A gun fired. Tilly screamed but didn’t feel the pain of a bullet.
Kayden sprinted toward her as the gun fell away from her temple, but as Pixie toppled back, her arm was still around Tilly’s throat—and she tugged them both back and over the edge of the mountain together.
Tilly was yanked back,and Kayden’s world stopped.
He sprinted toward the cliff’s edge, everything narrowing to pinpoint focus as he looked over the side.
While Pixie’s body lay still at the bottom, Tilly had grabbed onto a sharp rock ledge several yards down.
The air whooshed from his chest. Alive! She was alive—for now. But he could already see her hold on the rock was precarious.
“Hold on,” Kayden shouted. “I’m gonna get you out of there, Tilly.”
Eastern ran toward him. “Fuck.” He looked over the edge, the air whooshing from his chest. “I radioed our location to the others the second we found them. Hendrix and my officers are there. Help shouldn’t be long, and Theo will bring the gear.”
He pulled the radio from Eastern’s hold. “Hendrix, you pack the rappelling gear?”
“I did. Almost there.”
Now he just had to pray the man made it in time.
Thirty seconds, maybe less. That’s all it took for him to arrive, but the entire time, Kayden didn’t take his eyes off Tilly. Every second felt like ten.
When Hendrix dropped the gear behind them, Tilly’s fingers were slipping.
Shit.
“Hold on, Till! I’m coming down.”
As Eastern and Hendrix worked together to wrap the rope around a tree as an anchor, Kayden slipped on a harness. His skin itched to go. Get down there. But he pushed his impatience aside, forcing himself to remember his training. He had to be smart.
When the anchor and knot were secure, Kayden stepped backward off the edge of the drop-off. He’d done rescues like this a million times during his career as a PJ, but this was different. This was Tilly’s life on the line. It was personal.
He rappelled down the mountain quickly.
“Kayden…” Tilly’s pained voice floated up to him. “I can’t…hold on…”
He moved faster and had just reached her when her fingers slipped from the rock edge. He grabbed her wrist with his free hand, catching her in his tight hold.
He growled as he tugged her up, using every scrap of strength he had to get her into his arms. When she was high enough, shewrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist.
It was the relief he needed to take his first full breath.
“Kayden…” she whispered.
“I’ve got you, honey. You’re safe.”
CHAPTER 31
Kayden stood by Tilly’s side as the paramedics looked her over. Her skin was pale and her eyes too wide, but that wasn’t what had fury simmering inside him.
She’d almost died tonight. Hell, if he’d reached her a second later, one damn second, she’d be gone.
His hold on her tightened. His team was getting Pixie’s body from the bottom of the mountain, but there was no way she’d survived that fall. Not a fucking chance. She’d been too still, and the angle she’d been lying at had been all wrong.
He hadn’t left Tilly’s side since getting to her. He’d carried her down the trail and waited for the ambulance with her…not that they’d taken long.
His muscles tightened when Tilly flinched from the paramedic touching her ankle. It had changed to a purple color and was so swollen it looked like there was a tennis ball on the side.
