“Emilia, what’s the status on James?” I ask, hoping to God she answers with good news.
“I got him patched up resting against a tree. Where do you need me?”
“I need to find my duffel bag and get the first aid kit. At the rate Jaxon is bleeding out, he’s not going to make it much longer.”
“Go, you have to go. They need you,” I hear James tell Emilia over the headset.
“God dammit,” Emilia says. “I’m on my way. It’ll probably be faster if I just come over to you with my kit than having you fumbling around in the dark trying to find your pack.”
As I wait for Emilia to find our location, I keep firm pressure on Jaxon’s wound. At this point, my hands are so slick with blood it’s hard to apply pressure without my hands slipping.
Jaxon cracks open an eye, his face pale, his lips white and cracked, and levels me with a look. “You better watch out for her for me. You hear me? That little boy or little girl better be the most spoiled child with the three of you watching over them and Melody. Promise. Promise me, Kayden.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Jax.”
“Youknow, Kayden. Youknowthere’s a real possibility I don’t make it out of this. My chances are pretty slim, Iknowyou know this. Tell me you promise, Kayden,” he demands as his voice cracks. “Swear it.”
My own voice cracks as I lower my head, focusing on the blood escaping through my fingers. “I swear it,” I whisper, more to myself than to him.
“I can’t hear you.”
“I SWEAR IT!”
As though satisfied with my promise, Jaxon relaxes against the tree once again, his eyes gazing up at the moon.
A few snapping twigs have me on high alert, but I don’t dare risk taking my hands off his wound to grab my gun.
“Emilia?” I whisper shout. “Is that you?”
For a second, I fear it’s all over, but then Emilia pushes through the small clearing, cursing the underbrush as she makes her way over to us.
She digs through her small pack and pulls out the first aid kit. “What am I looking for, Kayden?” she asks, slightly panicked as she peers down at my hands over Jaxon’s wound and then at his face before her gaze finally settles on me. I see the resignation in her eyes and dammit if it doesn’t just make me angry.
“We aren’t giving up, Emilia, do you hear me?”
Emilia’s eyes flick back to Jaxon’s face and she gives him a small reassuring smile. She nods her head at me, a deep, penetrating sympathy radiating from her gaze.
“Grab the QuikClot from the kit, tear it open, and when I lift my hands up, you’re going to pack it into the wound as quickly as you can and apply pressure until the bleeding stops. Donotlet up on that pressure until it stops.”
She tears open the package and I quickly move my hands away as she thrusts the dressing into the wound.
Jaxon grimaces through a low moan, his body barely having enough energy to express his discomfort. I’ve seen men teeter on this line between life and death. The slightest waver could tip him in either direction, but the moment the pain disappears you know it’s too late.
Emilia looks over at me as she applies pressure to the wound. “You have to go, Kayden. You need to find Dani.”
“I can’t leave you two.”
“You’ve done all you can with what we have. Whether he lives or dies at this point doesn’t matter if you don’t find her.”
“But that’s my brother, Em.”
“And if you don’t find her, this was all fornothing. His death. Will be.For nothing, Kayden.”
“Axel and Donovan will hopefully be here any minute. They have the same headsets as us, they just need to get in range tobe able to use them,” I say as though trying to convince myself to get moving.
“I’ll be fine, Kayden. Go find your girl,” she replies, turning her attention back to Jax.
I look back at them, and my heart cracks at leaving my little brother behind. I know Emilia is right, though—this entire mission will have been for nothing if we don’t get Dani back and end Andrei once and for all. If we fail, Andrei will stop at nothing to hunt us all down.
