Page 122 of Hunted in the Shadows
Cliff’s vacant gaze moved to me.
With no one left between us, I raised the shotgun and aimed it at the siren controlling Cliff. I tried to be unpredictable, tried to sidestep as Cliff took aim, but it wasn’t enough. He fired first. Pain exploded above my kneecap. The impact made me stumble and sent my own shot wide, missing the siren.
Cliff squeezed the trigger again—click.
As he moved to reload, I abandoned my weapon and dove to tackle him. My leg gave out from under me, sending him down, too. Cliff fought viciously—an unsettling sight while his eyes were utterly devoid of emotion. Every muscle in his body tensed with brutal, unrestrained force. An elbow connected with my stomach, inciting a sharp pain that stole my breath.
“Listen!” I hissed. “Cliff,listen! You need to—look away!”
As I struggled to keep my arms locked around Cliff, I registered how easy it would be to slam his head down, to knock him out entirely, but I couldn’t do that—not to him.
Unless I had no other choice.
I managed to get him in a headlock, forcing his body away from the siren, rolling us into the cover of buttonbush while she desperately sought his attention a few meters away. She couldn’t come further onto land, no matter how she snarled at me.
Gradually, Cliff’s struggles lessened under my panicked hold. I worried he was losing consciousness. If he went out cold, I’d havehisbody to drag out of here along with Sylvia’s—but then I heard his voice.
“Sweet,” Cliff rasped. “You remembered I like being the little spoon.”
I released him, too relieved to even roll my eyes.
“Thanks,” he added more seriously, swiping his gun from the ground. He rubbed one of his wrists, still red from breaking through the zip ties. “Dunno why the fuck Rhett and his band of fuckwads want me so bad, but—”
A haunting song filled the air—the siren's renewed effort to win our eye contact, to pull us back under that dark blanket of comforting numbness. If it went on for much longer, I knew I’d look. I knew I’d cave to that beautiful, tender promise of peace.
As Cliff and I peeled away from each other, he reloaded and raised his gun in the direction of the song.
“Am I good?” he asked.
I flitted my eyes to the side briefly, looking only at the bony, blood-stained hands braced on the ground. The siren’s attention was focused on reclaiming Cliff, but I could feel more resolve waver within me, too.
Look, a voice itched.Just one quick look.
“A little higher,” I forced out.
Cliff adjusted.BLAM. The siren shrieked and fell limply on the bank.
We scrambled to our feet, glancing cautiously toward the tangle of hair spread over the ground, concealing her face.
Unmoving.
I leaned heavily on the nearest tree to support my weight. The pain from the bullet lodged in my leg flashed through me with every breath. Cliff’s face darkened as he stood beside me, his gaze fixed on the blood soaking through the waterlogged denim.
“Fuck, what happened to you?” Cliff said.
I gave him a tight, shadowed look. It wasn’t reallyhimwho’d shot me. “It’s fine,” I bit out. “I can get out of here. Just give me a hand.”
Cliff’s eyes widened, catching the words I wouldn’t say. I saw the guilt cross his face as he surveyed the clearing, swallowing as the realization of what he had done clicked into place.
Only two hunters were left alive. One was fleeing for his life with ragged breaths, vanishing through the trees. The other, though, made me falter. It was the same figure Cliff and I had seen through the window of the outpost just the day before—Cain.
He was splattered with blood, looking ready to collapse as he staggered along the shore. Although he was facing in our direction, something had caught his eye, and he took no notice of us. He ducked into the shoreline foliage—straight for Rhett.
My heart slammed into my throat. I cursed and tore after him—limping, with every step coursing agony through me. Cliff was right behind me, footsteps steadily pounding the earth.
“Cain!” I shouted. “Cain, leave him!”
He threw a disgusted look over his shoulder, chest heaving from the damage he had taken. We were still yards away when he cursed and turned back to Rhett.
