Page 232 of I Never Stopped Loving You

He slows then stops, putting his nose to the ground before glancing left then right. I stop next to him and place my hand on his back to let him know I understand. He glances up at me then looks to my right. Staring into the darkness that leads towards one of the ravines. Is that where he’s hiding?

I close my eyes and breathe slowly, trying to listen to the forest around me, but I can’t hear a thing other than the wildlife scurrying through the underbrush and the occasional hoot of an owl off in the distance.

*Snap*

A twig snaps down the dark path to my right, and Snuggs starts growling fiercely. He stands protectively at my side, teeth bared, the fur along his back raised like my own personal albino hellhound. He stares into the dark then takes one step forward and then another.

I don’t get it. He wasn’t that far ahead of me. If he’s still moving at all, I should still be able to hear at least the leaves crackling, but there’s nothing.

*Thunk*

Another sound, but this time from up ahead. Snuggs turns quickly, racing off toward the noise. I keep waiting to see if it was Vallero or just an animal running away. I don’t hear any screams coming from Snuggs ripping into him, so I can only assume it’s an animal. After a moment, I can’t even hear him running through the underbrush anymore, so I know he’s gone too far.

“Snuggs. Come…”

I don’t get to finish my command. A creak from the tree above me is the only warning I get before a weight drops down on me shoving me to the ground. My face hits the hard, still semi-frozen dirt pushing sticks and rocks into my flesh.

“You stupid fucking bitch,” Vallero snarls from above me.

I can feel the blood flowing from my nose and there’s a sharp sting of pain under my right eye. I’m gasping for air because when he hit me, all the air was knocked out of my lungs. My fingers desperately claw at the dirt trying to push against him to be able to scream for Snuggs. Right now his knee is pressed into my back and his hand is on the back of my head forcing my face into the dirt.

“Who are you? Who do you fucking work for?” he screams in my face as he grips me by the hair and raises my head from the ground.

“Eat shit, fucker,” I growl, spitting blood in his face before he slams my head back against the ground.

Sparks flash behind my eyes when my head hits a rock half-buried in the dirt. I can’t scream. My head is ringing from hitting the rock, and my lungs are burning, desperate for air. Shit! What did Noah teach me? Damnit, Willow, think!

When Vallero shifts above me, I feel a slight pain in the front of my leg where my thigh rig is holding my knife. The one Noah bought for me for Christmas.

I need to get enough space to move my leg and grab my knife without it slicing open my leg when I pull it out. I need to distract him somehow.

“Wait…I’ll tell you,” I manage to get out between gasps of air as I choke on dirt.

Just as I thought he would, he lifts my head. Tearing the strands of hair on the back of my head. He shifts on top of me to turn my upper body slightly. My arm is pinned down against my side, giving me the angle I need to slowly slide my knife free.

“Who do you work for?” he demands again.

I cough, pretending to gasp, to bide more time. Between the ringing in my ears, the pulsing pain in my head, and the sting from my hair getting ripped out, my senses are on overload.

My fingers pull on the strap of the thigh rig trying to spin it slightly to be able to grab the handle of my knife. His hand twists wrapping the strands tighter around his fist, causing me to scream.

“Who. Do. You. Fucking. Work. For?”

His breath is rancid as he leans forward putting his face right against the side of mine. Everything about this man is disgusting.

“Anderson,” I choke out as I feel the edge of the handle and manage to wrap my fingers around it.

“Anderson? Nathaniel? I fucking paid him triple what we originally agreed on. What the fuck does he want?”

“No,” I grit out as I pull the blade from the sheath and turn it in my hand to where the blade is pointing up, parallel to my forearm.

“Which fucking Anderson?” he demands.

“Noah!” I scream.

I slam my arm back and up, driving the blade into the back of his thigh. He screams as he rolls off of me clutching onto his thigh. My fingers stay wrapped around the blade as I carefully roll and try to get up. The world around me is still spinning.

“You stupid fucking…”