Chapter 43 #2
Adrienne and Saint approach the group, keeping at least eight feet between them.
“That’s Commander Vásquez,” Evlynne tells me. “He’s in charge of this province.”
My finger hovers over the trigger as the groups step closer to each other. Adrienne and Saint don’t have earpieces, but that doesn’t stop two of the soldiers from striding forward and scanning them for tech. They allow them to keep their sidearms, though.
As the soldiers step back, the commander steps forward, and the talking begins.
It lasts seven and a half minutes.
Literally.
Disbelief rushes in like the tide as Adrienne’s voice suddenly slides into my mind. “Meeting’s over. Return to base.”
I relay the orders to Evlynne, who shrugs and says, “Yeah. I’m not shocked.”
How is she not shocked? The meeting barely reached the ten-minute mark.
“They didn’t even hear you out,” I tell Adrienne.
Her tone is matter-of-fact. “They want no part in our war. The message came from President Ramos himself, and I know better than to poke the horned bear. Arguing with these assholes is futile. It was worth a shot.”
I’m stunned by how well she’s taking this. Sure, the chances were slim and coming here was risky, but to not even listen to her entire pitch? To shut it down without discussion? No counteroffer? That feels rash.
I’m about to pack up when I catch a flicker of movement in my scope. Commander Vásquez is approaching Adrienne again.
“Wait,” I murmur to Evlynne.
The man’s expression makes me nervous. He’s grinning like a white coyote with a fresh kill. He lights a cigarette as he walks, blowing out a cloud of smoke. He says something to Adrienne, and I swear I see him winking before he pats her arm and stalks back to his men.
Whatever he said, it causes Adrienne’s entire face to go taut. I see a flash of anger, a flicker of concern, and then I hear her voice again.
“You’ve been compromised. Get to the plane now.”
My heart freezes in my chest.
Fuck.
Fuck!
“We’ve been made,” I tell Evlynne. “Let’s go.”
She jumps into action, grabbing her pack as I shove the rifle in the case and fling it over my shoulder.
We don’t have time to be stealthy anymore. We sprint for the trees, our boots noisily moving over the undergrowth and rustling through the brush.
“Gray,” Evlynne reports as we run. “Get us ready for the air. Adrienne says we’ve been made.”
When he reports back, there’s urgency in his voice. “Yeah, you need to move. There’s a truck bearing down on my location. Three clicks out. Get back here now.”
Adrenaline shrieks through my veins. I’m ahead of Evlynne, shoving my way through the jungle, fueled by sheer nerves.
I don’t hear any trucks or gunfire, but that doesn’t mean we’re not about to get ambushed.
I stay low as I run as fast as my legs will carry me.
The weight of the rifle on my back makes each stride feel heavier, but I refuse to let it slow me down.
He said three clicks out. And less now. We have five minutes, tops, before they’re upon us. Fortunately, we’re less than five hundred meters now. All we have to do is maintain this pace and—
The ground beneath my feet disappears.
One second my boots are on something solid, the next, I’m weightless from the sudden drop. It’s a pit trap, and I have zero time to react or to brace myself. I hit the ground with enough force to knock all the wind out of my lungs. I’m gasping for air at the same time I register it—the pain.
No, the fucking agony.
I look down to see my lower leg twisted at an unnatural angle. It hurts so badly, my vision blurs. I lie there panting, trying not to moan from the pain.
“Wren!” Evlynne’s voice sounds from five feet above.
I clench my teeth, trying to ignore the hot, searing waves shooting through my leg.
“Wren!” she says again, cutting through the agonizing haze.
When I try to lift myself up, a wave of nausea hits me. My body shudders from another white-hot, shooting pain.
“I can’t get up,” I call out, my voice weak. “I hurt my leg.”
“Godfucking damn it!” Over my pounding heart, I hear her muffled voice over my earpiece as she talks to Gray. “Darlington’s hurt. Try to buy us some time.”
“Hurt how?” is his sharp response.
She ignores him and scrambles to the edge of the ditch. “Take my hand,” she orders.
I raise my arm toward her, but she’s too far from me. When I attempt to crawl closer, it hurts so much that my world goes black at the edges for a few seconds, and I choke on the bile in my throat.
“I can’t,” I tell her, biting back screams of pain. “I can’t walk, let alone run. Go without me.”
Shock flashes on her face. “What?”
“Just go,” I repeat, as my vision fades in and out. I can scarcely breathe without feeling like I’m going to pass out. “Leave me behind.”
She hesitates, as if considering it, then shakes her head and once again tries to pull me out. But every attempt feels like I’m being stabbed with a jagged blade, scraping my broken bones.
“Wren!” Another bolt of panic shoots through me as Gray appears. When he sees me in the pit, his eyes fill with concern. “Fuck, cowgirl.”
A second later, he jumps down and tries to scoop me into his arms.
“I hear the truck,” Evlynne says in dismay. “Gray.”
I struggle in his grasp, resisting. “Stop,” I gasp. “You need to go. You won’t be able to jump back out holding me.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
“Both of you,” I say weakly, looking from one to the other. “You. Have. To. Go. If you stay, we all get captured. If you go, it’s just me. So fucking go!”
“They’ll kill you,” he snaps.
“Even if you manage to lift me out of here, we won’t make it back to the plane in time. You need to be in the air. Right now.”
“Gray,” Evlynne says, finally coming around to my point of view. “She’s right. We need to go.”
His angry gaze swings toward her. “I’m not leaving Wren behind. I can get her out. We’ll make it.”
Desperation and fear war inside me, and in that moment, I see it in his eyes—he isn’t going to leave me. He’ll sacrifice himself, Evlynne, our plane, and anything else in this world to get me out of this goddamn ditch.
“Grayson,” I say, locking my gaze to his.
“No,” he retorts. He’s not budging.
A weight presses down on my chest. Because I’m trapped here, and I’m putting their lives at risk, and he won’t go, and he’s left me with no choice.
Sucking in a pained breath, I try to focus myself.
The training has paid off because almost immediately I’m able to access those gold flecks.
I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, gathering the energy.
I start to tremble, from the pain, and from the guilt of what I’m about to do.
The familiar sensations begin to course through me, the pressure building inside my skull.
He’s going to hate me for this.
But there’s no other choice. They have to leave me.
Ignoring the pain throbbing in my leg and the guilt gnawing at my stomach, I force the command into his mind at the same time I voice it.
“Go back to the plane. Now.”
Shock swamps his expression. “No.”
“Go back to the plane.”
I guide the command through his mind the way Hawkins taught me, weakly saying the words out loud. I see the moment it takes root. He’s resisting so hard that he starts trembling, too. Hot, molten betrayal flares in his eyes.
“You fucking promised,” he growls.
“Go back to the plane.” I flick a quick glance at Evlynne. “I can get him there, but you’ll need to fly it. I can’t maintain it over distances.”
She nods, looking a bit stunned. Then she takes off running, leaving Gray and me alone in a literal battle of wills.
“You have to leave me,” I command. “Go to the plane. Now. Leave me.”
“No.”
“Leave me.”
Free will is important to me. It’s important to everyone, and I’m robbing Gray of it. I feel like a monster.
But as long as he’s alive, I don’t care.
Despite the flood of resistance he gives me, the incitement is working. I know it is because he slowly starts to back up.
It’s taking every ounce of strength I have. I concentrate, harnessing the gold.
“Stop,” he snarls at me. “Don’t make me—”
“Go to the plane. Now.”
I hold firm, pouring all my will into his mind. The pressure in my head mounts. My visions swims. His anger swirls through my mind, and it’s unbearable. But it’s also working.
He’s walking away.
“Faster,” I tell him, and his strides lengthen.
He disappears from my view.
“Get on the plane,” I say, my teeth gnashing together.
I feel Evlynne trying to link and I risk it, just for a second. “He’s almost here,” she says telepathically.
Relief trickles through me. Gray is no longer in sight, but I know from my training with Hawkins that as long as the energy leash is intact, I can continue to incite him.
“Get on the plane,” I say softly. “I’m sorry.”
I’m not sure if he heard that last part. I doubt it, but I know he makes it to the plane because Evlynne nudges me again.
“We’re airborne.” She pauses. “Thank you for that.”
I don’t have the energy to respond. I let out a ragged wheeze as my head starts spinning.
My connection with Gray severs abruptly.
I slump onto the ground, feeling the blackness closing in around the edges.
I struggle to stay conscious, but I’m so exhausted and in so much pain.
Every time I inhale, it sends a fire burning through me and triggers wave after wave of nausea.
My cheek presses against the dirt, and I lie there in agony. The mental strain of inciting Gray to leave me is taking its toll.
I’m too tired to react when I register the sound of doors slamming nearby, the unmistakable echo of footsteps moving over the dense jungle floor.
I crank one eye open and look upward. My pulse spikes when a shadow looms over me.
The barrel of a rifle appears, but I lose consciousness before I can see who’s holding it.