“No.” I touched his face. Felt the slight roughness of his skin. “It makes me feel safe. For the first time in six years.”
He caught my hand. Pressed it against his cheek. “You are safe. I won't let them take you back.”
“I know.”
We sat in silence for a moment. Then I asked, “What happens when they catch up?”
“They won't.”
“But if they do?”
He looked at me. Something dark and certain in his eyes. “Then I kill them all.”
BREVAN
She slept against my chest. Exhausted. Trusting.
I held her and listened to the search patterns outside. They were getting smarter. Tightening their grid. We'd have to move soon.
Flinx sat on guard near the cave entrance, his sensors monitoring everything within a kilometer.
I woke Carys gently. “Time to go.”
She came alert immediately. No grogginess. Six years of captivity had trained that out of her.
“How close?”
“Too close.”
I lifted her again. She wrapped her arms around my neck automatically now. We'd found our rhythm.
The terrain was changing. Less rocky. More forested. Better cover but also harder to navigate quickly while carrying someone.
Flinx warned.
“How long?”
An hour until they could track us regardless of how we moved. We needed extraction.
“I have to signal Kallum,” I said.
“They'll detect it.”
“That's the point.” I set her down behind a massive tree. “I'm going to activate an emergency beacon. It'll bring everyone—theirs and ours. But Kallum will get here first.”
“You hope.”
“I know.” I pulled the beacon from my jacket. “He's been shadowing us since we entered atmosphere. Just waiting for my signal.”
I activated it. A burst transmission. Location. Status. Urgency.
Immediately, Flinx reported:
“Now we run,” I said, lifting her again.
But this time I didn't try to hide our trail. I ran straight. Fast. Making distance rather than stealth.
