Fraud

My heart jumps into my throat the instant that flame moves and a large man steps into the light, his chest bare and face covered by a mask I recognize from high school.

“Oh, my God,” Emily breathes out, her hand moving to grab mine. “I thought we had two hours.”

Barely able to register what she’s saying as I stare at the man, I quickly scan his features to see a large tattoo sleeve covering his arm.

Shane, I think as another spark to the right of him ignites another torch. My eyes snap that direction to watch another man step into the light.

Like Shane, his chest is bare, his face bearing the same mask, his shoulder a tattoo design that I recognize as either Ezra or Damon.

“Apparently not,” I answer. “We’re fucked.”

One after the other, torches light up as the Inferno makes their presence known.

By the time they complete the semi-circle around us, there are only eight of them, and while I can identify some by the tattoos on their skin, I can’t distinguish between a few who have none.

“Who’s missing?” I ask Emily. “Which one of them isn’t here?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I see Ezra and Damon, but-“

Her voice trails off as we stare out at a nightmare.

Maybe Gabriel stayed behind to make me think they were all still back home. I clearly heard his office on his end of the line. Why would he do that, though, when the person with the biggest issue against me is him?

Or maybe it’s Mason and that’s why Ava didn’t know they’d already left. It would make sense. Gabriel said something about her being an unreliable reporter.

Squeezing Emily’s hand, I attempt to rationalize the situation.

“Okay. Listen. This has to be a joke. We’re women. They’d never actually chase us like they did the guys.”

She’s quiet for a second, then, “Do you remember Sarah Strickland? Or how about Ashley Trigs?”

My eyes widen, another bolt of terror cutting through me.

Sarah and Ashley were two girls in high school who didn’t pay the price. They ran the gauntlet, and while they weren’t carried out like the guys were, they stumbled out on their own with shocked expressions just before leaving school and never looking back.

“So they will chase us.”

She nods her head and scoots closer to where I’m standing.

I should never have dragged Emily into this. And being that I’m a good friend, I need to find a way to get her out of it.

“You should go inside. I’ll run.”

Her eyes snap to me, red hair flying over her shoulders as her head turns my direction.

“Are you nuts? We should both go inside.”

No. I’m almost positive they’ve already considered that course of action and have a way to terrorize us even if we manage to hide in the house. Emily doesn’t deserve it.

This is a result of my dumb decisions and fuckups. And she shouldn’t have to pay the price.

“Do me a favor,” I say, my voice shaky and quiet. “Go inside the house and lock the door.”

“What? Did you not just hear me? We should both go inside.”

Releasing her hand, I shake my head and run a slow look over all eight of the guys.

“I can’t do that,” I answer, my muscles loosening as I decide on my final course of action.

“Ivy, seriously, turn around and come with me.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

Because it’s best I just get this over with.

My head turns with one last look at the scene around me, terror clogging my throat that I struggle to speak around.

“Because I’m ru

With that, I haul ass to my left and jump off the porch, my legs pumping as fast as they can toward the tree line.

The horn they always blow fills the silence of the night, my feet moving quicker to hear it.