Page 50 of Bowser (Dragon Riders MC 2)
Before the guys shouted.
“Now’s my chance,” I whispered to myself.
I tugged at the binds on my wrists one last time as I walked over to the van doors. I eased them open silently with my shoulder and hopped down, stumbling on my weak ankles. My calves were sore as hell. My ankles wouldn't move the way I wanted them to. And as I stood there in front of the back of the van, everyone’s backs were turned to me.
As Slash started taking Skeleton head-on.
I didn’t know what to do. Did I help her? Did I rush them? Did I run into the woods to try and escape? Surely, no one knew I was here. So, my best bet was to just run, right?
If they do know I’m here and this is a distraction, though…
I didn’t know what to do. I wrapped around to the side of the van that faced the woods and knew they would find me sooner rather than later. I mean, the van doors were wide open. Someone would notice I was gone. I didn’t have long, so I placed my hands against the side of the van. I took side steps, racing my palms along the side, hoping to catch something sharp. I needed to get this damn tape off my wrists. I barely felt my fingertips at this point.
“Come on,” I grumbled.
I found my way to the front of the van and there wasn’t a sharp thing in sight. I bolted for the tree line, keeping my eyes trained to the ground. There had to be glass, a sharp rock, or bark from a tree I could rip this tape open with. My eyes searched as my feet crunched against branches and leaves.
But then, I heard more engines rolling into the campground.
Fuck.
I pressed myself against a tree and ducked beneath its shadow. No one had noticed I was gone, which played in my favor. But if any of these new guys rolling in saw me by these trees, I was a dead woman. I ran my wrists up and down the bark of the tree I sat in front of. The skin of my hands screamed for mercy as blood trickled down my skin. All of those scratches, and nothing loosened the goddamn tape around my wrists.
“Come on, you worthless piece of—”
Finally, I felt one of my wrists give way. I stepped away from the tree and tugged at the tape, feeling it rip a little more. My entire forearm was numb, which made moving difficult. So, I backed myself up against the tree again.
And tore my hands open trying to get the tape off.
“Please. Please. Please, just work,” I whispered.
Suddenly, a gun popped off. My eyes bulged and I stopped moving so I could step further back into the shadows. I searched with my eyes to see what was going on as another bullet whizzed through the air. And as more bikes surged into the campground, dust kicked up around everyone.
Blinding me to the scene unfolding.
“Shit,” I hissed.
Gunfire cracked in every which direction. I stepped further into the woods, battling vines and downed trees to get away. Bullets sank into trees around me and I swallowed my shrieks, trying my best not to give myself away. My ankles were still weak, though. They kept rolling, as if they were still asleep.
“Come on. Don’t fail me now,” I whispered.
I ducked down behind a thick blanket of bushes and searched the ground. I wouldn’t get anywhere without the use of my hands. They bled, and the steady stream of blood worried me. My heart pounded in my ears while anxiety rushed through my veins, keeping me on high alert. I counted every gunshot. Every bullet that took bark off the trees around me. It was an all-out brawl out here, with the sound of ricocheting gunshots overpowering the sounds of revving motorcycle engines.
“Come on, please,” I hissed.
I had to find a way out of here if I was going to survive. I didn’t have a gun nor the physical capacity to help those girls. But if they were in on some kind of bait-and-switch situation, the Dragon Riders would come for them. Bowser would come for them.
He’ll come for you, too. Just lay low.
My thoughts stopped me in my tracks. I hadn’t thought about that. This entire time, I was focused on the fact that this was a diversion to help me get away. But me being captured wasn’t part of the plan.
Was it?
Surely, those girls didn’t know I was actually there.
Did they?
“I have to get out of this damn tape,” I murmured to myself.
I blocked out all of the gunfire and yelling. The bikes and the chaos. The sun pierced through the tops of the trees, aching my wrists even more. But, as if God Himself had been looking out for me, something shiny glinted on the ground.
