“I’m fine,” I promise him. “Let’s keep moving.”
He stands looking down at me through the darkness and the cost of this is etched in his face.
“I can carry you.”
“Not yet.” I push him forward, if you can call it that, because he’s twice my size. “I’m good.”
We haven’t gone more than fifty feet when Ryker stops abruptly, his frame rigid, an inky outline in the night.
My entire body breaks out in goosebumps.
“Listen,” he whispers.
I strain in the darkness. But the roaring in my veins, the static electricity of panic drowns everything out.
Pleasedon’t let it be a hunter.
Ryker lifts my palm and scratches his fingertip over the palm. Tracing a message.
CHAPTER 16
Jade lifts her eyes to me when she realizes what I’ve scratched onto her palm.
H
2
O
Water.
Running water to be exact.
Holding Jade’s upper arm, I guide her toward the sound. This is a tactical decision. One that will cost us time, but may give us a break.
The air temp drops a few more degrees on the incline. The scent of damp earth grows thick.
I keep one hand over my collar’s camera and show Jade how to do the same.
“Dammit,” Jade murmurs when we come up against a major barrier.
A gigantic fucking tree trunk. The monster must have been a hundred feet tall if the size of the downed trunk is any indication.
There’s no going around. If I want water, we have to go over.
Jade looks right and left, but there’s no end in sight. “Over,” I whisper next to her ear.
She startles when I grab her waist, lifting her up high, o\ver my head until she scrambles onto the mossy bark. But her dress catches on a rough barb.
With a gasp, she frantically tugs the fabric.
Shit. The snag is over my head. Out of my reach. Too far below her.
I step back to run down my options. Leaving the fabric is a risk. Staying and fucking around is more so.
Act, Ryker. No indecision.
The fabric stays.
