Page 97 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
Step by shaky step, I neared the trees.
My pace slowed as the shadow of the trees covered me.
The night lay too still.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood.
Just as I grasped my knife tighter, a screech broke the stillness.
I turned fast, my boot hitting a pebble that ricocheted behind me.
In a blink, a net sprung from the ground, sending twigs and leaves flying through the air.
My heart seized.
That net had been meant for me.
This wasn’t a rescue mission.
This was an ambush–and I was the target.
Chapter
Eighteen
ALLIE
The cover of the trees I rushed behind was nothing compared to the groans and yells beating against me.
No allies waited in the shadows. Only enemies, ready to trap The Huntress.
“You idiots!” A painfully familiar voice shook the ground. “Don’t let her get away. Find her!”
How many more times could my heart break within a matter of days?
One person could not withstand so much.
Allie could not.
The Huntress had to.
I pushed my shock and misery deep down, letting instinct reign.
Hurried steps resounded behind me, thundering against the ground. So they were large, but didn’t have stealth training.
Small comfort when I was outnumbered, outweaponed, probably outpowered, and famished. But a comfort nonetheless.
I crouched low to the ground, flitting between the few bushes which dared grow so close to the crater, careful not to rustle the leaves.
They thought they’d trap me?
Even in my weakest state, I would not become prey.
The steps thundered closer. Through the branches, I noticed five cloaked figures looming. The moonlight spearing through the trees bounced off their strange copper masks, which had even stranger symbols etched onto them. They reeked even worse than the wagon. Foul, like death clung to them.
I gripped my knife tighter.
“Spread out!” That same gruff voice cut through the stillness and my soul. “Don’t harm her–”
