CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

“They’ve not moved since we got here,” Anderson breathes. “It’s been hours. What do we do now?”

Quill has a troubled look on his face. “They’re more organized this time around. It’s almost as if—”

“—as if they’re expecting us,” I hiss. “They probably are.”

From the moment we reached the campsite, we’ve been hiding out, waiting for the enemy to retire to bed, but the soldiers are taking shifts. Jesse is leaning against a tree, his body limp and bloodied. My heart is racing at the sight of him, fear for him making me nauseous. He hasn’t even stirred once!

“We can’t delay this any longer,” I say tightly. “They’re clearly waiting for us. I told you we needed to come up with another plan.”

“We can still grab him,” Quill argues, pointing towards where Jesse is half leaning against a tree. “If we stay out of sight, we can bring him to us. Nobody is paying attention to him.”

A bad feeling is forming in my gut. “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s going to work.”

But Quill and Beth exchan