Cold. Bone-chilling cold. That was the first thing I became aware of. The second was the pounding in my head and an insatiable thirst. I forced my eyelids open. They felt like sandpaper, gritty and harsh against my tender eyes. It took a few moments for them to adjust.
Where the hell was I? I tried to clear my jumbled brain, my eyes roving around the dark space, looking for clues to jog my memory. Dirt floor. Rock walls. My breaths came quicker as the first taste of panic licked at my skin. No true source of light. Just a low-level ambient sort of glow.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief moment. I held a hand against my chest and imagined it was Walker’s and that he was again showing me how to slow my breathing. My eyes flew open as memories slammed into me. Walker showing up at the house. Me allowing him to think the wrong thing. My fight with Liam. Liam lying helplessly on the floor. A hand on my mouth. And then—nothing. Just blackness.
I scrambled back in a half-crawl until my back hit the stone wall of what must be a cave. Jagged pieces of rock dug into my skin. My head snapped back and forth in either direction, looking for any sign of movement. Was I alone?
My heart rattled against my ribs as I fought to control my breathing. Passing out wouldn’t get me anywhere. My eyes strained against the darkness. I could make out basic shapes. The curve of the rock surfaces. My gaze stuttered over a lump on the ground. Was that a rock? I studied the shape for several minutes, trying to make it out while attempting to keep my breath even and slow. I had nothing. No idea what it could be.
I licked my dry, cracked lips. I had to see what it was. Slowly, I crawled towards the darker shape, not yet trusting myself to stand, let alone walk. I inched closer, and my breath caught in my throat as I froze mid-shuffle. It was a person. Friend or foe? Friend or foe? What if it was my attacker playing some ghoulish game? Or worse, what if there was another prisoner in this chamber?
I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. If someone was hurt, I had to try and help. My arm shook like a leaf as I reached out towards the form. My fingers grasped a flannel-clad shoulder. Nothing. I swallowed hard and gently rolled the person to his or her back.
I shot back with a gasp, holding onto my scream with everything I had in me. Staring back at me was a man I’d never seen before, his face bleached of any color, eyes open wide, unblinking. A bullet hole sat squarely in the center of his forehead.
My stomach heaved, but there was nothing for my belly to empty. I hadn’t eaten since the day before. What time was it now? How long had I been gone? Was anyone looking for me?
My heart cried out for Walker with a ferocity that had me gasping. He was the only thing I wanted in that moment.
Footsteps echoed off the hard stone of the cave, and I skittered back against the wall. My eyes darted around frantically, searching for some path of escape, somewhere to hide. There was nothing. My chest constricted in a vise-like grip. I couldn’t seem to get air into my lungs.
The sharp edges of the rocks cut into my palms. I tried to focus on the pain instead of my rapidly beating heart and my inability to catch my breath. A beam of light cut across my body, zeroing in on my face. I threw a hand in front of my eyes on instinct. The light burned.
“You’re awake. Good.” That voice. It was so familiar.
I slowly lowered my hand and let my gaze adjust to the brightness in increments. As it did, my body turned to stone. No. It couldn’t be. My heart spasmed. This would kill Jensen. “Bryce?” My voice came out as a croak.
“Hey there.” He crouched down three feet from me, and I pushed back harder against the wall.
The jagged edges of the stone piercing my body felt like a warm embrace compared to what I might receive at this man’s hands. “W-what’s going on?”
A feral grin stretched over Bryce’s face as he toyed with the flashlight in his hands. “Come on now, Taylor, don’t play dumb with me.”
My fingers dug into the dirt floor of the cave. “I-it was you? You killed Caitlin and that hiker?”
The grin turned into a smirk. The same kind of expression a guy would wear if you’d asked if he lifted something particularly heavy. “Not just them. Lots more. Some you may have heard about, many more you haven’t.” My mind flashed to the woman from Willow Creek Walker had told me was missing, and my heart broke a little more.
“They were easy prey. Not even really a challenge.” Bryce rested his chin on the lens of the flashlight, the beam casting creepy shadows over his face. I shuddered. “Though you did throw a little wrench in my plans when you wandered off the trail. You almost interrupted me while I was dealing with Miss Caitlin.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I did not want this asshole to see me break, he seemed like he would get off on it. Bryce shone the beam back at me. “Something tells me you’re a fighter. You might actually be some fun.” He edged just a bit closer, and I held my breath. “I haven’t had a real challenge in far too long.”
Bryce reached behind his back, and my world slowed. Was he reaching for a weapon? Was this the end? Walker’s face filled my mind. His rugged jaw, almost always covered in stubble. His piercing green eyes that could set me aflame with one look and put my soul at ease with another. I’d never get a chance to tell him how sorry I was. To tell him how much I loved him.
A water bottle flew at my head. My reflexes, still a little slow, barely reacted in time. Bryce rose. “Drink up. And eat this.” He tossed a granola bar at me next. “You’ll need your energy for the hunt to come.”
The hunt. “What does that mean?”
Bryce turned, a glint in his eyes that spoke of arousal. “It means, I’m going to let you go.”