They rush forward, grabbing my arms to steady me. Someone shouts for a medic.
“I’m fine,” I rasp, jerking away.
“Sir, you’re bleeding?—”
“Let me go,” I snap, louder this time, the sharpness in my tone cutting through the noise. I shoulder past them, stumbling toward the cluster of tents near the east of the camp. My vision tunnels, everything pulsing in time with the pounding in my skull.
I shove through the flap of the tent, and the light hits me hard. It’s too bright. Jagger’s head snaps up from the table, eyes narrowing. “Fuck, Hawk. What the hell happened?”
When I try to open my mouth, my throat closes around the words. I’m shaking, covered in dirt and blood, but I can still see her face—smiling at me just hours ago, eyes full of fire and hope. “They took her,” I manage to grind out.
Jagger’s brows furrow. “What?”
I take a step forward, legs barely holding me. “Reese,” I choke. “They took Reese.”
His chair scrapes across the floor, the sound screeching through my brain. “Who? When?”
But I can’t answer. The words don’t come. The world sways again, my vision swirling out of focus. The pain hits like a hammer behind my eyes, and my knees buckle. I hear Jagger shout my name and feel hands catching me as I hit the ground, and everything goes black.
When I come to, it’s to the sound of rain tapping against canvas and the steady beep of a monitor. Antiseptic and metal hand in the air, and my head feels like it’s been split open.
I blink against the light and realize I’m in the medical tent. An IV runs into my arm. Someone’s bandaged my shoulder and taped what I can only imagine are broken ribs.
Reese.
I jolt upright, ignoring the flare of pain in my side. “Where is she?”
A medic hurries over. “Lay back, Sir. You?—”
“Where is she?” I growl, tearing the needle from my arm. Gunnar is at my bedside within seconds. “Reese. I need to know she’s okay.”
He studies me for a moment, then sighs, his eyes falling momentarily to the floor. “We’ve been looking since you got back last night. The crash site was about a mile north of the ridge and has been fully swept.”
“And?” I repeat.
He nods slowly. “There were tracks. Two sets of footprints, maybe three. Someone pulled her out. But whoever took her didn’t want us to find her fast. They wiped the tracks half a mile out.” He leans close and lowers his voice. “We’ve been searching the base, but there’s no sign of her yet.”
Rage surges hot in my veins. I swing my legs off the cot, ignoring the debilitating dizziness in my head.
“Hawk,” Gunnar warns. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve got a concussion. Two cracked ribs. You’ll collapse before you make it out of camp.”
“I don’t care.” I’d give my life for hers without hesitation.
He steps into my path. “You go out there like this, you’ll get yourself killed. Then she really is alone.”
“Then you better make sure I stay alive,” I huff, painfully pushing from the bed. “She’s out there, Gunnar. She’s probably hurt, scared—” My voice breaks. “And it’s my fucking fault.”
Gunnar’s expression tightens. “It’s not your fault.”
“It is,” I refute, pulling on my boots. “I should’ve seen it coming. Should’ve protected her… like I was supposed to.”
He hesitates, then grips my shoulder. “We’ll find her, Hawk. I swear to God, we’ll fucking find her.”
I’ve already lost her once, and I can’t—won’t—let it happen again. I’m too close to the life I wanted to let someone take that from me. To takeherfrom me.
“I’ll find you, baby,” I whisper into the dark, struggling to make the walk back to our tent. It’s not a promise; it’s a vow. One I will uphold at all costs.
And when I do, whoever took her won’t live long enough to regret it.
