Page 84 of Kings of Sherwood

I can’t yell, can’t say her name, have no fucking voice to speak like a human being, but I skid in the leaves, stop, turn back and run.Run. Run.

Animal instinct, human desperation.

Run. Run.Run.

But it’s too late.I’mtoo late.

Figures in dark clothes, shoving her in a van.

Door slam, engine rev.

And then they’re gone.

She’s gone.

Don’t remember the run home. Don’t remember shifting back or sprinting up the hill. Just remember that sound. That scream.

Maren.Maren.

Back deck, back stairs, kitchen door. Guys at the table, jump when I tear in.

“Rob?”

“What’s going—”

“She’s gone,” I gasp.

Silence.

“Gone where?”

Don’t know who speaks up. Don’t care.

“I don’tknowwhere. Gone. Taken. They took her.” Words are too slow. Time’swasting, goddammit—only one thing even matters.

I slam my hand against the wall, hard enough to crack plaster.

“Find her.”

Chapter Twenty

Maren

When my vision returns, it isn’t good.

I choke as the bag comes off my head, gasping at how cold the air feels compared to the trapped heat of my breath. I hardly have my bearings. It’s dark, wherever we are. Indoors. And I’m shoved into a seat.

Before I can even register any details, I wrench my arms around fruitlessly. My wrists are lashed behind me. There’s a buzz and a click overhead as a lightbulb flickers to life, casting jaundiced-looking light around wherever I am. It’s practically a cell—cinder blocks, dirty floor, drop ceiling. A papered-over window to my right, must peek out from below grade. A heavy door swung open before me.

My mind is reeling. Imagination spinning. Trying to chart out any enemies who could have taken me here. What the gambit is. If they’re trying to get to Rob. If I can somehow persuade them to pay ransom for me instead of the bounty on his life—

Then I see who’s turned on the light.

And it all becomes moot.

“The prettiest mechanic in all of Sherwood County,” drawls Sheriff Wheatley.

He steps in. Heavy footfalls. Whistling inhales. Sipping from a Styrofoam cup of coffee. “And she keeps getting herself into trouble.”

---