How Sinners Fight - Eva Ashwood Page 0,84

to hit me again. I duck blindly, but before the branch can connect with my body, Elias comes out of nowhere, tackling the person around the waist. They both hit the ground hard next to me, grappling for control of the branch. Whoever is hidden by the mask is a vicious fighter, but Elias manages to jam a forearm into their neck, making them gag and choke. He rips the branch out of their hands as they both stagger to their feet.

Get to Max. It’s all I can think of, a steady mantra in my head as adrenaline surges through me. Get to Max.

“Soph! You okay?” A strong arm wraps around my waist, helping me stay on my feet as my ears ring and my head throbs.

“Yeah. Help me.” My legs wobble as I try to keep my balance, stumbling toward Max. Gray is already there, working at the ropes.

“Fuck!” Elias yells. “Son of of a bitch.”

He lunges after my attacker, but they dodge his tackle this time, disappearing into the darkness. I can see him debate whether or not to go after them, but his protective instincts win out. He turns back to us just as the ropes start to loosen around Max’s limp body.

“Got her.” Gray catches her in his arms as she slumps forward.

Her eyes flutter, glazed and confused, and my heart wrenches in my chest. Goddammit. This is all my fault. Whoever took her only did it to get to me.

“It’s okay, Max,” I tell her, my throat tight. I stumble as I step away from Declan’s steadying grip. “We’ve got you. Can you walk? We need to get the fuck out of he—”

A rushing sound, like wind whipping through the trees, cuts me off as a roar of flames bursts to life around us.

“Shit!” Elias’s voice rises up above the sound.

Another patch of ground nearby goes up, flames rising so fast and violently that I know they must be helped by some kind of accelerant.

“Get Max! Help her!” I scream, moving toward the tree where Max is barely on her feet, held up by Gray’s grip around her.

“I’ve got her!” he yells back, waving an arm to gesture me away. “Get out of here! Go!”

The flames are slowly enclosing the area around the tree, forming a rough ring in a wide perimeter. Every time more of the brush and undergrowth catches fire, the ring gets closer to closing up entirely, trapping us inside.

I hesitate, but Gray is already dragging Max away from the tree. I’m still woozy from getting hit, and I know I won’t be much help. Elias steps up to help him, and that’s all the reassurance I need. I turn around and dash toward the only small opening that remains in the flickering flames.

The brightness of the fire makes the surrounding shadows seem even darker. I’ve lost track of where Declan is, and the heat of the flames is making my skin feel prickly and too tight. I surge through the small opening in the steadily building ring of fire, licks of flame reaching out as if they’re trying to grab me.

I can smell the acrid scent of singed hair and cloth, but I make it through to the other side, whipping off my jacket as soon as I’m through and beginning to beat at the flames. I hear a shouted curse from inside the ring, but the flames are surging out of control, and I can’t see through the haze of smoke and orange light.

I raise my arms again, trying to beat back the flames, when a flicker of movement to my right catches my eye.

This time, the masked attacker catches the back of my head with the heavy branch.

And the world goes dark.

23

I drift in and out of consciousness, everything around me fuzzy and indistinct—like the weird moments of dizziness I used to get, my mind turning on itself and making me reel.

My head throbs, and I keep trying to claw my way back to alertness, to get my body and brain to function right. Adrenaline is still pouring through me, flooding my veins and allowing little pinpricks of clarity to pierce the fog in my head.

Max.

The fire.

The Sinners.

Goddammit, no!

The air around me is quiet and dark. I can’t hear the flames, and as my eyelids flutter open, I can’t see any hint of orange light. Just the pale cast of starlight and moonlight on the trees around me.

But the fire is still burning… somewhere. I have to get back