Page 90 of Lost to Thievery
And for once, I listened. I turned back towards the agents, suppressing my urge to run. “I think we should head back home,” I told them and stepped past the two confused men. They followed after me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of needing to look behind me, like there were monsters lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on us.
I finally caved to the feeling and swung around. I searched the shadows behind us, first seeing nothing, but then my eye caught movement at the edge of a streetlight. It was a large man, a few meters from us. He stopped when he saw me looking at him. Three more men appeared beside him, and my stomach dropped. They didn’t try to hide. They just stood and watched us, like stalking lions, waiting to see what our next move would be.
“Beaumont,” one of the agents whispered to me. Their stance was rigid, having also noticed the men. “Get ready to run.”
Adrenaline shot through my veins, but I kept steady, Grayson’s voice echoing through my mind.“Rule number four. Don’t let the fear and adrenaline overpower you. If you keep control of your body, you keep your wits.”
So I breathed. In and out, readying my mind and body for what’s to come. I felt the tug of the weeping willows, beckoning me to hide behind their canopies. I took a tentative step back, then another, but it broke the dam wall. As soon as the men noticed my movement, they charged, ripping out guns from under their jackets.
“Run!” the agent shouted, and I dashed off the path, into the cover of the willow trees. Shots from both sides rang through the air and I looked back to see the agents behind me, taking cover behind some willows.
I screamed as a bullet hit a tree right next to me, missing me by an inch. I skidded to a stop and ducked behind another tree,pressing my back to the trunk. My hands were trembling as I reached for my phone, almost unable to press the damn speed dial button.
Owen answered in two rings, but it felt like a lifetime. “I was just thinking about…” he quieted. “Where are you?” His voice was calm, but the urgency was unmistakable. He had heard the gunshots.
I yelped as another bullet hit the side of the tree, bark flying into my hair. “In the park. By the willows. There’s four of them,” I rattled off, peering out from behind the tree, trying to see what was going on. I caught the shadows of two of the men, who had sneaked past the agents from the side, looking straight at me.
They were coming for me.
“Don’t put the phone down, Ava. I’m coming!”
“Hurry,” was all I could choke out, before breaking out into a sprint. I dashed through the trees, forcing my feet to move faster. I was flying through them, but I was vigilant of every step I took, every breath in and out. It was almost comical how Grayson’s depraved urge tochasehad primed me for this moment.
I slipped down the bank of a stream where it disappeared into a tunnel, landed on my feet, and dashed over the shallow water. I paid no mind to the ice leeching into my shoes, only concentrating on not slipping over the slick rocks in the water. I couldn’t afford a twisted ankle. It would mean my death or whatever hell these men had planned for me.
Hands shot out from within the dark tunnel. Before I could react, I was snatched into the darkness and caged against a body. My phone fell from my hand and disappeared underneath the water. I kicked and screamed, but it was muffled by a palm, painfully clasped around my mouth.
“Ava, it’s me,” he whispered into my ear.
Liam!
I sagged against him, relief making me go limp. He released me slowly.
My relief was short-lived as reality crashed into me. I took two quick steps away from him and pressed myself against the curved wall of the tunnel. What was he doing here? Was he with those men?
His eyes bored into mine. “How many?”
I blinked and stared at him for two long seconds, my lungs burning, and my mind spiralling.
He snapped his fingers at me. “Ava!” The intensity of his whisper snapped me out of my stupor.
“Umm… Two coming… With guns.”
He quickly closed the space between us. I flinched back as he whipped a knife open, but when he reached me, he turned it and held it out for me. I clasped my trembling fingers around the hilt, and he scowled down at them. He gripped my head in his hands and lowered his face to mine. “Get it together, Ava! Rule number four, remember?”
I nodded and quickly pulled my consciousness back into my body as Liam stared at me. I felt the panic radiating in my chest, and the nausea pulsing in my gut. My eyes were wide with terror, so I closed them, took a deep breath in and exhaled the fear out, wrangling my body into submission.
When I opened my eyes again, Liam released me. “Ready to fight, Princess?”
“Don’t call me that!” I spat but rolled my shoulders back and adjusted my grip on the knife.
Liam grinned at me, the usual spark back in his eyes. He turned his head, listening to the approaching footfalls.
“Fuck these assholes,” I muttered, as I retreated deeper into the shadows. I was done running like a helpless fawn. I was done with men threatening my life. If I was going down, they were going down with me.
Liam pressed himself against the side of the wall at the opening and waited.
“Syuda!” One shouted. “She crossed here.” His accent was unmistakable.
