Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
I creep through the woods, unable to reel in the paralyzing fear. Tears silently stream down my face as I all but tiptoe through the darkness, as step by step, he gains on me.
My mind is so messed up that it’s nearly impossible to tell just how far back he is until his chilling tone rips through the silence once again. “Come on, little rabbit. Where are you?”
My eyes bug out of my head as my heart all but fucking stops.
He’s closer than I thought.
I take off at another sprint, racing ahead, my feet slamming against the hard ground as my fists pump out in front of me, and just like that, I hear him moving through the woods behind me.
He’s got me. It won’t be long now.
I’m never going to survive this. He’s too fast, too lethal.
I give it everything I have, desperately trying to put distance between us, but he’s gaining too fast and my body is quickly giving out. I’ll never survive like this.
I have to stop.
I have to hide.
As long as he can hear me tearing through the woods, it’s like sending up a neon sign with an arrow pointing right at me. Running isn’t playing it smart, all I’m doing is painting a bigger target on my back. All he would need is one single glance of me breaking through the woods and I’ll have a bullet in the back of my head. He’s just that good.
My only shot at freedom is dead silence.
I stop running, coming to a complete standstill as I desperately try to control my rapid breathing, knowing that it would give me away in seconds.
I hear Carver’s run come to a stop a short distance behind me, and now more than ever he’s listening intently, trying to figure out my game plan.
Looking around, I strain to find somewhere to hide. If this were anyone but Carver, I’d try to fight my way out, but against a man like him, I have no chance.
A fallen tree sits just to my right and I snake through the woods to get to it, being as silent as humanly possible as I hear Carver slowly making his way toward me. “Winter? Where are you, girl? We need to talk this out.”
I drop down behind the fallen tree and lay down in the dirt right beside it, keeping myself as close as possible while letting the main part of the tree trunk conceal me. I’m not stupid, I know there’s a big possibility that he could still find me here, but right now, this is my best shot.
Closing my eyes, I focus on trying to calm my racing heart and find some level of control over my rapid, loud panting. I haven’t come this far to let my basic human need for oxygen give me away.
I listen to the noises of the woods, taking note of every step Carver takes toward me. He’s nearly silent. He’s always been that way, especially back at home. I’ve never been able to hear him coming but there’s a distinct crunch of fallen leaves that not even Dante Carver can conceal beneath his feet.
“Alright, babe. You’ve made your point,” Carver taunts. “You don’t trust us, that much is clear, but I need to get you out of here before the cops find you. They’ll put you in another cell and I know how you hate that. I won’t let you go through that again.”
I ball my hands into fists, desperate to keep myself under control. I’m lying out in the cold woods, my body both shivering and aching while my heart hammers away with fear. The last thing I need is to be reminded of the few times that I’ve been thrown in cells. They’re not exactly my fondest memories and he knows that. He’s trying to flush me out and he’s using my trauma to make it happen.
That asshole. Is trying to blow me up not bad enough? Now he’s going to stoop to this level? Fuck him. Fuck them all.
The seconds tick by and I bite down on my tongue even harder, knowing that having decent self-control is a low point for me. I’m reckless and stupid and that’s gotten me in more than enough trouble over the past few months, but now is not the time to allow that recklessness to get the best of me.
He’s banking on it though.
It takes only a minute for me to hear him right on the other side of the fallen tree trunk and I sink down lower, willing myself to dissolve into the ground beneath me. Each step he takes is like a shot straight to the heart.
If Carver is making his way through the woods, does that mean the others are too? The SUV drove away without a body in sight, but that doesn’t mean shit in this world. I watched King, Cruz, and Grayson get into the car, but I never saw Carver get in.