Risky Romance (Wolf Security #4)

22. Whisper

CHAPTER 22

Whisper

The snake lifted its head, and its forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air . . . tasting us. I’d faced armed criminals, drug cartels, and other evil bastards, but I had never been more terrified than I was right now. That python was fucking huge, and so silent.

The humidity grew thicker and heavier, and each breath seemed to be an effort.

I gripped Cody’s waist, and his heart hammered against my hands. My pulse thundered through my body.

The python’s head disappeared under a blanket of wet leaves, and I couldn’t decide if that was better. A blaze of lightning lit up the area outside like a million-watt lightbulb revealing the snake’s true size. Shit, it’s bigger than I thought.

Its muscular body rippled at the flash as if the air had sizzled along its gleaming scales.

My nerves sizzled too.

I leaned into Cody’s ear. “What do we do?”

“Just let me handle it.”

“No. We’re in this together. Tell me what to do.” I gripped the back of his elbow.

“Just wait.” Cody leaned down and wriggled off his remaining boot.

Lightning blazed outside and the snake’s head emerged from the leaves, fifteen feet away. Coiling with fluid grace, its muscles bunched beneath patterned scales, and the creature’s massive head turned side to side with measured precision. Alert. Wary. Fucking terrifying.

Our only weapon was one cowboy boot which that python would probably eat whole. The sleeting rain increased, drumming into the muddy ground outside in a constant roar.

A massive crack of thunder shook the earth, and the snake jerked its head higher, body tensing.

“I thought snakes couldn’t hear?” I said.

“Correct, but they feel vibrations through the ground with their jawbones.” Cody held his boot like a hammer.

“So it can’t hear us talking?”

“No, but they’re very sensitive to movement through their belly scales touching the ground. And?—”

Thunder boomed overhead, and I jolted. “And what?”

“And they can sense our body heat.”

“Great. Anything else?”

“That thing it’s doing with its tongue, it’s chemical sensing, tasting the air. It knows we’re here.”

“Jesus! We’re screwed.”

“We have the advantage because we can see it, but it hasn’t seen us.”

“Yet . . . and how do you know?”

“Believe me, we’ll know when it sees us.” His voice dropped lower. “Those eyes will lock onto us, and it will move like lightning.”

I shuddered. The snake’s tongue flicked out again. “It’s tasting us.”

“Just keep still. That storm is working in our favor.”

None of my combat training could prepare me for a twenty-foot beast blocking our only exit. Dread scurried up my spine like an army of ants.

The python slithered forward again, and each movement was like liquid steel. It stopped ten feet away.

I’d seen my share of snakes and knew how fast they could strike, but none were this big. This one was enormous, and heavy. Maybe we could outrun it.

But how? Our exit was flanked by rivers of mud that raced past like brown avalanches.

The snake’s enormous eyes fixed right on us, dark and unblinking. My stomach dropped. Fear stripped away my training, my pride, and my carefully constructed bravado. I was just a shit-scared woman hanging onto a brave farmer who I hoped had a plan, because I sure as hell didn’t.

Cody stiffened. His muscles coiled, ready to move.

Fuck. Fuck!

The snake’s scales gleamed in what little light filtered through the rain. Each ripple of movement showed its raw power and control.

“Jewel, when I say run, you fucking run. Hear me?” Cody’s hushed whisper was as sharp as a blade.

“I’m not leaving you.”

He sucked air through his teeth. “Just do as I say.”

“No. Two of us attacking that thing is better than one.”

“For fuck’s sake, this is serious.”

“No shit. But I’m not leaving you.” My training urged me to take charge, to act like the fighter I was taught to be. However, this wasn’t a human adversary. This was a deadly predator that constricted its prey to death.

Yet, there was no way I was letting Cody face that python alone. If we were going to beat that thing, we needed to work together.

Lightning speared the sky, and my heart jackhammered against my ribs.

Cody leaned back and his lips brushed my ear. “We’ll jump into the mudflow,” he whispered.

“Are you insane? That mud’s flying.” My fingers dug deeper into his waist.

“Exactly. We’ll be gone before the snake figures out where we went.”

“We’ll drown in that mud.”

“Maybe, but that’s better than the certainty of being crushed to death.” His voice was barely a breath.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll throw my boot to the left to distract it, and we’ll jump into that right mudflow. It’s stronger. Got it?”

“Could we both charge at it and scare it off?”

“A big snake like that doesn’t get scared. It gets angry.”

My blood ran cold. “Jesus! This is crazy.”

Lighting cracked overhead like a bullwhip and a thunderbolt rattled our hideout.

The python’s head weaved closer, tongue flicking. Testing. Tasting. Its thick body rippled forward another foot. Eight feet away now. Too close. Way too close.

“Trust me. This will work. Get ready.”

“No.” I gripped him harder. “Promise me you won’t try to fight it.”

His shoulders tensed. Dammit, he’d been planning exactly that.

“Cody. Promise you’ll jump into the mud with me.”

“I promise.”

“I’m not going without you.” My voice cracked with my conviction.

“Jesus, lady. You’re testing me.”

“I mean it. We stick together.”

“Okay. Just get ready. On the next lightning flash, we do this.” He gripped his boot and squeezed my palm with his other hand.

Thunder rolled overhead, and I pressed my face into Cody’s back, breathing in his scent one last time. The air crackled. My heart pounded like a battle drum.

I twisted my fingers in his shirt, determined to hang onto him.

The python’s head rose higher, and its black eyes glinted with raw intelligence. With hunger.

Lightning exploded across the sky. In the blaze of brilliant white, the snake’s head jerked back. Cody threw his boot high and to the left. The snake’s head darted that way.

“Run!” Cody grabbed my arm and yanked me behind him.

The python struck the boot as it arced through the air.

We sprinted to the rivers of mud churning past our hideout like liquid shadows.

My sneakers slipped in the mud, but Cody’s grip kept me upright.

The snake’s head whipped around, impossibly fast for its size. Its muscles bunched, preparing to strike.

I screamed.

Cody dove toward me, wrapping me in a bear hug. As we launched into the mudslide together, the snake’s tail slammed into our sides.

Air punched from my lungs as we hit the mud as one. The current snatched us into its grip. I squeezed my eyes and mouth shut.

The sludge hurtled us downhill like a runaway freight train. Cody’s arms were a vice around me, and I strangled his shirt in my fingers. I opened my eyes, but my world had turned into a violent brown blur.

The sludge was too heavy, too fast. It roared like a furious beast.

Something hit my hip, launching us airborne. We slammed back into the muddy river, and my grip was torn from Cody.

No, no, no!

“Cody!” I cried but the flow swallowed my voice, along with everything else. Grit filled my mouth.

I scraped through the thick sludge, desperate to find him, but I couldn’t see anything. I tumbled out of control, swallowing mud each time I gasped for air.

My back and legs scraped over rough ground. The mud slammed my head against something hard, and stars burst behind my eyes. I clawed at the slurry, trying to stop myself, but my hands scraped through silt and debris as I tumbled over and over.

The roaring flow grew louder.

Oh shit! A waterfall. A muddy waterfall. I’m about to fall back into the river.

Where’s Cody?

The current grew faster—and louder.

The bottom fell out of my world. I squeezed my eyes and mouth shut, curled myself into a ball, and braced for impact that was going to hurt.

The roaring mud became louder, and I hit the river side-on. The current yanked me under, tumbling me in a violent dance. I fought to find my bearings, but the water was a dark, chaotic whirlpool.

Fuck! Cody can’t swim in this. I need to find him.

My knees scraped across gravel and rocks.

Shit, I’m at the bottom of the river.

The back of my heel slammed into a sharp stone. Pain ripped up my leg and I cried out, swallowing mouthfuls of muddy water.

Fucking hell!

Riding a wave of fury, I pushed off the riverbed, kicking and clawing for the surface. The muddy water clung to me like a lead blanket, dragging me down. Clamping my jaw, I fought my way through the hell.

I’m coming, Cody.

My head broke through the surface, and I gasped for air. Squinting against the torrential rain, I scanned the chaos.

“Cody!” I shouted, but my voice was swallowed by the roar of the river.

The water yanked me into the current, hurtling me downstream.

I kicked against the torrent, straining to stay in one place until I found him. My heart raced as I rubbed mud and grit from my eyes. Debris swirled around me: twigs, logs, an entire fuckin’ tree.

“Cody! Where are you?” The cold grip of despair tightened around my chest. “Cody. Answer me!”

A flash of movement bobbed above the surface toward the middle—his arm.

Putting my head down, I swam harder than I ever had in my life, but the river was a beast, dragging me back with every stroke.

I scanned for Cody. There! He was on his back like I’d taught him. Thank God.

Each time I surfaced, gasping for air, he was still so far away. “Cody!”

His face turned toward me, smeared with mud and deathly pale, but he was alive.

Putting my head down, I kicked and stroked toward him like an Olympian racing for gold.

“Grab my hand,” I shouted over the rushing water, reaching out.

His fingers curled around my wrist, and we pulled ourselves together.

“Are you okay?” he gasped, rolling toward me, but he lost his balance, ducking under the water.

I yanked him up, and he splashed and spluttered.

“Stay on your back,” I yelled over the chaos.

As he followed my instructions, I guided him, so his feet faced downriver.

“Hold on.” I hooked my arm through his and rolled onto my back beside him. Rain splattered my face, forcing me to close my eyes as we hurtled feet first along the raging river.

Tethered together, we were at the mercy of nature. I was too exhausted to fight the current, and Cody would be, too.

He squeezed my arm against his side, and I gripped him back. No way in hell was I letting him out of my sight.

Lightning streaked overhead, and each flash lit up the black clouds like they’d been Tasered. I checked our position—we were still in the middle of the river. Logs and branches shared the torrent with us, and I prayed we didn’t get tangled in any of them.

It was an eternity before the current slowed and the roaring water simmered.

I shifted position, removing my arm from his and angling myself behind his head. Gripping his shoulders, I swam fiercely, guiding us toward the shore. Through the relentless rain, I scanned the riverbank for a safe exit.

My heart dropped.

Up ahead, at a bend in the river, a fallen tree jutted out from the water like monster claws.

“Shit!” If we hit that tree, we could be trapped underneath. There was no time to veer around it.

“What?” Cody strained to sit up, and his head slipped under.

I pulled him up by his shirt and wrapped my arm under his armpit and over his chest. “Cody, I need you to kick.”

“What’s wrong?” Panic laced his tone.

“Kick!” I yelled and using my right arm to paddle, I swam like crazy for the shore. But the current was strong, and Cody was heavy. I snapped my gaze from the maze of jagged branches to a patch of grass twenty feet before it. My breath shot in and out. My legs burned.

The tree loomed closer.

Shit. Shit.

“We’re not going to make it!” I shrieked.

“Let me go!” he yelled.

“No. Kick harder!”

He thrashed, twisting out of my grip.

“Fucking hell!” I lunged to grab him, but he was swept away.

“No! Cody!”

He splashed and kicked.

“Cody!” Desperation burned in my throat as the distance between us grew wider. “Fuck!”

Swimming like a mad woman, I raced for the riverbank.

Cody collided with the tree, and a bone-jarring cry burst from his throat. His upper body wrapped over the trunk, but his legs had been sucked beneath it. He clawed at the smooth bark, trying to get a hold of the slippery surface.

“I’m coming!” I yelled as I crawled my way up the riverbank, fighting through thick shrubs and sticky mud.

Gasping for breath, I scrambled onto the dead tree.

“I’m slipping!” His body sunk lower.

“Hang on!” I dodged between rough branches, desperate to reach him.

He scraped his fingers over the smooth bark. His eyes found me and his fear ripped my heart out.

“Hang on, Cody! I’m?—”

He slid below the water.