Page 89 of Forged in Deception

As usual, despite his best efforts to analyze the risks, he’d chosen the wrong course of action.

He should have subdued her immediately and demanded answers, not let her get away in hopes of her leading him to Karlin.

He was bigger than her, and as far as he could tell, she was armed with nothing aside from the syringe she’d already used on him.

He pulled out his gun and quickened his pace, trying desperately to catch up, but just when he thought he might be able to make up the distance, his foot slipped on a patch of muddy rock.

Those few seconds as he fell were all she needed to get onto the ATV, turn the key in the ignition, and race off into the wilderness.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-NINE

ASHER

Asher pushed his body up against a nearby rock and rested there, defeated.

He had managed to land directly on a patch of gravelly dirt, which had torn through his jeans and, apparently, the skin covering his knee cap.

Awesome.

It was bloody, but at least it didn’t hurt. Much.

He could hear the ATV roaring somewhere in the distance. Even if he’d had full daylight and knew exactly where she was headed, there was no way he’d be able to catch up with her on foot.

He glanced around the clearing, once again trying and failing to get his bearings.

The rain was still falling steadily, and now that he’d stopped moving, he was getting cold fast.

How was he going to find Karlin?

He supposed he could try and find his way back to the main retreat site and call for help, but he might end up even more lost, and in any case, it was possible that Paul had made it there bynow, anyway. Not that that meant help was on its way. There was a solid chance that the buildings would be locked, seeing as no one was supposed to be spending the night there.

On the other hand, there was the maintenance truck, assuming Paul could find it.

In any case, Asher hoped the older man hadn’t dared to try and make it all the way to the Senera offices in this weather, and especially not before sunrise.

He pulled his arms against himself as tightly as he could, a long shiver wracking his body. All he wanted in the world was to hold Karlin in his arms.

Okay, that and a roaring bonfire, a thermos full of coffee, and his favorite totally dorky fleece Christmas pajamas. But still.

Less than twelve hours ago, he’d been certain that he and Karlin were almost out of this mess, and then everything had completely and utterly fallen apart.

“God, I don’t know what your plan is, but this part of it? This sucks. I’m rating it at a zero out of ten, in fact. Karlin is probably in terrible danger right now, and there’s nothing I can do, and I seriously need you to make the path clear to me, because I’m lost. Please. I just need you to cut me a break,” he said.

Once upon a time, his mother would have scolded him for ‘murmuring against the Lord as the Israelites did.’

She was right, but he wasn’t sure he had the ability to care at the moment.

And then, as if on cue, a giant bolt of lightning struck the ground, impossibly close.

Asher yelped and shoved his body closer to the rock, nearly falling a second time before steadying himself. The smell of ozone clung to the insides of his nostrils.

“Well played,” he muttered in the general direction of the heavens. “A little dramatic, but totally well deserve–”

Before he could finish his sentence, thunder tore through the sky.

Asher’s heart began to thump faster.

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