Blood and Bone | 1

3 | 6

My injured leg almost buckled underneath me as I jumped out of the train car and onto the ground.

We had waited until nightfall to make our next move, hoping that the darkness would help cloak us from the Club members that were undeniably nearby. I hadn't seen any of them, but there were footsteps in the muddy ground of nearby the wooded area that hadn't been there when we'd arrived.

I was careful to watch my step around the muddy earth. If the Club members had been in this area once, they could come back again. And if I wasn't careful, they would see the fresh imprints in the ground.

Jake hadn't told me where we were going. It was crystal clear that he did not trust me in the least and was only keeping me around for my abilities. I didn't care. Surviving this whole ordeal was first on my list of priorities.

      So I broke the silence between us, asking quietly, "So do you happen to have a plan better than your last one?"

He didn't turn around to face me when he informed me, "My plan still stands. I need to put distance between me and Hundsen's men. As long as they're tracking our every move, we can't stop."

"We also need to figure out where we are," I reminded him. "And why we're here."

"That comes second," Jake decided firmly. "We need to make it out in one piece before we go digging for answers."

I gestured half-heartedly to my bandaged leg. "That's easier said than done."

His eyes met mine in a cold scowl. "You don't think I know that?"

Giving him a flat expression, I retorted, "I don't know, Evans. You refused to tell me anything about your connection with Hundsen yesterday."

"Yeah," he spoke, sarcasm dripping from his tongue, "I'm going to tell you, out of all people."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I hissed back through clenched teeth. If he was talking about my being an assassin, he wasn't so squeaky clean himself...

"That little show you put on back in Hundsen's lair," Jake sneered. "I haven't forgotten how quick you were to put a knife to my throat."

     "But you seemed to have conveniently forgotten when I told you that I did it to get Hundsen to let the others go. I didn't think that he'd actually let me kill you."

"It wouldn't be the first time you've lied," Jake spat  with quiet viciousness.

"I did what I needed to do to get us out of there alive." I was sure to keep my voice quiet enough that no one else could hear.

But he wouldn't let it go. "What a hero," he mocked in a low voice. "Sad that you underestimated Hundsen, though, and it failed."

I started to say, "At least-" but then I stopped when I thought I saw movement in the distance. Jake stiffened and spun to look in the direction of the lightly wooded area I was staring towards. Nothing appeared to be there, but the darkness of night was easy to hide behind. I knew that all too well.

Feeling like a deer in headlights, I forced myself to slowly pull my stolen knife out. My heart pounded at the realization that we could be completely surrounded right now and not even know it. I cursed myself for arguing with Evans when I should have been undistracted.

Wordlessly, he nodded to the silent and seemingly-empty open forest behind us. It was more heavily dotted with trees, making it impossible for the glowing rays of moonlight to show through.