I pull her in tight, taking only one second to ground myself in her touch, before I set her away and find a long stick on the ground.
“Walk in my footsteps.”
Falling in behind me, Jade stays close. We circle wider, scanning the ground. I test the soil with a make-shift walking stick as we move, tapping, listening.
Plunk. Plunk.
Not the sound of dirt. A faint metallic sound rings when I thump it again.
Yes.
When I sweep the dirt away with my boot there’s a small door. “Fuckin-A,” I murmur, relieved.
Jade leans in as I haul the lid open. It’s been recently oiled, but a puff of musty air rises from the opening.
I waste no time dropping in, wedging my shoulders through the narrow opening.
“Come on.”
She scrambles after me as I reach up for her, completely trusting no matter where I lead her. Even into a tomb-like bunker I’ve never been in.
Even after watching me snap a man’s neck for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Her hands grip my shoulders as I lift her down.
“Stay here.”
She makes an agreeing sound when I transfer her hand to the closest wall for balance. Vertigo can happen in the extreme darkness.
Once I know she’s set, my hands skim the walls. Across concrete, shelving, some conduit and finally land on a switch.
“Ryker?” Her voice is thin in the dark, a few feet behind me.
I flick the light on.
“Oh my god.You’re a freaking miracle worker.”
We both look around, blinking in the bright light. The room is stocked. Gigantic barrels and bags of fertilizer on one end. A cot and shelves of food on the other. Generator. Propane cans. Enough here to survive a week or more. More ammo for the gun we just acquired.
“I’m not celebrating yet.” I tug her forward and lift her up to sit on a barrel, wasting no time.
The clock is ticking inside my head, louder and louder.
I grab a blanket and some rags and move back to her side.
“Unless the collars failed after the river, they know exactly where our signal blinked out because we went underground.”
She’s watching me, a tired sheen coating her eyes as I wrap her in a rough wool blanket.
For a few seconds, neither of us moves. Or even seem to breathe. It’s the first moment alone, and the first time in the light for us, since we were on camera with that psychopath.
“Hey,” I say, voice swamped with emotion as I let my eyes trace over her exhausted, beautiful features. Mud, tears. All of her.
“Hey, you as well,” she whispers. “I was so glad to see you.”
“You have no idea.” I kiss her, knowing I’m burning time, unable to stop myself from taking her face in my hands and groaning.
Bolts turn left and right behind my ribs. My fate being sealed.I’m so fucking gone for this girl.
