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“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kelley says in quite a convincing “confused” voice.
She really is an excellent liar.
Hopefully, that will be enough to keep her alive until I can get help.
Bane says something about how he was only waiting to “root out her allies” before he shut her down, but I’m already on the move. I creep slowly toward the old shed without looking back, that children’s song about crocodiles playing on a manic loop in my head.
Never run, walk away, say goodnight, not good day…
Dad used the song to help me remember the rules about predators. If you find yourself being hunted by something bigger, stronger, or meaner than you are, never run, walk away. Never cry out or breathe too fast. And never, ever look back, you’ll only attract their attention.
So, I don’t look back, not even when I hear the sickening thud of a fist colliding with flesh and Kelley screams in pain. I keep moving, slowly, but surely, making my way around the pen to hide in its shadow while I weigh my options.
A quick glance around the side of the graying wood wall reveals the port-a-johns are busier than they were before, with enough people coming and going that there’s no way I’ll get past them without attracting attention. Best case scenario, I reach the woods and the cliff, but someone tells Bane exactly where to start looking for me. Worst case, I’m stopped before I can get past the glen and tossed into a cage to await my forced marriage to one of Bane’s creepy friends.
Biting my lip, I glance back to my right. I have no idea what lies beyond this old homestead, but the woods on the other side of the abandoned fields are thick and quiet. And if I run that way, I’ll be running away from New York, something Bane might not expect, at least at first.
And what other choice do I really have?
As if to answer my question, Kelley lets out another pained cry.
That’sthe other choice—to wait here and be beaten and destroyed by the man who killed my mother.
Hands curling into fists, I take off for the woods, moving slowly until I reach the tree line and then breaking into a sprint. I run like I’ve never run before, fists pumping at my sides, lungs bellowing strong and sure in my chest, each breath a vow that I won’t let Bane win.
I won’t let him kill me.
I will live and I will avenge my mother’s death and save my brother and Willow and…
Jacob.
Bane won’t let him live. Willow and Maxim still have some part to play in Bane’s game, but Jacob…
As soon as Bane realizes I’m gone, he’ll kill my boyfriend. Just for spite.
The certainty rises inside me, summoning a sob from my chest and tears from my eyes. But I don’t turn around, and I don’t stop running. I can’t save the only boy I’ve ever loved, not right now. Turning around would only doom us both, and I know Jacob would want me to keep going.
I swear, I can almost hear his voice in my head, telling me he loves me and to keep running—fast.
Fast and then faster, because time is growing short and the end is already closer than I think.
