Page 44 of Entangled

Then I grab her hand, pulling her toward me until we’re back to back.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, voice thick with tears and apologies.

It’s not enough. It never will be.

I was going to let herdie.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

One man grins as he circles round, putting his gun away. He’s much closer than the other two, and full of brimming, petrifying confidence.

But Madison’s warmth at my back keeps me steady.

“I owe you more than my life, babe,” she whispers back. “So much more.”

Finally, an odd sense of calm hits me—in a way it never has while I was running and hiding.

I think... maybe it’s better this way. For it to end here, like this.

It has to be better to die with a friend than to live a thousand lives alone.

“It was apleasureto meet you, Eden,” Madison says, wry and darkly amused.

And it should be impossible, but I choke out a laugh.

“And you, Madison,” I reply in the same droll tone. “It’s been a scream.”

My hands are sweaty around the solid wood. Its bumps and grooves press into my palm. But we brace ourselves, tense and ready for death in the face of these snarling, armed men.

“You swing that thing like you’re gunning for a home run, okay?” she instructs. “I hope you’re good at sports.”

Oh, God. We’re dead.

“Hey baby,” the approaching man croons to me, and I recognize him from Sam’s camp. “I’ve been waiting for some alone time with you.”

I swing the branch, but he’s too far away and it just swishes pitifully in front of his face. He grins, and fear has me so tightly, pantingly, in its grip that my bladder almost releases then and there.

“Stay back,” I try to snap. But the words quake in a way that makes his eyes shine.

Then he lunges, snatching the branch in one quick move. He yanks it, and I lurch forward before I release it. The man tosses it to the side and grabs me, but as soon as he does, Madison brings her rock crashing down on his head.

“Thefuck!” another voice calls from the other direction, and I hear footsteps crackling over dry leaves. “Fuckingbitch!”

My heart slams through my wrists, my throat, behind my eyes. The man holding me drops, letting out an unearthly cry as his forehead splits, and Madison screams back, bringing the heavy rock down again with brutal accuracy. Over and over, she crunches his face, and I watch with hands like an earthquake. Blood flicks and splats over my clothes, then in thicker chunks as his head finally fractures open.

Madison whips around to track the other two furious men as they speed closer, her face grim. I help pull her up, and she gets to her feet with a wince.

One man leaps over a log in front of me, and I ready myself for what’s about to happen, wishing for my confiscated pocketknife.

I’m just about to throw myself at him—to bite, claw, do whatever I can to do some damage as he takes me down... when he reels backward.

Screaming, he clutches his face as a red, liquid spurt erupts over his eye. Before I can react, something slams into his cheek, tearing it open. Rocks start flying in harsh, quick bursts—a biblical stoning.

I press back into Madison just as whistling, shouting, and catcalls light up the trees around us. I turn around just in time to see the second man falling at our feet.

There’s anarrowprotruding from his throat.

Madison pulls me backwards, barking a disbelieving laugh. My head spins as I try to take it in.

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