Page 238 of Boys Who Hunt

Pushing herself up from the floor, she brings her hands together, making some strange movements with her fingers that I can’t decipher or comprehend.

But Max’s eyes widen, and he sucks in a breath as his eyes skitter between us and her.

What did he see?

Suddenly, he bolts to her, distracting me for a moment.

Just one fucking second looking away.

OOMPF.

A knife is flung at me, and it hits me straight in the thigh.

“Stupid fucking boy, you think you can take my child and not pay a price?” Stefano yells as I go down to the floor in agony.

“Silas!” Heath pulls me back and aims for Stefano’s head.

BANG!

A smoke bomb goes off, swiftly filling the entire room and hallway with smoke.

“You cut the wrong guy, motherfucker!” I yell at Stefano as I rip the knife out of my bleeding leg, but he’s already bolted out of the room.

BOOM!

Panic seizes control of my heart, and I sit up straight.

Did the bomb just go off?

Ivy!

CHAPTER 58

Ivy

Max’s eyesconnect with mine as he drops to his knees in front of me.

He brings his fingers up to eye level …

And signs.

Close your eyes.

But I’m too flabbergasted for a moment.

He knows how to sign?

Something goes off in the hallway, filling the hallways and the kitchen with smoke. Then a knife is pushed against my chest, and I swallow away the lump in my throat.

Even if I’m scared, I have no other option but to trust Max right now.

I gulp in a breath and close my eyes, then wait.

He cuts through the straps with ease, and the bomb falls off. He catches it and chucks it into the hallway.

A bright flash fills the area, and the floor beneath me shakes.

Cora’s panicked face frightens me. I can see her scream even though I can’t hear it.