start thinning.

“Is this it?” I asked.

Breathless, Avery nodded before leading us through the last of the trees. We emerged into a clearing where the moon cast its silver light on the water’s surface. The sight was surreal—a vast expanse of calm water stretching out before us, framed by the bayou’s wild beauty.

“Ah, there it is,” Avery panted.

I tore my gaze from the sight and shot her a glance, then followed her gaze to where someone had tied an airboat to a dock at the water’s edge. Avery didn’t miss a beat, stumbling toward the boat with a purpose that reignited my flagging energy.

“There,” she said. “Our way out of here.”

“How on earth…?” I glanced back the way we came, utterly stunned that she’d found this place. It wasn’t like there’d been signs to guide us.

Gabriel took my hand and tugged me forward. “Come on.”

“I have so many questions,” I muttered.

He quietly snickered as he helped me board the boat. “As do I.”

Avery took her spot in the driver’s seat, then ducked low and started rifling around. Soon, she popped up with a small tote bag in hand. She unzipped it and fished out what looked like a spotlight. “Maddie, take this.”

I did as she said, turning the spotlight over in my hands. “Do you think light is a good idea? Won’t it give away our position?”

She chuckled. “Never been on an airboat, have ya?”

I shook my head.

“You’ll see in a second why us using a light won’t matter.” She pointed at the bench in front of her seat. “Sit. And Maddie, I need you to use that light to keep an eye on the water. Trust me, we’ll need it.”

“We will? What am I looking for?” I asked as I sat next to Gabriel on the bench.

“Anything. Everything. Other boats, animals in the water, the shore.”

Before I could respond, she fired up the boat. The propellers started spinning, and I barely refrained from clapping my hands over my ears. No wonder she wasn’t worried about the light. The noise alone would give our location away.

And then we were off, the boat surging through the water with a speed that felt like we were flying. I swung around and pointed the spotlight back the way we’d come, but I saw nothing. No Adrian or anyone else. Nor were there any other boats for Adrian to commandeer.

Relief had me turning back around. The spotlight hit the water in front of us, illuminating a decent percentage of the entire area. From all over, small orbs of red reflected back at us. When a pair blinked before suddenly vanishing under the water, I gasped and inched closer to Gabriel. I hadnoidea that gators’ eyes reflected red in the light, and now that I did, I was convinced they were demonic creatures.

Gabriel slid an arm around me and pulled me close. I laughed at myself, not that anyone could hear the sound over the propellers. The gators really weren’t the most pressing thing I needed to worry about right now.

No, that prize went to Adrian. We may have escaped, but I had no doubt he would continue searching for us. He wanted us dead—a feeling that was very much mutual. Still, we’d escaped, and I was determined to take this moment to just breathe and calm my mind. While confined in that infernal cage, my thoughts had ventured to a dark place. There were moments where I’d truly believed we were done for. That we would never escape. But thanks to Avery, we’d accomplished the impossible. We’d escaped. We were free, together, and, most importantly,alive.

Relaxing, I nestled against Gabriel and watched the water ripple as we streaked toward our freedom.

ChapterSix

Since learningGabriel was my mate, I’d developed this keen ability to sense sunrise. And right now, my synapses were firing off all sorts of warnings. I couldn’t see any light yet, but we were also in a location where the dense vegetation and tall trees obscured the horizon. The dark sky above hadn’t begun to lighten yet, but Ifeltthe sun’s approach. I felt it in my bones, in my blood. And Isawthe truth etched on Gabriel’s face. With every passing minute, his jaw grew tighter, as did his grip on me.

“Avery,” I called over the propellers.

“I know,” she shouted back. “We aren’t far.”

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