Page 81 of Forged in Deception

She forced one foot in front of the other as she and Lily hiked through the desert in the dark, stumbling over rocks and pricking herself on unseen plants.

The air felt dangerously heavy, and the wind was beginning to pick up, sending a bitter cold breeze rushing over the sand.

Despite the exertion, she struggled to keep herself warm, and the business-like skirt and thin cardigan she wore did little to protect her from the cold gusts of wind that swept up every few minutes. Her simple flat shoes were only moderately warmer than a pair of sandals, and she would do almost anything to go back and choose a pair of sensible sneakers with thick socks.

She couldn’t stop shivering, and yet, she longed for a glass of freezing cold water.

She knew that she had more important things to think about.

Everyone was in danger now, most of all herself, but it was incredible how the needs of the body could draw her thoughts even as she faced a real risk of death.

She tripped over a root and fell to her knees, gasping in pain as she felt a cut opening up on the top of her right foot.

She felt Lily jabbing the gun into the back of her head.

“Keep moving,” the woman said, her voice void of emotion. “I need you out of my way.”

Karlin yanked her body upright, knowing that it would be dangerous to argue.

Ever since Lily had ambushed her outside of the retreat hut, she’d hardly spoken, but everything she did say filled Karlinwith cold terror. It was like the cheerful older woman had disappeared, replaced by a monster in an instant.

But there had to have been signs. Signs she–and apparently, Axel–had missed.

Not that she was casting blame. Whatever the reason for her deception was, the act Lily put on had been extremely convincing.

“We have a ritual to do, and we’re already late. It was supposed to be performed at midnight,” Lily continued. It was the most substantial sentence she’d uttered in hours.

Karlin decided she’d risk a question, though she didn’t dare to ask specifically what the woman meant by needing her out of the way.

“What do you mean?” she choked out.

Her mouth was so dry that the words nearly got stuck in her throat.

Lily stopped walking for a moment, and Karlin stole a glance behind her. The woman actually looked almost sad.

“You almost found out, back then,” she said at last. “Amira liked you, trusted you. She was going to tell you everything, but she never got the chance. I couldn’t risk history repeating itself. You were getting too close.”

Karlin’s stomach clenched as she stared at Lily, realization dawning.

It was all she could do not to throw up.

Everything was finally beginning to make sense.

ASHER

Asher followed the raised voices back into the hut, just in time to see Paul begging Cora to leave with him. “We need to get backto the main site,” he was saying, his voice pleading. “We need to call for help.”

“No way,” Cora argued. “Listen to the wind. There’s a storm starting, and it’s pitch black out there. I don’t even know if there’s still a Jeep to drive, and the trail will be rough if it starts raining. We need to wait for Karlin to get back.”

“She might not come back,” Paul snapped, sounding angrier than Asher had ever heard him. “Dr. Bajwa is in jail, Ms. McKenna has disappeared, and so has Lily. Maybe she had a bad reaction and Karlin had to take her to the hospital like they did with Destiny. This whole retreat is cursed.”

Asher considered this.

If he hadn’t spent most of the night high out of his mind, he probably would have considered that possibility first. He hadn’t even looked to see if Bajwa’s Jeep was still outside.

Surely, it was a more likely possibility than the explanations he’d been tossing around.

He was about to suggest that they go see if the Jeep was there and if the keys were in it when Cora spoke.

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