But something had to happen first, if this was to have even a chance of working.
I drew gently back from the hug and let her finish the last few stitches. I pulled on a fresh shirt and then took her hands in mine. “Need to tell you some stuff,” I said. “Why I’m out here.”
She nodded and squeezed my hands. I took a deep breath. I’d been planning this the whole walk back but it didn’t make it any easier. My heart was suddenly racing. If I did this, I might lose her. But if I didn’t, I couldn’t be with her. I just had to do it and hope we came out the other side.
“After the Raiders,” I began, “I got—” My stomach knotted. Dammit, this was harder than I’d thought. “Some guy approached me and—”
Rufus suddenly unwound himself, scrambled to his feet and alerted, ears high.
“What is it?” Bethany asked, worried.
Rufus was staring out of the window, his eyes fixed on the sky. He let out a sharp, short bark, then another. I stood up and walked slowly to the window, Bethany right beside me. But it took another few seconds before my ears made out the sound. A low thrumming, getting louder.
A helicopter. I looked at Bethany in panic, all my protective instincts taking hold.
They’d found us.
47
Bethany
CAL GRABBED HIS RIFLE and we raced outside. But by then, the helicopter was already descending, creating a downdraft that nearly knocked us off our feet. It was a huge, black thing as long as a bus. It rammed air into our lungs, making us choke and gasp, and our eyes were tearing. The noise was like someone hammering nails into our eardrums and it was even worse for the animals, who charged around in fear. Rufus pressed hard against my legs, his worried barks almost lost in the roar.
The helicopter touched down in the clearing in front of the cabin and almost before it had stopped moving, four guards had jumped out and pointed their guns at Cal, ordering him to drop his rifle. Cal stubbornly stood there, his rifle trained on them and his lips drawn back from his teeth in a snarl, until I grabbed his arm. “They’ll kill you!” I told him. Reluctantly, he lowered the muzzle and then dropped the rifle to the ground.
Only then did Ralavich climb from the helicopter. He looked around at the forest, then shook his head and spat on the ground. “Why the fuck would anyone want to live all the way out here?” He looked at me and I saw his face light up with that horrible, cruel lust.
Cal stepped protectively in front of me and the two men eyed each other. “That’s him?” muttered Cal.
I nodded, so scared I couldn’t speak.
Cal gave a low growl and took three steps forward. His whole body had gone tense and you could feel the primal rage rolling off him in waves. Each footstep seemed to shake the whole forest. The guards looked at each other uncertainly and the barrels of their guns wavered.
But Ralavich walked forward as well, and the two men didn’t stop until they were just a few feet apart. “You!” snapped Ralavich. “You’re the one who’s been hiding her!” Ralavich’s eyes flicked to me and then back to Cal and his face twisted in—
Oh God. Jealousy. My guts twisted. Ralavich thought I was his. The idea made me shudder.
And Cal recognized the look, too. His hands curled into fists. Rufus shot past me and ran to stand beside him, baring his teeth at Ralavich and making that chainsaw growl.
“I’m gonna give you one chance,” said Cal. His voice was low, but it carried. “You get back in that thing and fly off, right now, and I won’t come after you.”
For a second, Ralavich just blinked, incredulous. Then he gave a short, sharp laugh with no humor in it. “That’s your offer?”
“You should take it,” said Cal. His voice was shaking with rage. “Because if you try to take her from me, I’ll kill you.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” said Ralavich. “I’m not going to just take her. You’ve pissed me off enough that I’m going to do something much more entertaining.”
He turned and waved at the helicopter. More men climbed out, but they weren’t guards. They were the men from the mansion, eight of them. They were carrying rifles and they were dressed in camouflage gear. Some of them seemed to be half-drunk and they were grinning and excited, messing with their guns and fiddling with the unfamiliar camouflage clothes, like men on a—
Oh God. Oh no.
Ralavich grinned as he saw realization dawn. “That’s right, we’re going to have a hunt. And guess what we’re going to be hunting?”
I felt my knees weaken.
Ralavich’s grin grew wider at my terror. “And guess what we’re going to do to you when we catch you?”