Page 35 of Marked

On the last one, I threaded my fingers through her damp hair and held her against my lips a few beats longer, breathing her in.

“I more than love you, Alaina Biggs.”

This beautiful woman was both my beginning and my ending; the very reason my heart continued to beat. It made me sick to think about how close we’d come to missing out on a lifetime together. Never again. There was a long and winding road ahead of us, but we’d have our happy ending, even if I had to fight the world to get us there.

The sun was partially behind the mountains by the time we began the short trek back to where we’d left the horses. Hand in hand, we navigated the trail, stopping briefly to relieve ourselves behind a group of bushes. It was a first for me—peeing outdoors—which led to Lanie barking out a laugh when I told her. I had a feeling it wasn’t the last first I’d experience with her at my side, and I couldn’t wait for them all.

Whiskey and Smoke were grazing on a small patch of grass, exactly where we’d left them. They lifted their heads as we approached, then something seemed to shift in theirdemeanor. Lanie saw it too. She grabbed my forearm, but before either of us could say anything, I heard it.

CRACK.

Lanie smashed into me, taking us both to the ground at the same time my brain registered the sound. Gunshot. More precisely, a rifle shot. Several things happened simultaneously. The horses went crazy, rearing back on their hind legs, whinnying frantically, while the two of us scrambled to our feet and took off for the nearest tree line. Another round went off right as we slid to a stop behind a large oak, sending slivers of bark flying in all directions.

We both tore the backpacks off our shoulders and hurriedly searched for our weapons inside. I racked the slide of my Glock when I heard Lanie hiss in pain.

“Lanie?”

Her fingertips pressed into her left side, and when she pulled them away, they were red.

“Motherfucker.”

8FUCK WORTHY

Lanie

“Well, shit.” I looked down at the blood coating my fingers, then to where it was beginning to spread across one of my favorite shirts.

Son of a bitch!

I’d never been shot before and—for the record—I’d prefer it didn’t happen again. Pain, I could deal with, but having a bullet pierce my skin was pure agony. It felt like someone had taken a blowtorch to my side.

“Here.” Noah pushed a towel from the bag onto the wound, then replaced his hand with mine as he took my gun and slid it in the back of his pants. “Keep pressure on it.”

Another blast ripped through the air, kicking up dirt two feet to our left. Noah peered around the tree, popping off two rounds in the general direction of the shooter.

“We need to move. We’re sitting ducks here.” I stepped closer, crouching low next to him.

“Can’t take the horses.” He nodded toward the spot where we’d tied them up. The now empty spot. In all thechaos, I hadn’t thought to set them free, but it seemed they took care of that themselves.

“Good. We’ll stand a better chance moving through the woods on foot anyway. They’ll head straight back to the farm, which will alert Dad and Leland. They’ll come looking for us.”

Noah’s head jerked back when he realized what I was suggesting. “You were shot, Lanie. You need a hospital, not a hike.”

“I’m not bleeding out, for Christ’s sake.” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. He let loose a growl which rivaled a grizzly. “Listen, we don’t know how many assholes there are out there, right?”

He didn’t agree or disagree, just stared like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. Between the adrenaline coursing through my body and the blood dripping out of it, I didn’t see another solution, so I continued with my line of thinking.

“We’ve got the upper hand here. I know these woods better than anyone. If we can get to them without being seen, there are a couple of caves where we could hunker down.”

“Hunker down,” he repeated slowly.

A fourth shot sounded. This one smacking into the oak tree we were behind; dead center. It was enough to get us both moving. Noah slung both our bags over his shoulder, tagged my hand, and blindly fired three shots behind us, providing a bit of cover as we ran.

Too focused on putting one foot in front of the other, I lost track of the number of bullets we dodged while we zigzagged through the forest. It could have been three or thirty. Noah stayed two steps behind me the whole way as I took us east toward the closest cave, which also happened toparallel the farm. Once we were there, we could call for help. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best I could come up with on the fly. Leland would be able to lead a rescue team straight to us, since we used these caves as a clubhouse when we were younger.

Despite the adrenaline pumping through my veins, the burning in my side worsened with every ragged breath I took. I did my best to keep the towel pressed to the wound, but it was almost impossible to do while running for your life. When my head started to spin from the pain, I squeezed the hand still firmly holding mine.

“What’s wrong? Shit.” Noah grasped my elbow to steady me when I swayed sideways. Scanning our surroundings, he led me to a fallen log, easing me onto it. “Sit before you fall.”

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