Savage Run (36 page)

Carrying no sympathy in his eyes—only
hardness and determination—he stands up and walks over to me. “Stay
present, Heidi. If you want to survive, you can’t let what happened
back there slow you down. Keep it at a distance. Once you’ve
survived, once you’re out of here, there will be time to
mourn.”

I run my fingers through my hair, clasping
the back of my head, and swallow again and again. Breathing fast
and hard, I start to feel light-headed and sit down on a rock.
Arthor. Gemma. They both sacrificed for me and now one is dead, the
other rotting away under the hateful eye of her Master. My
desire—my obsession to be free—cost them everything. It’s not fair.
And though Arthor proved to be a traitor in the end, what really
drove him was he didn’t have what he should have had his entire
life: the freedom which was rightfully his. What lengths we go
to—what crazy things we do—to take back what is rightfully ours,
and I’m the worst of all having made everyone else sacrifice for
me.

Cory kneels down in front of me.

“
This is not your fault,”
he says.

“
It is. And I hardly
deserve my freedom. My father was right about me all along. I’m
selfish, stupid, and worthless. I’d do anything for
myself.”

“
Is that what Arthor would
say?”

“
No. But look where my
actions got him!”

“
Don’t believe the ugly.
It’s not true. The only fatal thing is to give up.”

“
But…”

“
If you can’t let the
things of the past go, you’ll never be anything but a slave to it.
Is that what you want?” His voice is harsh.

“
Just leave me alone!” I
stand up and walk away. He doesn’t stop me. I storm through the
jungle, whipping away vegetation, pockets of condensation making my
hands and the sleeves of my uniform wet. Eight cages. Only eight. I
see myself standing in one of them. It’s all that keeps me going.
Keeps me from stopping to nurse my injured leg. I make my way along
the stream; probably the same one Cory just sipped from earlier.
Had I not been so upset, I would have thanked him for saving
me.

Along the way, I see no sign of the other
participants anywhere. It’s eerily quiet, and the jungle sounds
have died down, too—like the animals know not to come here. Does
that mean I’m close? Then I think I see lights in the distance. An
obstacle course? The cages? Swerving around the tree to get a
better look, I see them. There. Eight shiny ones in a row! And
there’s not a soul in any of them.

But just as I take my first step toward
them, Johnny steps from behind a tree, staring me down, beating a
stick in his hand.

Chapter 28

“
Nice performance back
there,” Johnny says.

I look over my shoulder, cursing myself for
having run away from Cory. “Cory!” I spin around and sprint in the
direction that he vanished. Every time my injured foot collides
with the ground, I think I might collapse; my foot hurts so badly.
“Cory!” Never mind if the beasts hear me; if Johnny catches me,
I’ll be dead way before sundown. Running through the jungle, I slap
the cool foliage out of my way, but Johnny is too fast and mauls me
to the ground.

Breathing heavily into my ear, he says,
“Looks like he’s gone. Who will protect you now, Imp?”

“
Leave me be!” I twist my
body beneath his and punch him in the face, but he quickly grabs
hold of my wrists and braces my arms across my chest.

“
Or what. You’ll scream?”
He knees me in the side, causing me to wring in pain, and then he
swivels me back around onto my stomach and pulls my hands behind my
back. “I warned you that this moment would come and just because
you’re a girl, don’t think I’ll go any easier on you.”

I snatch my arm out of his grip, and elbow
him in the nose, but he quickly grabs my wrist again and twists it
behind my back so hard that I think he’s trying to rip it off. I
scream.

“
Something you might not
know about me, Heidi, is that I would do anything to win the Savage
Run; and don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same.”

“
I wouldn’t.” I kick and
scream.

Picking up some vines from the forest floor,
he winds them around my wrists and ankles and triple-knots them.
“Don’t think for a moment I’ll let you escape.” Having immobilized
me, he stands up. “You say you wouldn’t do the same, but I beg to
differ. You purchased a fake ID, and registered illegally for the
Savage Run. Oh, and I almost forgot—you seduced a registrar which
just so happens to be President Volkov’s son, and then
miraculously, when it’s discovered you’re a freaking girl, you’re
still allowed to participate. What’s the saying? ‘Keep your friends
close. Make lovers out of your enemies.’ I see what’s going on. I
have all along.”

“
I didn’t seduce
Nicholas…”

“
Sure, keep telling
yourself that, Imp.”

“
Listen,” I say. “I can see
why you might think that, but that’s not what happened. And who
cares at this point? While we’re debating, someone else is running
toward the finish line, stealing the victory. You don’t want that,
do you? We can race together,” I suggest. “And at the end, I’ll let
you pass first. I promise.”

“
Yeah, right. Is that what
you said to Arthor before you threw a boulder at his head, killing
him?”

The mention of Arthor’s name is like pouring
acid on a burn wound. “He…he was going to die anyway.” A lump forms
in my throat.

“
You could have tried to
save him.”

My bottom lip trembles. “It was a lost
cause. I tried—”

“—
I think you could have
figured out a way. You’re good at that.”

“
Maybe…but there was no
time and…” I squint my eyes. “If I could, I would have taken
Arthor’s place.”

His dark eyebrows rise into two sharp peaks.
“What a courageous thing to say—after the fact.”

No matter what, he’s not going to be swayed
by anything I have to say, and he’s twisting every situation
against me.

“
Now—what do I do with
you?”

“
You could let me
go.”

“
Let you go?” He paces back
and forth in deep thought. Then out of nowhere, he gives me a swift
kick in the stomach.

The force of his foot ramming into my
abdomen makes me gasp and cough, as if I might expel a lung.

“
Any other suggestions?”
When I’m unable to answer, he undoes the vines from around my
ankles. “Get up.” Jerking my arm, he lifts me to a standing
position, and starts to haul me with him into the
jungle.

“
Where…are you taking
me?”

He tugs at my arms so hard that I fall face
first into a mudded area. Crouching down beside me, he says, “Do I
have to cut your tongue out to get you to shut up?”

I roll over onto my side, the right side of
my face covered in grime. “With what, your hands?”

Pulling out a pocketknife, he opens it, and
presses it against my cheek. “A present—from Pres. himself,” he
whispers. “He has guaranteed me Master status—in whatever place I
finish—if I finish you off.”

“
I thought you said you
were all about honor and might.”

“
I am. That’s why I agreed
to get rid of you.” He draws the blade down my cheek hard enough so
it pierces the top layer of my skin.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Suddenly I hear
voices, and then the rustling of foliage as someone passes a ways
away. My eyes pop open. “Help!”

Johnny cups his hand over my mouth and hauls
me with him away from the sounds. While he’s dragging me, a thought
occurs to me. Since Johnny is President Volkov’s son, I might be
able to use this information as a weapon to create a wedge between
them. He tows me behind him until we reach a wide river. Trees and
vines hang like a dome above the white, rushing waves, and the hot
air is humid, smelling of flowers and fresh rain. It hurts every
time I step onto my injured foot, but determined to not let Johnny
know I’m in less than peak condition; I force myself to walk
without a limp. He leads me over to a tree and ties me to it.

Johnny makes his way over to the river, and
splashes his face with water.

Not having eaten the entire day, my muscles
have become depleted from the lack of food and water. I look at the
water longingly, but he doesn’t offer me any. When he makes his way
back over to me, he stomps on my injured foot, smashing it beneath
his.

Arching my back, I cry out in agony. I’m
powerless to prevent tears from springing into my eyes, and the
pain is so overwhelming I’m convinced he’s broken my foot.

“
Don’t think I didn’t
notice your limp, Imp.”

It takes a while before the worst part of
the pain subsides, and I manage to calm my staggering breath. If I
weren’t bound like an animal, I’d find the heaviest stone I could
carry, and smash in his skull. Better yet, I should have dumped him
in the volcano when I had the chance.

When I am finally able to open my eyes, I
see his knife lying right beside my foot, behind a small rock. My
heart feels like it will jump out of my mouth and I look up quickly
so I won’t draw attention to the weapon. “Why don’t you just kill
me now? Get it over with so you can claim your money?”

“
Oh, I’m just getting
warmed up. You see, the most beautiful thing to watch is a little
dove fearing for her life, dreading the moment when life ceases to
exist. Why would I want to rush such a…delightful
process?”

“
You’re sick; you know
that?” As subtly as I can, I stretch my leg out and cover the knife
with my foot.

“
You say that only because
you don’t understand what a blessing it is to have complete power
over another. Just look at you, Heidi. You’re shaking like a leaf,
and I am the one who is creating that fear in you. In short, I have
become your god.”

“
You will never be my
god.”

As if noticing something, Johnny, lifts his
chin and stiffens where he stands. “Don’t move.”

I hear a low growl coming from behind me and
I turn my head to look. There, in between the sea of vegetation, I
see a saber-toothed tiger moving methodically toward us. “Untie
me,” I whisper, my chest pounding.

He looks straight at me and shakes his head,
mouthing the word ‘no.’

If I can just get the knife close enough to
my hands, I’ll be able to pick it up and cut myself loose. Johnny’s
gaze shifts back to the beast, and I squeeze my foot to my seat,
dragging the knife with it. Fortunately, Johnny isn’t paying
attention to me; he’s thinking about how he can escape. I pick up
the knife and begin to saw at the vines. I nick my wrist, but I
don’t care; I want to stay alive and a few cuts don’t matter at
this point. With one final pull, the vine breaks and I’m free.
Johnny must have heard the cracking sound as the vine snapped
because his eyes whip to mine.

If I can just reach the river the current
will carry me away and I’ll have a chance at escaping. I shoot to
my feet and head toward the water. However, my injured leg buckles
beneath the weight of my body and I tumble onto the rocks. Standing
up again, I hop forward on one foot, but not a second passes before
Johnny lunges at me and shoves me to the watery bank, jamming my
head into the shallow water so I can’t breathe.

Still clenching the knife in my hand, I kick
my arm back, and stab him in the leg. He releases my head and I
lift my face out of the water, eager to take a deep breath. With
nothing more than a low grunt coming from his lips, Johnny grabs my
wrist and pulls it, withdrawing the blade from his thigh. Growling,
he yanks my fingers back and the knife falls into a small puddle
between the rocks. The moment he releases my wrist, it becomes a
competition of who can get to the knife first, but before either of
us can reach it, the saber-toothed tiger pounces on Johnny’s back.
The tiger roars and Johnny screams. The instant I feel Johnny’s
weight lift off of me, I squeeze forward on elbows and knees toward
the center of the river. The tiger roars again and again and it’s
as if Johnny’s cries vibrate through my blood. Once I’m up to my
neck in the water, I rise to my feet, and hobble against the strong
current. Not until I am waist-high in the river and I can no longer
hear Johnny’s shrieks do I dare to turn around.

Contrary to what I had expected, Johnny
isn’t lying in a pool of his own blood. He’s standing above the
saber-toothed tiger, pulling the blade out of the lifeless beast’s
cranium. When our eyes connect, Johnny shoves the tiger to the
side, and heads straight toward me. My chest fills with terror and
I immediately swivel around and head deeper into the river.

“
Stop!” Johnny
yells.

“
Not in a million years!” I
lift my feet and let the river pull me with it, but just as the
current draws me beneath the surface, I realize the river is no
friend of mine either. First, my shoulder crashes against a rock,
and next, my hip scrapes against a tree or large root. I kick my
legs and move my arms, and soon I reach the surface.

I hear a loud roar downstream. A waterfall?
I scan ahead, and sure enough, the end of the river is just a few
hundred feet away. Fighting to keep my head above water, I look up
to see if there are any low-hanging branches or vines to grab hold
of that might prevent me from going over the edge. But there’s
nothing. I do, however, see a large boulder protruding out of the
river. If I can just steer myself toward it, I can cling onto
it.