Let's Hunt Her (Book #2)

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I run after Taecyeon and appa, weaving around fighting Strategia and dead bodies. The heavy door is half open and the guards previously stationed at it are either missing or dead. I run out of the great hall into a mostly bare foyer fund with tapestries. Luckily there is only one hallway to choose from. But before I can run for it, I hear boots pounding straight for me. And out of the shadows at the end of the hall charges a man dressed in all black. He locks eyes with me and I recognize him as the guards who held the knife to Rosé's throat last night in the dungeon. He unsheathes a sword.

I hold up my knife and ready my stance as he barrels toward me, aware that my weapon is no match for his. As he gets closer his movements become more deliberate and his face more focuses. He slashes at me with so much force that the air moves. I barely manage to jump out of the way, avoiding his blade with just inches to spare.

As he raises his arm again the distinctive hum of a bowstring comes from behind him. But before he can turn, I hear the thud of metal hitting flesh. His eyes bulge and he stumbles, dropping face-first to the floor, an arrow sticking out of his back.

I look down the hallway, and from the shadows comes a tall guy with coconut hair and a serious expression.

"Jungkook?" I say in disbelief. Has has a half-empty quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder and a longbow in his hand.

"Suzy," he says, and we share an awkward nod, neither of us knowing what to say, and no time to say it if we did. For the briefest moment there's a glimmer of understanding between us, but then we're both moving again, him into the great hall and me chasing after appa and Taecyeon.

I pick up speed, not stopping to assess my surroundings the way I normally would. Instead, I race down the hallway, through the door at the end, and into an empty banquet hall. But the only person in the room that matches the arrows in Sejeong's and Jungkook's quivers.

I move as fast as my legs will carry me around tables set with fine china, push through another door at the far end of the room, and burst into an enormous kitchen. The staff doesn't jump, but there is a general air of nervous tension that tells me something happened here. And what's more, hey look from me to the side door, as though someone just passed through that way and they expect me to do the same.

I fly across the kitchen and through the door, stopping short as my boots hit grass and the cold air hits my sweaty skin. There in the middle of the open courtyard is a small crowd of Strategia, and all eyes are turned to appa and Taecyeon.

One the ground, not far from the side door, are two dead guards. By the way Taecyeon glances at them disappointedly, it's clear he came this way because he thought they would be here. Both of them were shot with arrows. Thank you, Sejeong and Jungkook.

Appa stands in front of his father with a knife in his hand and his back to me. Taecyeon lifts his own blade. I want to let appa know I'm here, but I don't dare call out his name for fear I'll distract him.

"Your guards are dead," appa says to Taecyeon, "and there's no one left to do your killing."

"Is that what you think?" Taecyeon says, adeptly slashing his knife at appa. "One simple command and everyone here will tear you limb from limb."

Appa fends off Taecyeon's blade with his own, and it's immediately obvious that they are well matched. I anxiously scan the onlookers to see what effect Taecyeon's words had on them. I recognize a few of their faces from inside the great hall but have no way knowing what Families they belong to.

Taecyeon lifts his chin, his stance prideful. "The person who kills my son will be rewarded with my absolute loyalty and an enormous sum of money. You and your Family will be favored in all deals and all agreements. You will be fully supported by the Tigers and be envied by all other Strategia."