Page 6 of Outcast’s Vow

Finally, after scrambling through more rough terrain, I come across a small natural clearing in the rainforest. The ground here is covered with a veil of fallen leaves and turned-up roots. I slow down my pace. I tread cautiously.

She’s nearby.

I step into the clearing, and there she is.

Her back is turned, but it’s definitely her. Who else would be out here?

I forget about the heat, about the fatigue, about my muscles screaming in pain.

I’ve done it. I’ve won the prize.

She's stopped at the other end of the clearing. She’s heard me. She knows the game is up.

I stop too.

There’s silence for a heartbeat.

“Sylvie Levine.”

My voice cuts through the still humid air between us like a verdict at the end of a trial.

She slowly turns to me, already knowing what’s happened. Her face drops. Humiliated.

Her warm hazel eyes stand out from behind a face painted with camo colors. Her platinum blonde hair is tied up behind a bandana. She certainly isn’t dressed as she usually is at fundraising dinners. Instead, she’s outfitted like me. All survival gear. I expected to find a princess, but it seems I’ve stumbled upon a soldier.

Oh, she really thought she’d make it.

I’m not triumphant, I’m actually stunned.

Holy shit, she’s beautiful.

But her eyes aren’t on me. They’re on something over my shoulder.

The sound of footsteps echoes from the dense forest behind me, and now it’s my time to turn around.

There’s a hand.

And a gun. Aimed at me.

Oh, fuck.

I recognize him immediately. It’s Antoni Baran. He’s somehow followed me, the asshole. He enters the clearing with the gun at my head.

I am defenseless. Exposed.

A snarl forms on my lips.

It seems all day I’ve hunted Sylvie, not knowing that I have been hunted too.

4

SYLVIE

I should be afraid of Baptiste Tremblay, but right now, I’m not.

And for good reason.

I am more scared of the man standing behind him. The one aiming a gun at Baptiste’s head.