57. Shep
57
SHEP
The moments came in snapshots. Images captured with each beat of my heart against the walls of my chest.
The horror of everyone around me.
The shouts.
The flurry of movement.
My legs were moving, pushing me toward the cliff before I could even tell them to do so. My body knew that it had to get to Thea. That it was the only thing that mattered.
Trace was three steps ahead of me, tackling Raina to the ground as she screamed and wailed. But I didn’t have time to even look. All I could think about was Thea.
I skidded to a stop at the edge, dirt and rocks flying as I almost went over myself. I braced, a million cruel possibilities for what I might see dancing in my head. My gaze went first to the rocks below, jagged and angry. But there was no broken body there.
I trailed my focus up the mountainside until I saw her. Thea. Everything in me froze as those pale green eyes locked with mine. She was several feet down, gripping onto a sharp, pointed rock as her feet scrambled for purchase.
Relief and terror swept through me, each one tripping over the other in a battle for dominance. “Thea.” Her name was barely audible, but I knew she heard it when those green eyes flashed.
Bits of rock crumbled away as Thea tried to find a foothold for her shoes in the side of the mountain.
“Fuck.” I instantly lowered myself to the ground, trying to reach her as Raina wailed in the background.
Anson crouched next to me, letting out a curse of his own. Thea wasn’t that far down. The sharp outcropping had stopped her fall, likely injuring her in the process, but she was still battling to save herself. Just like the fighter she was.
“Hold on, Thorn,” I called. “We’re going to get you. Just hold on.”
Anson looked at me. “If you grab her, you’re going over, too.”
“If I don’t, she’ll fall.” I’d risk losing my life to save Thea because, without her, I knew I wouldn’t truly be living anyway.
Thea let out a cry as another piece of rock slipped away.
“Hold my legs,” I ordered Anson.
He didn’t wait, just dropped to the ground and put all his body weight across my lower half. He called out to Trace for help, but I could hear my brother trying to cuff Raina with Fletcher’s help. We might be on our own.
“Shep.”
The fear in Thea’s voice dug into me with angry, vicious claws, but I didn’t let it show. “I’ve got you. I’ll always have you.”
She nodded slowly, tears tracking down her cheeks and mixing with the blood dripping from the side of her head. “You have me,” she whispered.
My fingers reached out, covering hers. The feel of her skin had strength surging within me. But I wasn’t close enough. I couldn’t grip her wrists.
“You gotta lower me another five inches, A.”
“Shep—”
“Do it. ”
“Don’t,” Thea whispered. “I can hold on. I’ll wait for help.”
But I could see her fingers trembling as she held fast to the rock. She wouldn’t make it.
“Anson,” I growled.
Then there was more weight on my legs.
“We lower him together. On three,” Trace ordered. “One, two, three.”
They shifted me down just slightly. But it was enough. My hands wrapped tightly around Thea’s slender wrists. They seemed so fragile now, like I might snap one on the way up.
My eyes locked with Thea’s. “On the count of three, I want you to let go of the rock and grab my arms.”
“I-I can’t. I’ll fall. I’ll take you with me.”
“Thea.” I let everything I felt for her bleed into my voice and gaze. “I need you. I need our more . Please, trust me.”
Those were the magic words, because she nodded.
“Okay, boys. On three, you haul me back, too. Ready?”
“Ready,” Anson and Trace said in unison.
I stared down at Thea, memorizing the way those pale green eyes shone. Remembering every moment she’d given me. Her grounding peace, her humor, her fierce spirit. I remembered every single thing we had to fight for.
“One.”
Thea’s eyes flared.
“Two.”
She closed them, shutting me off from the green.
“Three.”
She released her hold on the rock just as Anson and Trace pulled me back. I held on to Thea with everything I had. My chest and abs scraped against the rocky ground as we slid along it, and I pulled Thea with all my might.
The moment she crested the edge, I hauled her against me, cradling her as she burst into tears. “You’re okay. I’ve got you. I’ll always have you.”