Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
These woods are my kingdom. I’m the queen here. And this is why, when I run, I’ll get away.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
I turn my head in the direction of his voice. “Is that so?”
“Yep. I can practically hear your thoughts, Clover. And you’re not gonna get away from me in these woods just because you know them better than me.”
I scoff. “Why would I be thinking about that? We’ve already come up with a plan to save me.” I add that little ‘we’ in there to remind him that it was really his idea, just in case he’s having second thoughts.
He walks towards me, leaves and twigs crunching under his feet. “Because you’ve got the princess complex.”
I don’t care what he says, I reach up and pull the blindfold down so I can look him in the eyes. “Princess complex?”
He points at me. “See, you think you’re above it all. You pulled that blindfold down like my commands mean nothing to you. Like you own the world. And, Clover…” He smiles a little, but it comes off condescending. “You do not own the world. You literally have no idea who owns the world. So this little ‘I’ll save myself’ fantasy you’re in the middle of right now? It’s bullshit. And you’re gonna get yourself hurt if you keep plotting.”
I want to say something back. Something that challenges his threat to hurt me. Daring him to do it, maybe. Because while I don’t agree that my escape plan is a fantasy—I think I’ve got a decent chance of success—I do agree that I’m over-humanizing him.
He’s dangerous. I knew it the moment I saw him. But we’ve had enough normal conversations now that I had started to replace the fear with… I dunno. Camaraderie isn’t quite the right word, but it’s close. We’ve schemed up a plan and we did that together. It implies a level of partnership.
At least in my mind.
But definitely not in his.
He’s doing this to save himself. Not because he cares about me, but because he would’ve felt guilty if he had left me in the old cabin basement to die.
This choice to bring me along was about him and only him.
I was very confident in my assertion that Lowyn would find me. And I really do believe that there’s an eighty-percent chance it would turn out that way. She’s very clever and Collin and Amon would send in their little army if Lowyn told them I was in danger. It’s pretty good odds.
But there was no guarantee I would live if Riggs left me behind and it would be a very big mistake to think there’s a better chance now that he’s taking me with him.
One screwup and he’ll throw me under the bus. He’ll sacrifice me to save himself. I truly do believe this.
So I drop the blindfold back down and sigh without saying another word.
I can almost hear his smile. But he doesn’t say anything else either.
After he’s packed up, the hike continues. And this time, I don’t bother keeping track of where we’re going in my head because we cross over my family’s property line.
Actually, that’s not why. I know the other properties around here just as well as my own—to a certain degree. But I’ve given up on the escape plan. At least for now.
He’s right. I can’t get away in these woods because I’d have to run and while I’ve done my share of treadmill time and 5K charity events, there’s no way he wouldn’t catch me.
And then he’d… I dunno. Maybe he wouldn’t kill me, but he could just tie me to a tree and gag my mouth so I couldn’t scream and let the forest take care of the rest.
If I didn’t die of thirst, some animal might get me. We’ve got coyotes and bobcats here, neither of which are particularly threatening to humans who are not tied to trees, but there are bears too.
But even if none of the mammals got me, there are insects. Fire ants, and black widows, and mosquitoes and ticks.
“You got awfully quiet.”
“Well,” I huff, “you went back to being a threat.”
He stops walking, making me stop as well because I’m holding tight to his arm as I navigate the terrain. “Because we made a plan and you were gonna go back on it.”
“I wasn’t really thinking about running. I know you can outrun me. But I was mapping the forest in my head.”
He lets out a scoff now. “So you know where we are.”
“Not exactly. Not for about ten minutes now. I just figured my energy was better spent on trying not to fall on my face than figuring out where I actually was. Otherwise you might tie me to a tree and leave me out here to be eaten by fire ants.”
He actually chuckles. “You’ve got some imagination there.”