Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Colbie
Iscreamed.
We plummeted downward, water splashing in my face.
Marc’s arms were locked around me, and all I could do was clamp on to him and pray we didn’t die.
Then, without warning, we hit the pool of water at the bottom of the waterfall with a wild splash.
Water engulfed me and I kicked, swallowing a mouthful. The next thing I knew, I was coughing and spluttering as Marc pulled me onto my back, and swam toward the edge. He scooped me up and carried me out of the water.
He dropped down on the grassy bank and I flopped down beside him, coughing up water.
The light on his shoulder illuminated a circle around us.
He grabbed the back plate of his armor and pulled it off.
I saw all the small bony projectiles sticking out of it like quills.
Then, he dropped flat on his back beside me.
Heaving in some calming breaths, I swiped the wet hair out of my face. Then I turned and whacked his shoulder. “Are you insane?”
He cracked open his eyes. He was lying there like he didn’t have a single problem in the world.
“You’re welcome,” he gritted out. “For saving you.”
“For nearly drowning me. What if we’d landed on the rocks?”
The enormity of everything hit me. A choking sound that was half sob, half hiccup escaped me. I looked at the waterfall. It was probably beautiful, but all I saw was the fact that we were separated from the others. In the middle of a forest full of monsters.
“Come here.”
He sat up and I let him pull me against his body. God, he put off a lot of heat.
I clung to him. The embarrassing disaster of a kiss tried to rear its head, but I was too wet, too scared, and too cold to care right now.
No one ever died of embarrassment. We had bigger problems to deal with.
Like getting out of here alive.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe, birdie. I’ll fight monsters, jump off waterfalls—”
A watery laugh escaped me.
His lips curled. “That’s better.”
“Can you call the others?” I wasn’t sure they could get a Talon down here, but I knew they’d find a way to get us.
Marc winced.
I stiffened. “Marc…?”
He glanced toward the waterfall.
“You can’t contact them,” I said slowly.
“I lost my comms earpiece in the waterfall somewhere.”
A chill ran down my spine. We were all alone.
“Hey.” His big hand cupped my jaw. “We’re going to get out of here. I’ll look after you.”
I didn’t doubt that. Then my gaze focused on his face. There were lines bracketing his mouth, and his smile didn’t have its usual charming, easy-going look.
I frowned. He shifted gingerly, and I glanced at his stomach. The large bloodstain on his shirt was growing bigger.
“Marc, your injury—”
“I’ll be fine.”
I made an annoyed sound and reached for the hem of his wet T-shirt. “Why do you guys always say that when it’s clear you’re not?”
He grabbed my wrist. “I’ll be okay, Colbie. Right now, we need to get moving. I really don’t want my blood on display for a hungry monster to sniff out.”
“Moving? To where?”
“We need to find somewhere safe to shelter. Then we can brainstorm a way to contact the others.”
I looked around but it was too dark to see more than the water and the trees. “Shelter where?”
“I’m not sure, but the ripples in the water are telling me there’s something hungry eyeing us.”
With a gasp, I whirled and saw the ripples in the dark pond. Something was moving in there.
And something told me it wasn’t a fish.
God, we’d just been in there.
Marc rose and pulled me up. I hated that huge bloodstain, but he seemed to be moving fine.
He pulled a blaster from his holster. “Lost my carbine.” He didn’t sound very happy about it. “We’re going to be okay.”
“I know.” I managed a small smile. “And you’re a bigger snack for any monsters than me.”
He tugged on my hair. “You’re stuck with me, birdie. But I’ll keep you safe.”
“I know. I just need to run faster than you, and let any monsters eat you instead of me.”
He grinned. “There’s my smart-mouthed birdie.”
“Quit calling me that.”
He scanned around the trees. “Let’s follow the river for a bit. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find an old house or something.”
We set off. Somewhere, a bird squawked in the trees.
Bird sounds generally meant no monsters were too close.
I stuck close to Marc as we walked through the trees. The light from his armor was the only illumination we had.
Okay, so I was once again lost in a monster-infested forest.
But at least this time, I wasn’t alone.
Marc
Damn, I was bleeding again.
I stayed close to Colbie as we moved through the trees. I kept scanning for any unwelcome company, but so far, luck was on our side.
My vision blurred and my head spun. I gritted my teeth. My shirt had soaked up the blood, but I could feel it dripping into my cargo pants. My bandage had pulled loose in our dive over the waterfall and had lost its stick. My injury was far worse than I’d told Colbie.
I didn’t want her to worry. All that mattered was keeping her safe until my squad found us.
Dizziness hit again and I fucking stumbled. My hand caught on a tree trunk, and thankfully I didn’t fall on my ass.
Colbie spun, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Look, there’s a trail.” The flat path wound through the trees. Probably an old hiking trail. “Maybe there’s a town or buildings close by.”
“You look pale, Marc.”
I tried for a smile. “Nothing a beer, a steak, and some sleep won’t fix.”
And a dose of nano-meds to combat the blood loss.
She eyed me, suspicion on her face.
I nudged her forward. “Keep moving, birdie.”
She muttered under her breath.
Fuck, she was cute. If I told her that, she’d probably punch me.
I wanted her.
The blood loss was eating away at my control. I liked everything about Colbie Erickson. The feistiness, the way she loved her work, the way she loved her friends and family, her passion for flying.
I was sure she’d take that passion with her to bed. She’d be a fierce, enthusiastic lover.
She’d be just as fierce about the man she claimed as hers.
My chest squeezed. It couldn’t be me, but I fucking hated the idea of her with anyone else. Like that nerdy guy she’d brought to my barbecue.
Something howled in the forest.
Colbie jerked to a stop, and I gripped her arms. Another low, mournful howl echoed through the trees.
It was in the distance, but closer than I would’ve liked.
“It isn’t too close,” I told her.
“It’s still too close to my liking.” She dragged in a deep breath, then set off down the trail again.
A few minutes later, there was a rustle in the bushes to our right. We both froze. A second later, a startled rabbit raced out, darting by us and diving into another clump of bushes.
Colbie huffed out a breath.
“Let’s keep moving. A couple more hours, and the sun will start coming up.” I took a step, and my knees turned to Jell-O. I lurched, knowing I was going to eat dirt. But with her lightning-fast reflexes, Colbie caught me.
I weighed a hell of a lot more than she did, and we both almost went down. She rammed her shoulder into my armpit and spun me against a tree trunk.
“Marc, God you’re heavy.” She looked up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah—”
“Stop lying to me.” Her brows creased. “You don’t need to pretend to be strong and tough. I know you. And I know your secret. You’re human, just like the rest of us.”
I tried for a smile. “No, I’m extra awesome.”
She rolled her eyes and pressed a hand to my chest. “Look—”
My legs collapsed. I slid down the tree and fell on my ass.
“Marc!” She dropped down beside me.
“Just…need a minute.” What I really needed was to not feel hot nausea crawling up my throat.
She let out a small growl. “Tell me what’s wrong?”
There was worry on her face. I stared at her pretty features, thinking again of how she looked when I hurt her, after I’d pushed her away after that kiss.
“Marc?”
I blinked and her pretty face came back into focus.
“Spit it out,” she ordered. “Now.”
“Settle down, birdie.”
“Enough with that nickname.”
“Okay, dove.”
She growled again.
I sighed. When she got like this, she wouldn’t back down. “My wound is a little worse than I let on. The bandage came off in the waterfall. I’m bleeding.”
A stricken look crossed her face. “You’ve been bleeding all this time?”
“Yeah.”
Muttering, she yanked the hem of my shirt up, then hissed.
I glanced down. Yeah, the wound was messy and blood smeared my skin.
“Marc,” she breathed. “You should’ve told me.”
“You’ve been through hell tonight. I didn’t want you to worry.”
She bent her legs up, then set to work tearing off the bottom leg of her flight suit. She grunted as she tore the heavy fabric.
“Has anything I’ve ever done given you the impression I’m fragile?”
“Colb—”
“Shush.” She wadded the fabric against my wound and pushed.
I grunted at the pain. It throbbed through my gut, and I felt it along every nerve ending.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” she said.
I needed nano-meds, and we both knew it.
Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the trees.
Colbie’s head jerked up.
Loud crashing noises rumbled from not far away.
Close. Too close.
She let out a sound. “For once, can the monsters just fuck off?”
She was being cute again, and despite the pain, I wanted to laugh.
“Shit.” She looked around. “We can’t stay here.”
I pressed my fingers to her pointy, stubborn chin and tipped it up. “You need to move. I can’t move fast enough.” I heaved in air. “I’ll keep it distracted as long as I can so you can put some distance between you and it.”
Her green eyes widened. “Hell, no. I’m not leaving you.”
“Colbie, there’s no point in both of us dying.”
She gripped my arms. “No one is dying.” She made a frustrated sound and shot to her feet. “Maybe we can climb a tree.”
Another bone-rattling roar.
“It can smell my blood.”
She spun. “Marc…”
“Go. I need to know you’re safe.” Suddenly, that was the most important thing to me right now.
“No.” She angrily kicked the bushes beside me, then turned and punched her tiny hand into the tree trunk. She kicked the bushes again.
Thunk.
We both froze at the metallic sound.
Dropping to her knees, Colbie pushed the bushes aside.
A round, rusted manhole cover was set into the ground.
I pushed back my pain. “I think it’s an auxiliary entrance.”
“To what?”
“Blue Mountain Base.”
There was another roar. The creature was even closer.
“Well, it’s better than staying here.” She wrenched on the handle.
It didn’t move. She tugged and pulled, her face contorting with the effort.
I shifted closer, ignoring the agony ripping through my gut. We gripped the handle together. We pushed and pushed, and moved it an inch with a tortured groan of metal.
More crashing, and another wild roar. The monster wasn’t far from us now.
“Again,” Colbie snapped.
We heaved the handle and it spun. The cover opened with a creak.
“Get in,” I ordered.
“Oh, no, you first.” She pushed her tangled hair back from her face. “I’m not having you do the noble sacrifice and lock me in there.”
“Colbie, move.”
The next roar was closer.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”
“Fucking hell, you’re stubborn.” I climbed through the manhole, agony tearing through my side.
A ladder led down into darkness.
Hell, this was going to suck.
I gripped the rung and started moving down. Above me, Colbie climbed in, her taut ass not far from my face.
Then she pulled the cover closed with a clang, locking us in the darkness.
I flicked the flashlight on. “Let’s climb.”