Page 33 of Entangled

And now we might never get her back.

Jasper leans against a tree, pinching the bridge of his nose hard. His breathing is unsteady, and it’s allIcan do to keep the gun on the three kneeling men as I try to get my focus back. My heart is racing, pounding in my chest.

I need to plan. There has to be something. If I can make a plan, I can fix this.

I have to fix it.

The men’s gazes shift between us warily, curiously. The smile has died on the big man’s face.

“You lost a woman?” he asks, calmer than he should be right now. As calm asIshould be right now but somehow always fail to be when Eden is involved.

“Shutup,” Jasper says harshly, his own composure as fucked as mine, apparently.

And the man does fall silent. For about two seconds. “Do you have albuterol?”

“What?” I snap, not in the mood for playing games.

It must have been when the rain washed the tracks away. We never found Eden’s trail again, we only stumbled onto these assholes’ camp, then followed their tracks.

That wasdaysago.

By the time we find her,ifwe find her, she could be dead. She could be dead now.

The thought rips at my insides. It makes the bloodlust run hot and thick. If she’s dead, so is every hunter who ever so much as looked at her. If she’s dead, I’ll be shoulder to shoulder with Jaykob on his warpath.

Something in my chest breaks.

God, I can’t go home to Beau without her.

The man regards me for a long minute with curious interest. He spreads his hands, and when I refocus my gun, he gives me a brash grin. “Look, might be I know where she is. Could be, anyway. There’s a group around here that’s got a thing for collecting womenfolk.” His nose wrinkles. “Kind of assholes, if I’m honest.”

That catches my attention, pausing my swirling, blood-soaked thoughts.

Jayk’s head snaps up, eyes wild, and he stares at the man’s back.

Making a reluctant decision, I lower my gun until it’s ready but not overtly threatening. I stifle my desire to shout and demand, the frisson of hope just enough for me to call on my much-needed control.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Bentley!” He claps the round, older man next to him on the back, his large hand jostling him forward, and I nearly shoot him for the sudden move alone. “These are my friends—Arthur and his son, Stephen.”

“Dominic,” I reply. “This is Jasper and?—”

“Screw the niceties.” Jaykob stalks over, all blazing eyes and dark wrath. “You know where Eden is, you tell us, or I’ll paint this grass with your brains.”

I don’t bother arguing. Good cop, bad cop works, and Jayk’s pretty reliable in his role.

And if I don’t get answers fast enough, I’m switching sides.

Bentley’s gaze flicks to him, then back to me. “I want to help you. I do. Anyone takes hands to a woman deserves to lose them, far as I’m concerned.” He cocks a brow. “Pretty good at chopping hands off, myself, so I’d be happy to help. But I really do need to know if you have any albuterol. Inhalers. For asthma and the like.”

“Oh, for fuck’s—” Jayk reaches around his back for his gun, then looks over to where it’s lying haplessly beside the tree. He scowls.

I roll my eyes, trying to suppress my own impatience. “We don’t have inhalers,” I tell Bentley, and behind the careless grin, I see his eyes cloud over.

And I don’t. Beau has a stash, but I’m not about to send anyone back to Bristlebrook. If I have my way, no other soul will set foot there ever again.

It only ever ends in disaster, and I can’t be responsible for anyone else.

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