The knife glinted in the moonlight, the blade lethally sharp in Robin’s grip.

“It’s nothing personal,” Robin said, his voice shuddering as he took a step toward her. “It overpowered you on the case, Gabriella. You were brave, you fought as long as you could. But it got you because we didn’t have a way to get help in time.”

Gabriella tried to say something, anything, to get him to stop. But all that came out when she tried to speak was a small choking sound.

“You shouldn’t have survived the first time,” he continued. “You got home and it should have killed you. A tragic mistake that could have been avoided.”

The blade in his hand was less important for a split second as his words sank in. “You did that?”

“It would have been perfect,” Robin continued, and she was horrified to see he was almost in tears. “The new girl, not quite fully trained, was followed home and killed after her first mission. It wasn’t the same entity, but close enough that no one would know. But you managed to get out.”

Bradley had been right, she realized as her horror grew. James had done nothing wrong. It had all been a setup. She wanted to scream at Robin, despite her terror right now. Scream at him for hurting her, for manipulating her, for what he’d done to James. What he’d convinced her to do to James. For isolating her from all the others.

But there was no time for that. She had to get out of here. Did he have a gun? She tried to shove aside her terror and remember if she saw him pack one back at the car. She didn’t think so. Besides, a gunshot wound would be suspicious if he was setting it up to look like she died on a case. A ghost wouldn’t shoot her, even the most dangerous one. So if he was going to make it a ghost or anything else that wasn’t human, he couldn’t kill her that way.

So maybe she had a chance.

Robin was still looking at her, and she could see tears swimming in his eyes. Something about them unnerved her more than anything else that she’d seen from him yet. But maybe, if he truly didn’t want to do this, she had a chance to stop him.

“Robin,” she said around the lump in her throat. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do,” he said. “I’m sorry Gabriella, but it has to be done. If we don’t get more resources, we can’t protect this region. And the only way we’re going to get what we need is if we show them we can’t do it in the conditions they give us. So we have to show them. And the most tragic result is the only one that they’ll listen to. It’s the only way.”

He looked down at the knife in his hand, and it was as if a spell had broken. Gabriella’s body could move again. Before she’d thought anything through, she bolted off the path and into the trees, the branches scratching at her face in the dark. She was still clutching her flashlight as she ran, stumbling over stumps and branches that were tucked within the leaves crunching under her feet.

She could hear Robin coming after her, not far behind. Gabriella flipped off the flashlight and the comforting beam of light vanished, leaving only the light of the moon just barely illuminating the woods ahead of her through the heavy leaf covering above.

“Gabriella,” Robin called, his voice carrying clearly in the quiet night air. “Gabriella, it doesn’t have to be like this! Just come back. It’s for the greater good, I promise. You’ll be a hero!”

She shoved through another spray of branches, zigzagging her way through the trees. Her footsteps felt unnaturally loud, like they were leading Robin straight to her, no matter how fast she ran. She flinched as a branch caught her in the eye and her foot landed in a cold puddle of something, but she didn’t stop moving.

Just keep running, she thought. This is why you run on that godforsaken treadmill every day. Breathe in, breathe out. Just keep going and you’ll stay alive.

Robin and his words gradually seemed to fall behind her, but she didn’t slow down. She ran steadily, shoving branches away from her face, no thoughts in her head now except survival. Breathe in, breathe out, stay alive.

Then there was silence. After listening to it for a few minutes, Gabriella slowed her pace. There was a stitch growing in her side as she slowed down to a walk, gingerly stepping through the dead leaves. She tried to keep her footsteps and heavy breathing as silent as possible.

It had been a setup. Everything from bringing her on board to separating her from James and the rest of the group. It had all been grooming her to be…

To be what, a sacrifice? What the hell was this? The budget was too tight, so she had to die? Couldn’t Robin moonlight as an Uber driver or something like everyone else? Why did she have to get stabbed so that they could balance the books?

She ducked under a particularly dense-looking bush and crouched low on the ground, wincing as the mud seeped into her pant legs. The air was wet and cold on her bare arms and her teeth chattered as she caught her breath. She couldn’t hear anything out there now. Robin must have lost her trail.

Gabriella pulled out her phone, saying a silent prayer as she did so. It was still on and the signal was weak, but there. She quickly dialed and held the phone up to her ear as it rang on the other end.

One…

Two…

Three…

Come on, she thought. James will answer even if he’s mad. Right? If he didn’t answer, maybe one of the others would?

Then the sound of the phone answering. “Gabs?” James answered, sounding hesitant.

“James,” she whispered, eyes darting around in the dark for any sign of Robin. “I need help. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“Gabs, what’s going on?” James demanded.

“It was a setup,” she continued, tears pricking her eyes. “Robin threatened to kill me. He’s going to kill me.”

She heard a sharp breath on the other end of the line. “Where are you?”

“Leominster State Forest. Somewhere, I’m not sure where.”

She heard him set down his phone and her heart sank. She should have believed him, he’d help her if she had trusted him. He didn’t have any reason to trust her now.

But then she heard the clicking of a keyboard and realized he’d put her on speakerphone. “Okay,” he said. “I’ve got your location. It’s okay. I’m leaving now, I’m going to meet you. If you can start walking west, you’ll reach the road in about a mile and a half. I want you to get there and wait for me.”

“You believe me?” she whispered, almost unable to get it out.

“Of course,” he said simply. “I can’t get a handle on Robin’s location, he must have shut off his phone. You go. Stay on the line if you can.”

She looked at her phone battery icon. Three percent that dropped to two as she watched. “My phone is going to die.”

“Can you remember how to get to the road?” James asked.

“Go west. Keep walking west.”

“And you’re good with finding west?”

She considered it for a second. “I have my compass on my phone,” she said.

“And if that dies? Will you be okay?”

Gabriella glanced up at the sky. It was pretty hidden, but there were enough gaps that she could see the stars. They looked identical to what she’d seen on that map on the computer.

Celestial navigation. It was going to come in useful after all.

“I think so,” she said. “I can see the stars now.”

He huffed a laugh, then got serious again. “Hurry,” he said. “Just find the road and then I’ll find you.”

She carefully pulled herself out from under the bush, glancing in every direction for Robin before she moved. The woods were still silent, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there, watching and waiting for her.

She flipped open the compass app. It shone on the screen for a moment, then her phone shut off before she could read it. It’s fine, Gabriella thought to herself. You don’t need it. You can find your way.

She walked a few feet over to where there was a break in the leaf cover, then looked up at the sky. She took a second to acclimate herself, grateful that the stars wouldn’t be any different here than they would be in New Bedford. She craned her neck to get a better view, and after a moment, she could see Orion. And with that, she knew which way to go.

Ignoring the blood running sluggishly from cuts on her face and the squish of cold mud in her shoes, she started walking west. It was slow, quiet work as she carefully calculated every step.

She was cold, tired, and so confused and hurt. Thinking was harder than it had been before, her thoughts scattering as quickly as they formed. She’d trusted Robin. He was her teacher, her mentor. And somehow she hadn’t noticed that he wanted to kill her. How could she have been so wrong? What the hell was wrong with her?

She walked for what felt like hours, but couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes. This forest wasn’t that big. It was a local recreation point, she was probably passing crushed beer cans and crumpled chip bags with every step. Gabriella had grown up around here and occasionally hiked with her cousins, but never at night and never in this area. Right now it all felt deep, overgrown, and weirdly ancient.

There were alien sightings in these woods, weren’t there? And a Bigfoot? If she was going to run into a Bigfoot, it would probably be tonight, wouldn’t it? Fuck everything about this night.

Focus, Gabriella told herself, looking back up at the stars to confirm she was going the right way.

Still no sign of Robin. She wanted to take out her flashlight to guide her way, but that would be a dead giveaway to her location, wouldn’t it? And she had to hide her location because her boss had tried to murder her. Robin had tried to kill her. It was sinking in a little more now. Robin. Had tried to kill her.

A few minutes later, Gabriella could see the dark pavement of the road ahead. By now her legs were like lead, but just seeing it gave her an unexpected burst of strength. She ran, glancing behind her one more time to make sure she wasn’t being followed.

As she reached the road, she glanced in either direction. Both ways were dark and silent. James had told her to reach the road and wait for him there, he’d find her wherever she was. Her phone was long dead, possibly not even in her pocket anymore. But she’d found the road and now he’d find her.

How had Robin not found her by now? She was so exposed here by the side of the road. A large No Hunting sign hung over her head and she almost laughed out loud at the irony. But if she laughed, she knew she was going to cry. And then she’d never stop crying.

She was crying right now.

That’s when the headlights appeared up ahead. Her heart soared, then crashed. Maybe it was James. Or maybe it was a random stranger passing through.

Or maybe it was Robin and he was going to kill her this time.

She backed up into the brush, ducking behind a tree as the car pulled closer. Peeking out from behind the branches, she realized it was a van. It slowed down as it approached her location and with a flood of relief, she saw James behind the wheel. Madelyn sat next to him while Bradley and Amelia were in the back. James stopped the car and opened the door.

“Gabs?” he called.

She bolted out from behind the tree and threw her arms around him.

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CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 21