Page 44 of Risky Passion

The thought evaporated as quickly as it formed, replaced by a sick, icy dread in my stomach.

The board didn’t have sweeping searchlights or flashing emergency beacons. Just a low, dark rubber boat, its white wake a knife cutting through the black water.

It was fucking fast and heading straight for us.

"Shit!" I hissed through clenched teeth, yanking Tory’s hand hard. "We’ve got to move. Now."

Onyx let out a deep, throaty growl, the sound reverberating up her throat as we stumbled out of the shallows. The moonlight played trickson the landscape, twisting shadows into grotesque shapes. The mangrove roots clutched at our legs as we scrambled over them.

"Jesus, they’re still after me!" Tory’s voice cracked, sharp and panicked. “What do we do?"

"Run!" I snapped, breathless, pulling her along harder as my eyes darted across the terrain.

Where the hell is my car?

Onyx barked again, her hackles bristling as her nose swung toward the boat. The bark echoed across the water, impossibly loud, like a goddamn beacon.

"Onyx, quiet!" I hissed, but she wouldn’t stop. She knew something was wrong.

"I can’t—" Tory gasped, her voice trembling. "I can’t—How much farther?"

Her feet tangled in a mangrove root. I caught her under the arm, hauling her upright.

"Keep going. My car isn’t far."I hope.

Her shaking fingers clutched mine.

"They’re going to catch us," she whispered, her words breaking into a sob. “They’ll kill us.”

"No, they won’t," I said. "Just keep moving!"

The incline loomed ahead, steep and jagged, but I still couldn’t see the trail I took down from the car. My heart pounded against my ribs as I scanned the shadows, desperate for some sign that we were going the right way.

A broken mangrove branch jutted sideways, stark and pale where I'd snapped it earlier. The tree bark seemed to gleam in the moonlight.

“Yes. Over there!" I gripped Tory's arm tighter, dragging her toward the incline.

Her legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed, her breaths coming in short, panicked bursts.

"I can’t," she whimpered, tears streaming down her face.

"You can," I growled, wrapping an arm around her waist and practically hauling her up the incline. "We’re almost there! Come on!"

The mud was slick beneath our bare feet, clinging to our skin as wescrambled upward. My lungs burned with every breath, my muscles screaming in protest, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

My Jeep was barely visible against the shadows, but it was there. Relief flooded through me, and hope glimmered in the crushing darkness.

A faint, high-pitched whistle sliced through the night air, so soft I almost didn’t register it at first.

I froze. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

I spun back toward the water as a streak of light arced toward us, and my blood turned to ice.

“RPG!” I said. “Down!”

I tackled Tory to the ground, wrapping my arms around her as I yanked Onyx down with my other hand. The impact drove the air from my lungs.

The RPG slammed into my Jeep with a deafening blast.

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