sta
exhaust fumes, and testosterone. The annual Pack Hunt was less about hunting and more about postu
ender, the motion fluid and practiced. I had been coming to these hunts
me unmistakable vehicle I had seen by the river, now polished clean as if a fresh coat of wax could erase what it had been
e loud enough to carry. "The hunt is for warriors, not for O
ored look and turned away to check my tire pre
muddy surroundings, pulled up and parked in the spot nex
ontgomery leaned out, a charming, easy grin on his fa
one. "It's a pleasure to see you. I trust you're
ke that, Mr. Montgomery." My gaze drifted past
closed, his face pale and drawn. He was bundled in a thick coat, a cashmere blanket dr
lared, the si
l the subtlety of a thrown punch. He peeled out, spraying
floored it. My tires bit into the dirt, and I launched onto the trail rig
smoothly behind me, mainta
cherous ribbon of mud and rock. This was where Keaton made his move
from his tires, splattering across my windshield. My visibility dropped to zero.
weetheart?" Keaton's voice was a smug, distorted taunt.
les were white. I gritted my teeth, my eyes scanning th
lian. "Raymond, your driving is as classless as your choice
at me. "Miss Beaumont, I have an idea. On my signal, you take the left slope,
smitted back wit
ow
g for purchase. Through the filthy sweep of the windshield, I could see only fractured pieces of the trail ahead: mud, pine trunks, the black flank of Keaton's B
eyes. Instead of braking, he swerved hard to his left, directly at me, try
oment, as tons of steel were about to col
onco filled the space between us, mud streaked my windshield, and the G-Wa
I fe
e air seemed to buckle around it. It wasn't a physical attack. It was something old
d solely at Keaton. It hit
lice collapsing into raw, animal terror. His hands spasmed on the
ed wildly. The tires lost all traction in the
e only open
clearing his front bumper by inches. At the same moment, Julian
was a sickening crunch of metal on rock, and then it plunged nose-
my eyes on the trail ahead, the sound of Juli
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