I’m getting further and further away from the others. The further I get, the more I worry that I won’t be able to find them if I survive this. I’m at a serious disadvantage. The self-defense classes I took didn’t prepare me for this. It taught me how to disable a single attacker, two tops. Not four with guns.

In front of me, two more Hounds appear, looking around as if they’re searching for me. They haven’t seen me yet as I slide to a stop. There’s enough distance between me and the ones behind me that I have a few seconds to make a decision before I’m fucked. I seize, pure panic taking over as I stand there, unsure where to go or what to do. My breathing is ragged but I try to keep it as quiet as possible, so I don’t draw their attention.

Just when I’m about to have a full-on panic attack at the predicament I’m in, someone grabs me from behind, their hand over my mouth as they drag me backward into the thick brush. I jerk and try to get away but a whisper against the shell of my ear has me stilling.

“Shh, little rabbit,” he whispers, and I relax completely.

Jiro.

He releases my mouth when he knows that I’m going to be quiet and presses his finger to his lip as the men appear in front of us, looking around.

“She can’t be far. The bitch is here somewhere. Spread out. Find her,” one of them orders, looking around for us.

“Her tracks stop here,” another points out.

My heart beats brutally in my chest as I try to get my breathing under control and not panic when they start searching around for tracks. There must be lines where Jiro dragged me. They’re going to find them any moment. I cling to Jiro’s arm, but he gently slides off my hand and shifts. The blade he pulls from his back is like something out of a movie. I didn’t even know he had it but here it is, making that soft sliding sound I know I’ll never think of as anything but related to Jiro now.

I can’t speak, not without drawing attention, but he must see the panic on my face because he gently chucks me under the chin and winks. It’s not the reaction I expect. I’m even more stunned when he stands up with his blade resting gently against his shoulder like there aren’t six goons in front of us.

“Are you looking for me?” he asks.

Six Hounds turn toward him, each of them armed with at least one gun and a blade but most of them have more. I duck down the moment one of them fires a bullet, but Jiro hardly moves when it misses him completely.