Page 175 of Ignite

But maybe this will help. Maybe they won’t see me.

Up here, I have the advantage.

But once the sun is gone, I’ll be blind.

So I wait.

I let the silence stretch around me like a shroud.

And I think.

Of memories. Of home. Of the few happy moments I’ve had lately.

Especially Conan.

God, I wish we had more time.

I liked who I was becoming with him.

Braver. Softer.

Still me, but somehow freer.

It’s the first time a relationship hasn’t felt like a prison.

It felt like flight. Like fire. Like fucking freedom.

A silent tear slips down my cheek.

I don’t wipe it away.

I just close my eyes and let it fall.

Chapter 62

CONAN

This is the first year I have entered my Decadence Chase with no fire in my veins.

I caught the first girl easily. I know just from how my body reacts that this isn’t Hallie.

“Please! No!” she screams as I grip her shoulders.

We’ve got drones going and the twins out on foot to track her down.

I pull off this girl's mask, and her blonde hair bounces, her green eyes pleading with me.

“Shh.” I hold my finger up to my lip. “Don’t fight me.”

She pales, her body going limp like she’s about to pass out.

Jesus Christ.

Holding her up with one hand, I let the flare go off in the other, the loud bang hopefully enough to scare the other contestants.

Although I do have some blanks with me in my pistol.

“Be quiet,” I whisper and lead her through the hedgerow back to the holding cabin, armed by Declan.

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