I open my eyes and flinch when I realize I’m wearing a helmet. My breaths increase?, and before I can panic too much, Roman’s lovely voice comes in through the headset.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you, Squirt.”
My eyes widen. That’s right, the truck flipped… John. My throat knots up?, and I can’t bring myself to say anything. Where is Grahm? Did he get out okay? I can’t bring myself to ask?, so I just let my head rest against Roman’s shoulder.
“We’re heading to the lake to end this once and for all. I’m not letting you get hurt again?, and I’m not letting Nolan take you away from me.” His words thread through me.
I want to be angry with him. I don’t want to feel the way I do for him. But I do. And I can’t stop myself from wanting to be close to him again.
“Okay” is the only thing I can seem to get out.
He wraps his hand around mine, and it melts my heart a little more. “I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve your forgiveness either, but fuck?, I want it more than anything. And I’ll do anything to get it,” Roman murmurs, his voice raspy from shouting.
Taylor cuts in. “Movement ahead on the satellite map. I think we’re going to have company.” The heads-up display on the helmet glass shows an aerial view of the mountain coming up?, and several little arrows indicate vehicles that aren’t us.
“We should go back,” I say, grabbing Roman’s jacket tighter.
“No can do, Squirt. We’ll just be hunted down. It’s better if we’re outside the town so we can take them out,” Bensen chimes in.
“But you couldn’t last time,” I argue.
“That’s because our orders were to take the fucker in alive,” Roman retorts.
My heart races. “And now?”
“Fuck the orders. We’re taking over. Nolan can reprimand me later.” Roman doesn’t sound worried about it, but I’ve never met their general. From what I gather, he’s not a good man.
We pull onto the trail leading up to the lake and the snow almost immediately falls thicker. The elevation makes the air colder with each second we climb higher.
“Lieutenant, they’re closing in from the rear!” Gale’s voice cuts in through the headset.
“Get into formation, Icarus,” Roman says tersely as he unstraps the handgun on his chest and hands it to me. His attention is focused straight ahead, but his voice comes in smooth and calm. “Aim for their chests, Squirt.”
My breaths are sharp, and the pain in my bones starts to fade as the adrenaline hits my veins. “Okay.” This can’t be worse than when I shot the man point-blank in the face.
Within seconds I hear trucks and motorcycles trekking up the hill and gaining on us. Roman smacks the front right side of his motorcycle, and a compartment pops out with a pistol, grip facing him. Roman grabs it and keeps it clutched firmly in his hand.
“We’ll loop them around the lake trail. Take out as many as you can before we meet in the middle. Hopper and Zeus, take the left side, Viper, you’re with us.”
“Roger that, Syxx,” Taylor says as he and Gale turn off to the left sharply.
“Ten-four.” Bensen adjusts his speed so he’s lining up to be parallel to us.
I check the clip of ammo before looking over my shoulder and spotting the pursuing vehicles. “Here they come,” I say with a knot in my throat.
“We got this, Squirt,” Bensen says. His helmet tilts in my direction?, and he nods reassuringly. He puts his hand to his waist and unhitches his pistol from its holster.
The small dirt road narrows as it winds around the lake, full of turns and divots. All I can do is hook an arm around Roman’s chest and hold on for dear life.
Four bikers catch up to us first; their motorcycles are more like dirt bikes and allow them more control on these roads. The first shot that flies by my head makes me hold my breath.
Bensen lifts his arm and dares a look back as he returns fire.
He hits one of them in the shoulder, and the force of it knocks the man clean off his bike.
I swallow and tighten my grip on Roman’s chest before I aim at the next one. He lifts his gun and shoots at us several times before I line up my shot and pull the trigger.
The bullet misses him but hits the fuel line on his bike. It makes atinksound before it erupts into flames.
