Page 54 of Savage Betrayal

Half-tempted to let the gorge claim its victim, I continue my pursuit from a safe distance, ready to stop once they’ve taken the leap and removed themselves from the equation. Perhaps the cliffs will be the justice my anger seeks, sparing me the additional blood on my hands.

Because, despite my reputation for bloodlust, I don’t enjoy killing people.

It’s a necessity that comes with the job.

Resolved to let fate take its course, I hold a steady pace, finding some relief in the exertion of running several miles in pursuit of the snake who thought they could get the upper hand on me.

But the momentary peace evaporates in one horrifying instant.

Because, as the witness bursts into the clearing that starts mere yards from the cliff’s edge, I finally see who it is I’m chasing.

Shock ripples through me as I recognize the familiar contours of her slender form, the long dark hair that whips behind her like a black silk ribbon.

It’s Tia.

Panic grips my throat, choking me.

I have to do something—anything I can to stop her.

But she’s too far ahead of me. I’ll never reach her in time.

“Tia!” My voice cuts through the space between us, a desperate plea for her to stop.

The word carries the weight of my dread. And my stomach drops like lead when she doesn’t slow or even hesitate. Instead, she turns her head, eyes wide as she looks back at me—away from the looming cliff edge.

For a fleeting moment, our gazes lock.

Panic and fear etch across Tia’s delicate features, and it only seems to grow when she sees I’m the one pursuing her. The look in her eyes cuts like a knife. Still, if I could stop her with a word, I would. But it’s clear now that she’s terrified of me. Nothing I say is going to stop her.

And then it’s too late.

The ground vanishes out from under her.

Her scream is shrill and bone-chilling.

And the void swallows her whole.

“No!” My hand reaches for her instinctually, though I’m too far away to reach her.

Horror seizes me, stiffening my limbs as I watch her disappear. My mind races, grappling with the unthinkable—the mother of my child plummeting to her death.

A scream claws at my throat, but I stifle it, the sound choked back by the enormity of the moment.

In an instant, I’m at the cliff’s edge, flinging myself to the ground so I can peer far into the abyss. The low sun casts eerie shadows across the jagged rocks below, making the trees appear larger and more ominous than before.

But I see no sign of Tia. Panic gnaws at my insides, a feral fear clawing at the edges of my consciousness. She’s just… gone.

“Tia!” I call again, my voice ragged with uncertainty.

The echo of her name bounces off the walls of the gorge, coming back to me in a mocking chorus. I never should have chased her. I should have let it be. But I was so hell-bent on catching whoever witnessed the execution that I didn’t read the signs.

I didn’t stop to think.

Of course, Tia would be out in the woods.

When is she ever where she’s supposed to be? When does she ever do what she’s supposed to? Naturally, it would be her wandering miles in the woods alone. She walked all the way from her home to my house party the night I met her, didn’t she?

A sickening realization takes hold of me. I’ve lost her forever to the unforgiving rocks beneath me. It doesn’t matter that I can’t see her broken body. There’s no way she survived the fall. The gorge is well over a hundred feet deep.

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