Hearts At Stake - By Alyxandra Harvey Page 0,45

of pink icing and awkward dancing with boys in awkward suits was starting to sound like a great alternative. Seriously. Sign me up. I wouldn’t even complain.

“You’ll have to prove yourself.”

Kieran shoved up his sleeve, showing his sun tattoo. “I’ve proven myself, thanks.”

“We’re taking out more than one little girl, no matter how freaky she might be.”

“Whatever, look, I just want the money.” He pushed toward me. The woods seemed to glow so brightly, I shaded my face. My vision was more sensitive than it had ever been. The trees might as well have been carved out of emeralds and filled with sunlight. His eyes were soothingly dark.

And glaring at me pointedly.

I glared back.

He broke contact only long enough to glance to his right, brief as a lightning bug’s flash. My glare lost some of its oomph as I tried to figure out what was going on. The agents were spread out slightly on his right. Not enough to make an escape, but almost. Kieran tripped over a tree root, his elbow catching one of the guards in the sternum. He stumbled back. The gap widened. Kieran grabbed my hand and tossed me through the brief opening. I could feel him at my back, pushing me on. Behind us the agents hollered. A shot rang out, pinged bark off a pine tree not a foot from my head. Kieran shoved me. “Run faster.”

“Trying,” I gasped. Only adrenaline kept me going, and it was starting to make me feel sick. There was nothing quiet or vampiric about the way I was crashing through the woods. A deaf and blind kitten could have followed my trail.

They were closing in.

We’d never be able to outrun them. Especially not since I was already wheezing and stumbling. I tripped over my own foot and went sprawling in the dirt. Kieran reached down to haul me back up.

“Wait, don’t,” I said. I recognized the nick in the oak near my head, right near the root. At first glance it wouldn’t have been noticeable, at second it would have looked like a deer or a coyote had rubbed up against it. But I knew what it was.

Safety notch.

And sure enough, when I clawed through the undergrowth, I found the wooden handle, carved to look like an exposed root covered in moss. The actual door was just a chunk of wood and it was painstakingly covered with mud and leaves that camouflaged it even after it had been opened.

“Are you nuts? Get up!”

Instead I pushed into a crouch and yanked at the handle. It opened to a deep hole with a rope secured to the side and dangling down to the bottom.

“Let’s go,” I told him, sliding in feet first. The rope burned my hands. Kieran followed, the door shutting with a thunk above our heads. Darkness swallowed us as my feet hit the ground. Kieran landed beside me. I reached out tentatively to run my hand over the walls, feeling dirt and roots as thin as hair. The dirt gave way to Kieran’s shoulder.

“Um . . . sorry.”

I could hear his ragged breathing, and my own breath burned in my lungs. There wasn’t much space to maneuver. I shifted away, hit the wall behind me. Shifted again and my hip bumped his. His hand closed over my arm.

“Wait.” His voice was husky. I heard him rummaging. I wondered if I should be worried about Hypnos powder. But it didn’t make sense for him to drug me after he’d helped me get away.

Unless he wanted the bounty for himself.

I was close enough that I should be able to hit some vital organ with my foot or my fist. If he was unconscious while I was under the effects of the Hypnos, he couldn’t take advantage of my hypnotized state. There was a click and I launched myself at him. His arms closed around me, and we hit the wall with enough force to rattle my insides. My teeth cut into the inside of my lip. I tasted blood.

A blue glow from the light stick he’d broken filled the cramped space.

He hadn’t been reaching for Hypnos after all—he’d only been trying to find us a light source in his belt.

“What the hell?” He grunted, rubbing his bruised knee. I was pressed against him, chest to ankle. I struggled, leaning back. I didn’t have any strength left. My angry leap had sapped the very last of it. I sagged a little.

“I thought you were going for the Hypnos powder.”

His eyes