Total pages in book: 238
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
The food sat there, the smell permeating the air, and I saw Micah staring at it more than once.
Aydin dug into his steak, taking a bite. Where was their food? I looked at Will, but he still just stared at me.
“I’m not staying here for a month,” I said.
Aydin continued eating and took a drink of water, washing it down.
“Things happen fast in the wild,” he said, cutting another chunk. “Hunting, fishing, hiking, remote as we are…a simple injury can mean death.” He raised his eyes to me. “A simple injury can leave you in a lot of pain.”
He chewed his food and then pushed his plate away, swallowing.
“Micah had an anxiety attack when he first arrived,” he explained, looking at the guy. “Remember that? We had to put him down here for a whole day, because his hysteria was driving us insane.”
I shot my eyes to Micah, his gaze on the floor now. They locked him in here? Because he had a panic attack? He could’ve died.
I begged Will with my eyes, but he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He wasn’t looking at anything anymore, staring at the floor, same as Micah.
“I’d hate for that to happen to you at the wrong time,” Aydin said, approaching me. “When the crews show up again, you could be down here, in the tunnels, undetected until they came again the next month.”
My heart sank to my stomach, and while I had no clue why the rest of them were locked up in here, I had a very good idea about what made him such a threat.
He stepped up to me, and now the guys behind him weren’t laughing so much anymore.
“You’ll stay with us,” Aydin whispered. “We’ll take care of you until they arrive.”
I looked up at him, the dark brown in his amber eyes sharpening with the threat.
“I want to see Will alone,” I said, trying to keep my tone calm.
Aydin looked over at Will. “Is there anything you can hear that we can’t?”
Will’s eyes darted from me to him, hesitating a moment before replying, “No.”
Aydin turned, smirking, and I knew.
I knew…
I couldn’t stay here. There was a town nearby. If I had to walk for three days until my body nearly expired from dehydration, I’d find it.
Slowly, I circled around Aydin, backing up and keeping my eyes on the boys as I made my way toward the door. “You want some fun?” I asked Taylor. “Five-minute head start then.”
He grinned wide, looking to Aydin and then back to me. “Two,” he cooed.
He hopped off the crates, Will, Rory, and Micah turning to face me as Aydin stood in the back, waiting.
And then…
I launched for the door, swinging it open and racing through, charging up the old stone stairs and through the door at the top.
They howled behind me, lighting a fire under my feet, and I swung around, not knowing where the front door to the house was from here, but I saw the kitchen and ran for it.
Swinging around the large island, I bolted for the back door and charged through, leaping onto the grass, immediately stumbling to my knees and rolling down the small wet hill, darkness looming everywhere.
Ice seeped through my skin.
He was right. It was cold.
Scrambling to my feet, I dug in my heels and ran. I ran and ran, not risking a look back as I made for the cover of the trees ahead.
Gasping for breath, I glanced to my left, seeing a huge ass waterfall gushing over a cliff. I slowed, widening my eyes as it rose high above and the balconies of the house overlooked it.
My God. I kept running, not believing what I was seeing. Where the hell was I?
The waterfall spilled into a ravine I couldn’t see, but I just shook my head and ran so hard my body screamed. Diving into the darkened woods, I raced through the brush. I wished I wasn’t wearing a white shirt.
I rounded trees, deciding to stay close to the edge of the forest where the land spilled off to the side. Good chance there was a river below that carried the water from the fall, and where there was water, there were towns.
Stumbling over rocks as branches whipped at my arms, I barely even bothered to look ahead as I pushed my glasses back up the bridge of my nose, the knife still in my hand as I struggled for air.
It was fucking cold. Where were we? It was only mid-October, there was a waterfall in their backyard, and trees that didn’t belong anywhere I’d ever lived.
Canada? There were hemlocks, spruces, white pines… These trees were partial to the northeastern part of North America.
I had been part of a design team right out of college that renovated an old house in St. John. The owner was adamant about re-introducing native flora to the property.