I immediately rush over to this guy, feeling a pull to check on him, but once I get close, I realize something’s not right. Turning him over onto his back, I notice his skin is slightly gray, cold, and damp. I can hear a slight rattling coming from his chest.
All of a sudden I start getting flashes in my mind, images of what this man—no—LYNX has been through since I last saw him. They are so gruesome that I have to sit down and hold my head in my hands as the flashes come faster and faster.
A knife. Rope. A young man calling out for me. Lynx! Cloaked figures. Chanting. Gray eyes flashing at me.
Why am I here? Who’s this man next to me?
The labored breathing pulls me from the flashes and I look down at this body, not knowing him, yet feeling like I should. I should know this man. I just witnessed the most excruciating thing of my life, and it ended with a flash of this man’s mutilated body and him being dumped here. Reaching out, I hold his hand as I watch him take his last labored breath. A tear escapes me, though I wish I could remember who he was to pray for his soul.
A flash of bright turquoise eyes flares in my mind and I find myself smiling at them. Whoever he was, he was a keeper.
ChapterFifty-Eight
MAZE OF DEATH
Rez
I’m jerked awake as the ground rumbles and I slowly look around.
Knox wasn’t kidding about his knot timing, or at least our best guess since our phones aren’t working. I think we broke national sex-a-thon records. I can’t believe the three of us were stuck together for so long. It was well worth it, but I’m afraid I’m never going to be the same again. Nothing will be able to top being used and hung up like that. Afterwards though, we used the water basin that he dragged in to have a drink and then used the rest to clean ourselves the best we could. Too bad I didn’t have Levi here, he could have just used a spell to clean us up. We decided to just dress in our dry underwear and throw the rest of the cloudberry limbs on the fire and sleep until the storm let up.
From the look of it though, it’s not letting up. It’s actually getting worse. The wind picks up and throws a huge tree limb into the entrance, just as the loudest clash of thunder shakes the cave with a blinding flash.
What the fuck?
“Rez, get up!” Knox yells, reaching for his pants. A bolt of anxiety rushes through me as small rocks and dust are falling from the ceiling and the storm outside has picked up, sending gusts of wind through the entrance. I’m surprised the fire hasn’t gone out because of it.
“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to balance to put on my pants as the floor shakes.
Ryker, being further along getting dressed, reaches out and helps steady me while answering.
“Don’t know, but this storm has taken a turn for the worse. We’ve never seen anything like it. Just a moment ago, lightning actually flew across the sky and hit inside the cave,” he exclaims, pointing out the scorched mark on the wall.
Holy shit!
I throw on my shirt and grab my jacket, pulling it tight, and turn towards the entrance right as a flash of fluorescent yellow hits the entry, throwing me back into Ryker.
“Stay down,” Knox yells as he dives for us. He positions himself over my head. The roar coming down the mountain is deafening for me, so I can barely imagine what it’s like for Knox who is protecting my upper body.
He slowly pulls back and I take in a full breath to immediately start coughing. I feel as if I’m inhaling dirt, and I can’t see a fucking thing. Whatever happened took out our fire.
“Are you okay?” Knox asks. He sounds worried so I try to clear my throat and answer, but Ryker beats me to it.
“No, can you both get off of me?”
Oh shit. No wonder my cushion was soft.I forgot I fell on him. Someone pulls me up and I can only assume it’s Knox.
“Thank you,” I manage to cough out.
“What happened?” Ryker asks as I feel him come up behind me.
I hear Knox ruffle around and a flick of something before a flame flickers to life.
“Well, it looks like we’ve been buried alive,” he says, and I look in the direction his flame is directed and see that the entrance to our cave has been blocked by a big slab.
“Hate to play on anyone's insecurities here, but can either one of you move that?” I ask with an upbeat tone.
“Doubt it, but we can try,” Ryker says in the dark behind me. Knox flicks off his lighter, and I wait as I hear them grunt and curse while trying to budge the only way out of here.
