Shadow by Christina Garner

Author:Christina Garner [Garner, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: cWc Publishing
Published: 2020-03-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

The car lurched to a stop near the Tor, and Eden’s stomach lurched with it. Breakfast had helped, but there were limits.

The day before, they’d walked the thirty minutes, but this morning, Ash had sprung for a ride share.

She and Ash piled out, but instead of taking the path that led up the hill, they set off toward the thicket of trees lining its base. To call it a forest was stretching it.

The brisk air was more effective than caffeine, and after a few minutes, Eden stopped lamenting her lack of morning coffee. But the farther they got, the more she cursed the kid who’d stolen her purse.

The way was unmarked and filled with exposed roots. She tripped more than once. Without a discernible path, they were repeatedly whipped by branches, bare from winter. Before long, Eden felt she was made more of scrapes than flesh. She began to hope the punk still had her purse, coming up with creative ways to teach him a lesson he’d never forget.

“These boots weren’t made for walking,” she mumbled after another stumble across the forest floor.

And definitely not hiking.

Her feet throbbed from the rough terrain.

Ash checked the map, the faint light still holding steady. “It’s just up this way a bit.”

He continued to lead the way, but a few minutes later, he rounded a curve and stopped dead in his tracks.

Eden was about to ask what he’d seen when he held up a hand. Eden closed her mouth and approached with caution.

It was a camp of sorts. Two tents and a makeshift shelter had been sloppily erected in the tiniest of clearings.

It’s freezing. How could anyone live out here?

“Someone’s there.” Ash’s voice was barely a whisper. “Two someones. Look.”

Ash nodded toward one of the lean-tos. It opened to the other side, but Eden could make out the shadow of two forms sitting at what appeared to be a table. She scanned the rest of the area, searching for anyone else and finding no one.

“It’s just them.”

Ash nodded.

They approached silently until Eden stepped on a dry twig—the crack a clear signal of their approach. But the figures in the lean-to didn’t move. She and Ash exchanged questioning glances and resumed walking.

When they were a few yards away, Ash reached into his bag. Eden caught the gleam from a small blade before he tucked it up his sleeve, wrist bent, holding it out of sight.

He cautioned her to wait, and she did, her heart pounding.

Ash rounded the shelter and stopped, his face going white. He looked back sharply. “Don’t come over.”

But Eden was already moving. “What is it? What’s—”

She should have listened to him. She should have stayed right where she’d been and done as he’d said. Why was she always so freaking stubborn?

That was the torrent of thoughts that mixed with the images of carnage before her.

Eden turned and wretched, hoping that as she emptied herself of breakfast, she’d be emptied of this memory. But as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, she knew she never would be.

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