Page 50 of Mountain Shadow

The man fell face-down onto the wooden floor.

Sarah’s hand opened. The bookend dropped with a loud, hollow clonk.

For a second Sarah stood there, shaking. She watched a dark red puddle of blood appear and grow beneath the man’s cheek. Bile rose in the back of her throat.

Swallow it.

Jens needs you.

She dropped quickly to the ground. Her hand pressed against his broad chest, looking for any sign of movement, but her own hand was shaking too hard to feel anything.

“Jens!” she cried out.

She could see the burn on his neck where the stun gun had hit him. She leaned over and pressed her cheek to his mouth—at first there was nothing, but instants later she felt it, the soft swoosh of air that told her he was breathing.

She shifted her body to cradle his head in her lap. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Please wake up.”

* * *

Jens

The smell of burnt meat brought him back to the world of the living. It was only instants later that he realized he was the source of the burning smell.

“Shit,” he groaned.

“Don’t try to move, Jens. I’ve called Damien and Gael and Hiro and pretty much everybody I could find on your phone. They’re on their way.”

He liked the way she cradled his head in her lap. The tears in her eyes, he liked less.

“Not my parents, I hope,” he whispered.

“How can you joke at a time like this?” she asked. “I thought you were dying.”

“I’m not dying.” Jens turned his head to look at the bodies of the men who’d broken into his home. One was lying where Jens had left him, and now Two was there as well, bleeding profusely next to one of his bookends. “You saved my life.”

Sarah gave a panicked cackle. She was looking beyond pale—as if, at any second, she might collapse.

From the blood spreading beneath Two’s body, it was clear he wouldn’t cause any trouble, but Jens wasn’t as sure about One. He’d only been knocked unconscious and could wake up any second.

Jens tried to roll over, but his twitching muscles refused to listen to him. He felt as if one thousand volts of electricity had just gone through his body—which was essentially what had just happened. The result, he knew, was the same as if his body had been hit, very fast, over and over again.

Gritting his teeth, he managed to roll over on his side.

“I’ve got some zip ties in my back pocket,” he said hoarsely.

“I’m not even going to ask why you’re carrying those,” she said, holding them up.

“You need to cuff his hands and feet together.”

Sarah shook her head. “I can’t … I can’t get close to him, Jens.”

Jens flexed his fingers. He still didn’t have enough muscle control to do much more than that.

“Please, Sarah. I need you to do this for me. Just to be sure.”

“Okay,” she said. Her voice was only marginally stronger than a second earlier. “Okay.”