And then, from around the fallen tree, Jack emerged. Charlie staggered toward him and nearly went down, but he caught her and held her up. She threw her arm around him, crushing Dylan between them as she hugged him.
“You shouldn’t have come,” she croaked.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” Jack said as he ran his hand over her sweat-soaked hair before ruffling Dylan’s hair.
“Liar,” she said.
He kissed her temple before stepping back and yanking his shirt off. Her eyes widened on the bullet hole in his shoulder. “Who shot you?” she demanded.
“I ran across a couple of hunters.”
She rested her fingers against his shoulder. The wound no longer bled, but it looked sore and raw.
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “Let me have Dylan.”
Charlie didn’t want to give up her son, but even with a bullet in him, Jack looked a lot stronger than she felt. She clamped her mouth closed and switched Dylan into Jack’s arms.
Jack refused to acknowledge the weakness in the boy’s body as he draped his shirt over Dylan’s head. “Can you keep this on?” Jack asked him.
Dylan’s chapped lips quivered as he replied, “Yes.”
“Good,” Jack said, “because we have no choice but to go through the fire.”
“Which way are we going?” Mike asked.
“That way,” Jack said, pointing to their left.
Charlie would have sworn going to the right was the way out of here, but she couldn’t be more lost if someone stuck her in the center of a labyrinth, blindfolded her, and told her to find her way out.
“Stay close to me,” Jack commanded.
“I will,” Charlie said.
“I’ll make sure she gets through it,” Mike assured him.
“Let’s go,” Jack said.
She recoiled at the idea of plunging into those flames, but there was no other choice. Fire licked at her flesh and clothes as she followed Jack into the inferno.
Chapter Forty-Two
The fire snappedat Jack’s sides as he held Dylan against him, but he moved so fast the flames didn’t catch on him. Overhead, the fire rolled like a cresting wave. He knew the blaze wasn’t a living, breathing thing, but he couldn’t help feeling it was as it pulsed around him like a heart pumping blood.
Blisters puckered his exposed flesh as sweat poured from him. His shirt and body kept Dylan protected from the worst of it, but the oppressive heat of the fire was sapping the boy’s energy, and some of the flames were getting through. Dylan whimpered, but he didn’t protest as he clung to Jack.
The trust Dylan put in him to get him through this and the frailty of his small body caused love to swell in Jack’s chest. Only a child, there was still so much of Dylan’s life left to live, and Jack would make sure his son got to experience it all.
Plunging straight ahead, Jack hoped he was going the right way as he ran. He’d been sure of the direction when he started into the fire, but it was impossible to tell now that a wall of flames surrounded him.
Before coming in here for Charlie, he told the others to return to the boats. Now he wished he’d let Brian come with him. Brian could have found his way out of this mess, but Jack refused Brian’s help. He couldn’t risk something happening to Brian and, therefore, Abby. He would die for Charlie and Dylan, but he couldn’t have others dying for him.
Then, through the flames, he glimpsed the colors of a sunset sky before the fire rolled over to block it out. Pouring on the speed, Jack reached back and squeezed Charlie’s hand before releasing it. Mike stayed close on his heels as Jack raced for the sky.
They were so close to freedom; it was right there…
Breaking free of the fire, relief flooded Jack as cool air caressed his burnt skin and entered his tortured lungs. Dylan’s breath panted heavily in and out against Jack’s neck. And then the wind buffeted him as they fell.
Jack’s relief vanished when he realized they’d run out of the fire and straight off a cliff. He pressed Dylan’s head into his shoulder as he shouted over the wind. Beneath him, he glimpsed the rolling waves of the ocean.
