Page 119 of The Hunter's Empire

The ground grows rougher the farther we travel. I try hiding the limp, but every few steps another jolt of pain shoots through my ankle, forcing me to lean against him more than I'd like.

"I'm slowing you down." I admit quietly.

"You are."

I lift my head to glare at him. "You could've lied."

He glances at me, the corner of his mouth threatening to lift. "You would've known."

A reluctant sigh escapes me. "I liked you better when you were less honest."

"I didn't." He glances at me then, something unreadable flickering across his expression. It lingers just long enough to make my chest tighten before he looks away again.

For a moment, I wonder if he's thinking about last night too. The moment doesn't last. As we continue deeper into the jungle, the silence around us gradually changes. It takes me a second to realize what's wrong. The birds are gone. So are the insects. The forest has fallen unnaturally still.

Nico comes to an abrupt stop. I nearly walk into him.

"What is it?" I whisper.

He doesn't answer. His eyes move slowly from one section of the jungle to another, every muscle in his body suddenly alert.

When he finally speaks, his voice is barely above a whisper. "We're not alone."

Almost on cue, branches shift somewhere to our left. I freeze. Another rustle follows from the right, then another behind us. Slowly, I turn, my pulse beginning to hammer against my ribs as figures emerge from the vegetation one after another. Rifles are already raised by the time they step into the clearing, spreading into a wide semicircle that tightens with every passing second. More men appear behind them, then another line farther back,until it becomes impossible to tell where the jungle ends and the ambush begins.

"There are too many." I murmur.

Nico doesn't look at me. "They've been driving us here."

The realization hits instantly. Every path we'd abandoned, every patrol we'd narrowly avoided, every route that had somehow forced us farther inland suddenly makes perfect sense. They were never trying to catch us. They were herding us.

One of the armed men steps forward, his rifle trained squarely on us. "Hands where I can see them!"

Neither of us moves. Without taking his eyes off the men surrounding us, Nico shifts half a step until he's standing slightly in front of me.

"Stay behind me." He says quietly. "If I tell you to run…"

"I'm not leaving."

"Zora."

"I mean it."

For a brief second, I think he's going to argue but a gunshot decides for him. The bullet slams into the tree beside us, exploding bark across the clearing. Nico catches my arm and yanks me behind the trunk just as another volley tears through the air. Shouts erupt from every direction while splinters rain around us.

"They're flanking us!"

"Move!"

Nico explodes out from cover before they can close the distance, striking the nearest attacker hard enough to send him sprawling. I force myself after him, ignoring the sharp pain ripping through my ankle the moment my foot hits the ground. Every instinct tells me to stop. Instead, I throw myself into the fight, driving my shoulder into another man and wrenching his weapon away before he can recover.

The clearing dissolves into chaos.

Gunfire cracks through the trees. Men shout over one another. Branches snap beneath pounding boots as more attackers flood into the clearing. We move almost instinctively now, falling into a rhythm neither of us ever discussed. Every time someone gets behind me, Nico is already there. Every time another rifle swings toward him, I'm moving before he has to think twice.

"You alright?" Nico calls, shoving another attacker backward.

"I'll complain later!" I shout, barely ducking beneath the swing of a rifle butt.