"There is a narrow pass."
Taya's eyes widened.
"The old trail."
Caleb nodded.
"My father taught me about it when I was a boy."
Nahkai stared.
"That trail was used by the soldiers."
"Then Pike will recognize it."
"Exactly."
Caleb smiled grimly.
"He'll think we're running."
Nahkai understood.
"We are not running."
"No."
Caleb looked toward the ridge.
"We're choosing where he dies."
Nahkai shook his head.
"No one dies unless there is no other choice."
Caleb looked at him.
"Agreed."
The plan began.
Warriors moved through the settlement.
Children were taken into the deeper caves.
Horses were moved.
Fire pits were extinguished.
By dawn, the valley looked abandoned.
Pike arrived just after sunrise.
He rode at the head of twenty men.
He looked across the empty settlement.
Then smiled.
"They ran."
One of his men laughed.
Pike raised his hand.
"Follow the tracks."
They did.
Exactly as Caleb had planned.
The tracks led north.
Toward the old trail.
Toward the narrow pass.
Toward the place where Isaac Blackthorn had once led soldiers.
But this time, the trail belonged to Caleb.
The Betrayal
Pike entered the pass before noon.
The walls rose on both sides.
There was barely enough room for horses.
Caleb watched from above.
Taya crouched beside him.
"You are certain?"
"No."
She looked at him.
"That's honest."
Caleb smiled.
"My father taught me never to trust a plan that depends on men behaving exactly as expected."
Taya nodded.
"Then what happens if Pike doesn't follow?"
"He will."
"How do you know?"
Caleb looked at the ledger.
"Because he wants this more than he wants revenge."
Pike's men entered the pass.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
The entire group.
Caleb raised his hand.
Nothing happened.
Taya whispered.
"Wait."
Pike reached the center.
He stopped.
"Blackthorn!"
Caleb stepped onto the ridge.
"Pike."
Pike smiled.
"I knew you'd come."
"I came for the ledger."
Pike held it up.
"Then come get it."
Caleb looked down.
"You first."
Pike laughed.
"You sound like your father."
The words struck Caleb harder than a bullet.
Pike saw it.
"Did you know he begged?"
Caleb's eyes narrowed.
"Begged for what?"
"For your life."
Silence.
Pike continued.
"When Isaac refused to hand over the ledger, they told him they would kill his wife and son."
Caleb felt his blood run cold.
"My mother."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"Your father gave them everything."
Caleb shook his head.
"But the ledger survived."
Pike smiled.
"Because Isaac made a copy."
Caleb looked at the book.
"The original was hidden."
Pike nodded.
"And he died protecting it."
Caleb's hands tightened.
"You killed him."
Pike did not deny it.
"I did."
Taya's hand moved toward her bow.
Caleb stopped her.
Pike continued.
"Your father refused to tell us where the original was."
"Where is it?"
Pike smiled.
"That's the question."
Caleb suddenly understood.
The ledger in Pike's hand was only a copy.
The real document was somewhere else.
Pike had been using him.
Using Nahkai.
Using everyone.
Caleb looked at the cliffs.
Then at Taya.
Then at the ledger.
"Where did my father hide it?"
Pike shrugged.
"You tell me."
A rifle shot cracked.
One of Pike's men fell.
Chaos erupted.
Warriors appeared along the cliffs.
Pike shouted.
"Fire!"
Bullets struck stone.
Arrows descended.
Caleb and Taya moved along the ridge.
But something was wrong.
One of Nahkai's warriors was missing.
Caleb realized why.
Pike had another group coming from behind.
They had found the second entrance.
"Ambush!" Caleb shouted.
Nahkai turned.
Too late.
Men emerged from the rear canyon.
The warriors were trapped between them.
Caleb grabbed Taya's hand.
"We have to get to the lower pass."
They ran.
Gunfire echoed everywhere.
A horse fell.
Someone screamed.
Taya stumbled.
Caleb caught her.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Then keep moving."
They reached a narrow ledge.
Pike appeared behind them.
He had blood on his face.
The ledger was still in his hand.
"You should have stayed with your father's lies."
Caleb turned.
"You murdered him."
Pike raised his pistol.
"And I'll finish what I started."
Taya stepped between them.
Pike aimed at her.
Caleb moved instantly.
The shot fired.
He felt the bullet tear through his shoulder.
He fell.
Taya screamed.
She fired.
Her arrow struck Pike's pistol hand.
He dropped the weapon.
Pike stumbled backward.
The ground beneath him cracked.
He looked down.
For one second, fear crossed his face.