Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,70

tug together.

“Even if that was a viable option, neither of us have our passports.”

Okay. So we stay in the country. But where the hell can we hide that he wouldn’t figure out eventually?

“We’ll figure out where to go on the way. For now, let’s pack our stuff and leave here as quickly as possible. Two hours is a long time to put distance between us and them.”

Emily and I run upstairs to hastily throw our clothes and toiletries into our bags, our feet a thunder of sound as we race back downstairs to haul ass out the front door.

Darkness has fallen quickly outside the windows, the nocturnal chorus even louder as we make our way through the house, turning off lights en route to the foyer.

Practically running, we skid to a stop as Emily throws the lock and opens the front door, allowing me to run out in front of her onto the porch.

I freeze in place the second my feet hit the wood.

The front of the house is illuminated by two porch lights on the outside walls and another two spotlights that are a yellow glow over the small parking area. Beyond that is pure black, the rustle of leaves a soft whisper of sound within the darkness.

My jaw drags the ground as Emily comes to a stop beside me, her voice filling the disturbing silence with the same question that’s screaming in my head.

“Where’s the car?”

Within the circle of soft yellow light should be a custom Jaguar I know cost over a hundred thousand dollars. It should have sleek lines and black paint with chrome embellishments that only add to the luxurious exterior.

Instead, all I see is a dirt lot with nothing parked in the spot where I know for a fact I’d left Gabriel’s car.

Emily nudges me with her elbow.

“Ivy, where’s the car?”

The panic in her voice matches what I’m feeling, although she hasn’t yet hit the point of terror that I’m jumping to as my eyes move past the light into the darkness.

“I have no idea,” I mumble, my eyes scanning the perimeter of the woods that lie beyond.

It’s not like I can see anything past the circle of light, only a solid swatch of black as thick as a puddle of ink spilled over the landscape.

To our right, a spark catches my attention, the small flash of light igniting into a flame that grows over the head of a torch.

My heart jumps into my throat the instant that flame moves and a large man steps into the light, his chest bare and face covered by a mask I recognize from high school.

“Oh, my God,” Emily breathes out, her hand moving to grab mine. “I thought we had two hours.”

Barely able to register what she’s saying as I stare at the man, I quickly scan his features to see a large tattoo sleeve covering his arm.

Shane, I think as another spark to the right of him ignites another torch. My eyes snap that direction to watch another man step into the light.

Like Shane, his chest is bare, his face bearing the same mask, his shoulder a tattoo design that I recognize as either Ezra or Damon.

“Apparently not,” I answer. “We’re fucked.”

One after the other, torches light up as the Inferno makes their presence known.

By the time they complete the semi-circle around us, there are only eight of them, and while I can identify some by the tattoos on their skin, I can’t distinguish between a few who have none.

“Who’s missing?” I ask Emily. “Which one of them isn’t here?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I see Ezra and Damon, but-“

Her voice trails off as we stare out at a nightmare.

Maybe Gabriel stayed behind to make me think they were all still back home. I clearly heard his office on his end of the line. Why would he do that, though, when the person with the biggest issue against me is him?

Or maybe it’s Mason and that’s why Ava didn’t know they’d already left. It would make sense. Gabriel said something about her being an unreliable reporter.

Squeezing Emily’s hand, I attempt to rationalize the situation.

“Okay. Listen. This has to be a joke. We’re women. They’d never actually chase us like they did the guys.”

She’s quiet for a second, then, “Do you remember Sarah Strickland? Or how about Ashley Trigs?”

My eyes widen, another bolt of terror cutting through me.

Sarah and Ashley were two girls in high school who didn’t pay the price. They ran the gauntlet, and