Page 66 of Madness & Mayhem

“Cop,” I whisper, leaning forward and gripping Lakyn’s arm. She jolts in my arms, and I haul her back against a large tree. I pin her there, with her back against the bark and my front against hers. I glance over her shoulder, keeping the both of us flush against the trunk as I stare at the cop in the distance. He glances around, clearly another FBI from the badge attached to his side. He has a gun in his grip, walking through the snow quietly as he glances around the trees.

Lakyn lets out a shaky breath, and the cop stops, narrowing his eyes as he glances around.

I lift my arm, pressing it against Lakyn’s mouth while the man stands where he is, his eyes narrowed as he waits for another sound.

Not one comes.

It takes him a few minutes, with Lakyn trembling in front of me, until the cop decides to move on. He brings his walkie-talkie to his mouth, and I hear a beep. “Walker, copy.”

He waits a second, but when a response doesn’t come, he walks away, heading farther away from the cabin.

Fuck. This isn’t good.

Once the FBI is out of sight, I grab onto Lakyn’s arm, pulling her with me through the woods. I lift my finger to my mouth, pressing my pointer to my lips before I keep racing through the woods.

After a few minutes, I can see the cabin in the distance. I pick up my pace, running as quick as we can, when I see two police officers circling the house.

Shit.

“Hey! You! Get on your knees!” an officer shouts, lifting his gun in my direction.

“Fuck!” Lakyn cries.

I shove Lakyn to the side. “Go hide!” I bolt the other way, getting the officers to come in my direction. I rush between the trees, hiding out of sight and luring the cops in my direction. I can hear their loud steps in the snow, their heavy breathing.

“Come out, Reign Whitmore. We know you’re here,” one of the officers says.

I grab my knife, still stained lightly in blood from the dead FBI officer. I stand with my back against a tree. When one of the officers comes close enough, I snap away from the tree, my knife swinging out and swiping across his neck. He lets out a shout, his gun falling from his grip as he reaches for his neck. He falls to his knees, and the other officer comes up to me, his gun pointed in my direction.

Fuck.

“Put your weapon down,” he orders, his eyes flitting to the dying officer beside him and back to me. “I’ve got you. Don’t make any stupid moves or I’ll pull the trigger.”

I lift my hands in the air, knowing I’m at a loss when he’s at a distance. If he were closer, I’d have a chance, but as it stands right now, with his gun pointed at my forehead, I’m fucking screwed.

He stares at me in rage, in absolute fury. His hand is steady, unwavering as he directs the barrel at my forehead.

“Put your knife on the ground and get on your knees,” he commands again.

With a deep breath, I lower my knife slowly, dropping it to my side. I stare at him, unblinking as I begin to kneel.

Footsteps ring out of nowhere, moments before the officer’s eyes widen. He stares in the distance in shock, and then I see the shadow of Lakyn as she pulls her knife from the man’s back. She shoves it in again, this time above his shoulder, directly into his neck.

I step forward, batting the gun out of his hand and onto the ground. The man falls to his knees, then falls forward onto his stomach, his face down in the snow.

“Shit, Reign,” Lakyn breathes beside me. “What are we going to do?”

I shake my head. “I think this place is done. It’s been found.” I glance at the cabin, wondering how many officers know about this. “Let’s go inside. I don’t want to be seen out here by anyone else.”

Lakyn nods, staring down at her bloody knife. I grab her wrist, pulling her gaze to mine. “Lakyn, look at me.”

She does as I ask, her head tilting back and her gaze turning toward mine.

“You had to do what you had to do. Don’t feel guilt or remorse or it’ll eat you alive. Live with it, swallow it down, and let the worry die in the bottom of your gut. If you didn’t kill him, he would’ve killed me. It’s as easy as that.”

She nods, just as we hear the sound of tires peeling through the snow. We both freeze, our bodies turning to stone as we turn toward the noise. I reach for my knife again, ready to fight until I’m nothing but bones and blood on the snow, when I see Archer’s car whip between the trees. He pulls up to the house, slamming on the brakes so quickly his car slides across the snow.

Lakyn’s body relaxes in mine when she realizes who it is, and I release her. Both of us head toward Archer’s car as the doors open up. Archer, Kyler, Posie, and Eloise all slip out of the car, staring at us in shock.

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