I didn’t correct them.
“Please,” I said instead, letting my voice tremble just enough to sound convincing.“You already did what you wanted.Just let me go.”
The taller one straightened, shaking his head.“Nah.”
“No?”I echoed weakly.
“No,” he repeated, almost cheerfully.“You’re not getting away this time.”
The shorter one reached down and grabbed something from the floor.A plastic bottle.He lobbed it at me without warning.
It hit my shoulder and bounced, spilling water across my chest and the floor.
“Drink up,” he said.“Gonna need your strength.”
My hands shook as I stared at the bottle.
They turned and walked out like they hadn’t just shattered my world.The door slammed shut and plunged the camper back into dimness.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling, and my body trembled uncontrollably now that they were gone.
Okay.Okay.You’re alive.They think you’re someone else.And they are very obviously stupid.
That last thought was the only thing keeping the panic from swallowing me whole.They were stupid, and they might have been able to grab me, but I knew the club was going to find me.These guys were going to mess up, and I would be out of here soon.
My head throbbed harder, and the edges of my vision blurred.I squeezed my eyes shut, and tears slipped free despite my best efforts.
I focused on breathing.
On staying awake.
On anything that wasn’t the fear curling tight in my chest.
But exhaustion crept in anyway.My eyelids drooped, my thoughts slowing until they became nothing.
I fought it as long as I could.
Then the dark took me again.
Chapter Two
Ender
Every second I wasn’t moving felt like I was wasting something I couldn’t afford to lose.
Time.
Clove had been gone for hours.
No, longer than that.
I’d stopped checking my phone because it didn’t help.Every time I pulled it out, there was nothing new.No missed calls.No messages.No updates that mattered.Just the same quiet that had settled over everything since her name had been spoken out loud and echoed back at us with nothing attached to it.
Missing.
I grabbed my keys off the bar and turned.
“Ender.”Kingston’s voice cut through the noise in my head.I stopped and looked back at him.