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hostage.
    Several minutes later, having bandaged his wound, he came to stand in front of her. Muscled, tree-trunk legs before her revealed a large, well-built man in excellent shape. Another reason she’d been unable to best him. His strength was much greater than hers. She would have to rely on tactics other than strength to outwit him.
    “Get up. I don’t have time to play the silent game with you.”
    Bound hands pressed against the tree behind her, she stood and waited, prepared to be hauled up onto his shoulder again. When he untied the bindings on her ankles, she almost looked at him. Why had he done this? Was his injury so great that he could no longer carry her? Or was this perhaps a trick to throw her off? Did he want to see her run and then shoot her in the back?
    “Just because I’m letting you walk doesn’t mean I trust you.” As he said this, he used the material he’d had on her legs to tie her belt loop to his. “Let’s go.”
    Without waiting to see if she would comply, he took off. She had no choice but to follow. When he stopped abruptly, she slammed into his back.
    “Turn around.”
    She turned as far as she could, once again surprised when the binding at her wrists loosened. Before she could react, he twisted her around and immediately tied her hands in front of her.
    “You can’t keep your balance with your hands behind you.” He stood quiet for a second, as if waiting for a response. Finally, he growled in a voice heavy with weariness, “Let’s go.”
    Following him was easy. Her eyes stayed on the heels of his boots. When he slowed, she slowed. When he stopped, she did the same. She was in excellent shape, so the miles they traveled were not difficult. The sun was almost obliterated by giant trees; dense vegetation surrounded them. Air thick with the scent of dark earth and heavy with humidity cloaked them but had no effect on her. She often trained in the heat for hours and was accustomed to its intensity.
    Limbs and branches fell away as the man cleared a path with a large knife. Wild creatures squealed around them, and large birds cried as they found their prey.
    When he stopped, she raised her head to see why. He looked around for a brief moment and then started again. She told herself to lower her eyes but couldn’t make herself do it. This was the first time she’d seen him without the need for survival blurring her thoughts. He was, indeed, a big man. Broad-shouldered, lean-hipped, very tall. She believed herself to be around five feet five; he stood almost a foot taller. An olive green T-shirt, dark with perspiration, covered his torso; underneath it, his muscles rippled and flexed as he moved. His hair was a conglomeration of blond colors. Gold, almost white, wheat, and light brown blended together. Shaggy and unkempt, hanging down to his shoulders. She was accustomed to clean-cut, well-groomed men at the compound. It was apparent that the man in front of her did not have the same degree of care for his appearance.
    A face flashed into her mind. Craggy. Handsome. Arresting. Rough-hewn and suntanned, the face had a long scar down the side of a broad cheekbone, disappearing under the chin. The eyes were a brilliant shade of light green that darkened and lightened with fascinating shadows. She’d seen the face from time to time when she’d been forced to go without her vitamin shot. Though she hadn’t seen this man clearly, she instinctively knew that this face belonged to him.
    Her mind scrambled for an explanation. Since she saw the man only when she had to go without her shot and the demons chased her, she had to assume he was evil.
    Her vitamin shot.
What would she do if she didn’t make it back to the compound before her shot was due? She would become weak, unable to function. That couldn’t happen. She needed to escape as soon as possible, since it could take her hours to return home. If she was going to escape, she had to do it now.
    She jerked to a halt, causing him