Page 17 of Guarded from Havoc

Then.

A line of explosions goes off, one after another. Five. Ten. Twenty. All in one quick sequence.

The air crackles.

Heat pushes at us.

Erik reaches behind him and clamps his arm around my waist, holding me tightly.

Just around his arm, I peer at the trail of flame. It flares hot, bright yellow and orange, before darkening to a fading red.

“It’ll go out,” Erik murmurs. “The accelerant will burn off quickly. Whoever set this was planning on taking the person who triggered it out right away. They won’t want to chance a wildfire.”

“They won’t?” I creep back to Erik’s side and look up at him. “Because with the guns and explosions, it sureseemslike someone is trying to kill us.”

“Perhaps,” he admits. “But I just have this feeling… Did you see the camera back where we woke up?”

“The camera?” My voice pitches up. “There was acamera?”

“Yes. Which leads me to assume someone’s watching. And if they’re setting traps like this one…” He grimaces. “I’ve seen some fucked up shit in my work, Tatum. In the Army and with my current job. So knowing someone’s watching, that they might have set traps to observe for their own enjoyment…”

My voice quivers. “You think this is some kind ofgame?”

“I don’t know. It’s a stretch to say that with just what we’ve seen to go on. But is it possible? Yes.” He gently pushes me behind him again. “Let’s keep going. But I want you to stay a few feet behind me until we get past where the trip wire was.”

While I loathe the idea of losing contact with Erik for even a second, I follow his instructions. Then we continue forward, me about five feet behind him, approaching the now smoldering line of flames, which, as Erik predicted, are quickly extinguishing on their own.

As soon as Erik safely crosses the charred grass, he turns and lifts me over it, then sets me back down beside him. He grasps my hand again and catches my gaze. “You okay?” he asks. “Ready to keep going?”

I choke back a wry laugh, incongruous to the situation. “I’m not sure I have much of a choice.”

“You do,” he replies. “My team should be on the way. The only problem is, I’m not sure where we are. So I don’t know how long it’ll take for them to get here. And not knowing what we’re up against, who?—”

A shrill scream pierces the air.

Then a howl of pain, quickly cut off.

My lungs seize.

“Fuck,” Erik hisses. “Who else is here?”

But it’s clear he’s not expecting an answer.

“You… you said your team is coming?” My voice quivers. “Maybe we should just hide and wait?—”

Erik holds his hand up in a shushing motion, cutting me off.

In the outside world—the world that doesn’t involve mysterious gunfire, exploding traps, and people screaming like they’re being murdered—I’d consider what he did rude.

But now? I’m just terrified, because I know that means he noticed something. And most likely, something bad.

Unless… did he hear a helicopter? Maybe help on the way? Could his team, which I’m assuming to mean his coworkers at his security company, be here already?

Then I hear the crunching of dried grass and branches, and my cautious hopes come crashing back down.

Just as Erik shoves me behind him again, a man bursts through the trees.

He’s big. All in torn clothes. His arms and face stained red.

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