Merc grabbed the rolled front edge of the saddle, hooked his still booted left foot into the stirrup, and used every single bit of strength he had to haul himself up into it. Blackness slammed into him from all directions, and he made a frantic grab for the horse’s neck to keep from falling onto the ground. The stallion tossed his head in fear, but Caroline immediately soothed the creature.
Merc closed his eyes and focused on staying awake long enough to help her. He wouldn’t disgrace himself by passing out. Not yet anyway. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
He felt the saddle dip and then Caroline’s soft body was at his back, her bare stomach against him. “Can you sit up?”
“Yeah.” He leaned back, savoring her body heat as a chill shook him. Caroline made quick work of tying him to the horse, crisscrossing a rope around his waist and legs. He sucked in a breath at the rough material on his raw wounds.
“I’m sorry. As soon as we are safe, I’ll take it off.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not so bad.” His tongue grew thick in his mouth. He thought he spotted a couple of bodies laying off to the right, partially hidden behind the watering trough. No way. Not possible. He was definitely hallucinating from a fever and blood loss.
Caroline reached for the reins, but he needed to tell her something, something important before he lost it completely. The thought danced at his periphery.Focus.He was being saved by a girl less than half his size.
His hands fell to his waist, the rough edge of his tactical belt scraping the raw wounds. “My belt buckle, front latch. Lift it ‘til it clicks, then lock it back in place.”
“Why?”
“GPS. So my team can find us.” A little gift from Agent K, TF-S’s CIA liaison — some new software developed by one of their undisclosed private corporations.
Caroline followed his instructions and then kicked the horse into motion, easing him into a quiet trot directly away from the camp, avoiding any chance of a passerby in the middle of the night. She’d done exactly what he would've done.
A few minutes later she picked up the pace, the bouncing from the horse jolting through him, painting him with even more of his own blood. “Fixing to go black. Can you handle this?”
“I've got you.”
He clung to her sweet voice as the darkness welled up and took control.
