“Oh crap,” She saw her world spin around as she flailed for a hand-hold only to grab the top of Stryker’s head. “Okay.” She stretched up and clutched the edge of the crevasse while his hands cupped the bottom of her booted feet; he lifted her through the gap with ease. Her knees hit the concrete of the roof and she scurried around to help him.
Her pack came next, and she hugged it protectively as she was soaked to the bone by the downpour.
Stryker climbed up through the opening as if it was nothing; Norah was jealous of his ease.
He’s built to survive and I’m...not.She hated feeling weak, yet that’s exactly what she was.It doesn’t help that I’ve been stuck in a death-hole for days...she thought, not a little defensively.
He flicked his arm and a light attached to his bicep turned on. Only to offer his hand and help her to her feet. He then pulled a pack she hadn’t seen out from under a metal ventilation pipe.
Giant jungle trees surrounded them on all sides, lush with life, vibrant from the excess water. The only break in the foliage was where the research facility had been built.
“Where’s your ship?” she yelled over the wind.
“A half-hour from here. Take this!” He pulled out a plastic poncho and handed it to her. Norah wriggled into it gratefully.
The light continued to fade as the storm picked up. Stryker, a frighteningly large male, was decked out in more weapons than she had counted before, many that she didn’t even know the names of.
He caught her perusal with narrowed eyes, filled with a look that bordered on possessive. At the same time, his eyes held a promise–for what, she didn’t know, but she hoped it had to do with getting her out of the storm.
“What?” she prompted him.
“We need to get out of the storm!” His voice boomed from within his metal mask. “Follow me,” he demanded and turned to the ledge.
He didn’t hurt me. He didn’t kill me. He’s going to save me.Rain trickled down her cheeks as she let her last ember of hope flare. But it was lost in the precipitation.
Chapter Four:
***
Stryker couldn’t stop looking at the woman who’d voiced the call. It had replayed in his tech for the past day.
Just knowing that she was alive, that she had survived, filled him with so much relief that it shocked him. Why would he care for a stranger? Someone he had only met minutes ago? He couldn’t understand it or reasonably assess it. The logical side of him found nothing. Andnothingwas error.
He didn’t deal in error, he dealt in results. Those who hired him had a 100% guarantee. The EPED loved him and loved to hate him.Perfection is a double-edged sword.
Lightning flashed within Norah’s eyes, a bolt over her chocolate irises, giving her an amber look in spite of her bedraggled state.
His beast wanted to wrap her up in its tail and study her until it was satisfied. To relish every hue and shade of her irises. But his beast wasn’t in charge and the storm was picking up strength.
“Follow me.” Stryker peered over the 12ft drop of the building. He heard her light footsteps approach from behind. He jumped off the ledge to a cry from the girl and when he turned and looked up, she was stricken, her face pinched in worry, squinting down at him. “It’s alright, Norah,” he said before she could berate him. “I can jump from much higher distances than this.”
He could hear her every movement, every thump of her heartbeat, every whimper and sigh.
“I know. I just haven’t seen one of your kind before. It’s unsettling,” she yelled over the wind.
“One of my kind?” He smiled up at her from under his mask, his hand waved at his body. “The epitome of greatness?” He tried to lighten the mood, keeping the danger at bay.
“A Cyborg.”
“Oh, right. That. I forget about that.” Stryker lifted his hands. “Jump down, I’ll catch you.” He ignored the rain in his eyes.
He needed to get them out of there, to get them out of the storm that was about to erupt like a volcano. The thunder screamed at him from miles away and was closing in fast. He didn’t like that it drowned out the unknown monsters of the forest.
Stryker still didn’t know what had happened to Norah and her fellows. She was brave, and stronger than most humans he knew. She knew when to listen to orders and when to be cautious; when to weigh her options.
She tossed her bag down first and he caught it with one hand, hooking it over his shoulder as he watched her teeter on the edge, afraid she was going to fall. Their eyes met and he nodded up at her.
“Jump.”
