Page 45 of Entangled

Then I see them.

Figures in the branches. Running through the trees. Slender and light, long hair, short, tall and stocky. I see a flash of a white dress, and I know, IknowI’ve seen it before.

“What...?” I breathe.

Back the way we came, gunshots start up again, and angry male shouts—but this time, a chorus of feminine voices roar back. A storm of Valkyries.

And Madisonlaughs.

The sound rings through me like an anthem. Contagious, wild. Savage. It tangles with my fear. It makes me want to be savage too.

“Reinforcements.” She whoops back to one of the calls. “The cavalry is here.”

A sharp, short whistle sounds to our left, and I turn to see a slim, feminine face. A face Irecognize.

“You were watching,” I stammer, fear and abrupt excitement pumping through me. “In the trees. You were watching.”

The girl salutes me. She can’t be more than sixteen. “Resident stalker, at your service!”

“You shouldn’t be here, Kasey. It’s too dangerous,” Madison snaps, sobering.

And Kasey’s quick grin settles into a severe frown that ages her years. “I know. The others need help. There are more men, with weapons, and?—”

“Grab their guns,” Madison orders, already stripping one body of his gear.

This time, I don’t hesitate. I pull the gun’s strap off the man with the crushed face, avoiding looking at the cavern between his eyes.

Fear still thrums through me, but I can’t run again. Iwon’t.

More shots fire, and a cry rings out.

Please, God, let me be brave.

Madison quickly flicks the safety off my weapon, and I try not to think about the fact that I have no clue how to fire a gun. We take off, the girl and I pushing forward as Madison trails behind, her jaw locked tight in pain. I almost choke as I release a hard, tense breath.

The shots grow louder and louder, the calls and screams and chaos impossible to pick apart. There are people in branches, on the ground. Hiding behind trees and rocks and logs, and men whirling around, firing in gut-dropping spurts.

“Eden!” a frenzied voice shouts.

Mateo?

There’s too much happening. Too many bodies. I can’t see where he is.

Kasey and I burst around a tree, and I raise my gun shakily, trying to find a target. It’s heavier and fatter than the rifles Dom and the others carried. Do I just pull the trigger?

I turn to ask Madison, but she’s not behind me anymore.

Frantically, I look around to see one man grappling with a muscular, tattooed woman on the ground. I don’t think I can shoot without hitting her, so I lift the gun and run in, ready to hit him with it or... orsomething.

Kasey screams somewhere far behind me, and I whirl around.

Only to find the barrel of Mateo’s gun pressed against my forehead.

Chapter14

Jaykob

Survival tip #21

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