Page 156 of Shadowfox

I moved forward again, slower now, the cold of the river biting into my flesh like the business end of a sword.

Will glanced at me but followed my lead.

The current wasn’t strong, but it didn’t have to be. One misstep, one fall, and we’d be flailing—and making far too much noise. That couldn’t happen, not with patrols nearby and flashlights sweeping the banks.

And there they were.

First one, then another.

Yellowish cones of light cutting across the shoreline, arcing lazily at first, almost bored.

A third joined them. It was brighter, closer.

We sank lower.

The river hit my ribs.

My injured arm throbbed, the bandage under my coat soaked and heavy. I tried not to wince, tried not to shiver.

A beam passed over us.

I held my breath.

The light missed us by inches, grazing the water to our left and bouncing off a smooth swell in the current. Will ducked, one arm raised to shield Eszter beside him.

The beam moved on.

I exhaled, thinking maybe that was it, maybe they hadn’t seen us.

Another beam passed behind. It was farther now.

Then the first one jerked back.

60

Will

Everythinginmychestseized at once.

The beam had stopped.

One second we were just shapes in the water. The next—we were seen.

The flashlight didn’t waver this time. It locked on and held. The silence stretched, sick and suffocating. The patrol hadn’t shouted yet, hadn’t fired, but they knew.

I felt it in every inch of my skin.

My feet froze mid-step. The current pushed past my thighs, cold and slow and suddenly bottomless. My arms flew toward Sparrow and Eszter, to shield, to grab, to do something.

Then the shouting started.

Russian. Sharp. Barked. Commanding.

“????!”

My body broke into motion as the sound triggered something primal in my brain.

Fight, flight, whatever came first.

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