Bloody Heart (Brutal Birthright #4) - Sophie Lark Page 0,115

my cheeks, hoping against hope that Du Pont’s shot only caught Dante on the shoulder, that Dante is still alive.

I reach a small stretch of ground that’s open and leafy, and I sprint across it, trying to get back under the cover of trees. As I’m running, the ground gives way beneath my feet. I’m plunging down.

My arms pinwheel, reaching for something, anything. I grab a tree root and hang on to it with both hands, two of my fingernails tearing off at the quick.

I’m dangling over empty space, barely clinging to the root. Trying not to scream, I look down into a deep pit.

Oh my god. It’s some kind of trap. I can’t see the bottom. I don’t know how deep it is, or what’s down there. But I know it’s far enough that I’ll probably break my leg if I lose my grip on this root. Plus I’ll be stuck down there. No getting out. Du Pont will be able to track me down at his leisure.

I have to pull myself back up.

I’m clinging to the root, which is thin and slippery with mud. I try to haul myself back up, but my hands slide down, and I almost lose my grip entirely.

My hands are freezing cold and numb. My whole body is aching—scratched, bruised, shivering.

I want to cry. I want to give up. But I can’t.

Tightening my grip, I pull myself up a few inches, then a few more. I dig my bare toes into the side of the pit to give myself purchase. As I get closer to the top, I try to grab the muddy edge of the pit. A chunk of crumbling dirt comes off in my hand, grit raining down in my face, blinding me. I spit the dirt out of my mouth, and try again.

44

Dante

I run north toward the spot the starlings avoided. I know there’s a human there.

As I approach, I bring my scope up to my shoulder and scan the area. I see what looks like a figure, laying prone on top of the ridge, and I grin. I recognize my old rifle. Raylan found us.

The figure isn’t Raylan—it’s my clothes, stuffed with branches and leaves, positioned to look like a person. It’s a decoy. Raylan is trying to draw Du Pont in. Which means that he’s got to be close by, waiting for Du Pont to show himself.

I take my own position, forming the third side of a triangle. The decoy is the point—Raylan and I are the other two corners. Hopefully Du Pont will walk right into the middle.

The woods are silent. No birdsong or chirping frogs. There’s too many people around. The animals know where we’re here.

I slow my breathing, scanning the woods through my scope.

Then I hear a sound that makes my blood freeze. Simone’s scream: “DANTE LOOK OUT!”

A rifle fires. The dummy tumbles off the top of the ridge.

I swing my barrel around, searching for the shooter, or for Simone.

Raylan spots her first—he’s closer to her. She’s running away through the woods, naked and covered in mud.

Raylan grabs his smoke grenade, pulls the pin, and flings it down behind her. It detonates, throwing up a screen of smoke, shielding her from Du Pont.

Unfortunately, it also shields Du Pont from me. And it leaves Raylan wide open.

I hear the sound of Du Pont’s rifle, echoing through the trees. Then a grunt that has to be Raylan. A body falls down the ridge, rolling over as it goes. Raylan was wearing a vest, same as me, but a vest won’t stop a high-caliber bullet. It only slows it down a little.

I’m torn between the need to check on Raylan, and the need to follow after Simone.

Really, there’s no choice—my feet are already turning in Simone’s direction, and I’m running after her, determined to get to her before Du Pont can.

I hear a shriek and the sound of splintering branches. FUCK. Another trap. I’m running full out, my shoulder throbbing like a drum, my heart thudding so loud that I can hear it in my ears.

I’m crashing through the trees, branches whipping at my face, running toward the sound of that scream.

I reach a clearing and I see Du Pont standing at the edge of a pit, rifle raised, pointed down at Simone. Simone is clinging to the soft, crumbling ground, looking up into Du Pont’s face with an expression of pure terror.

He’s already got his gun pointed right at her. If I shoot him in the head