Chapter 15
Olivia
Nobody mentions the kiss.
Not when we leave the shelter in the rocks.
Not when we step back into the freezing mountain air with rifles up and eyes scanning every ridge around us.
We just move.
Single file.
Quiet.
Like nothing happened.
Like I can’t still feel his mouth against mine every time I breathe.
I tighten my grip on my medical bag and focus on the trail ahead.
Loose gravel.
Sharp drop to the left.
Rock wall to the right.
Simple.
Manageable.
Unlike the mess currently happening inside my chest.
Russ stays behind me.
Close enough that I feel him more than hear him.
The crunch of his boots.
The heat of him when the trail narrows.
The constant awareness that if I slipped—
He’d catch me.
Again.
“Careful.”
His voice brushes the back of my neck low and rough.
Too close.
“I’m fine,” I whisper automatically.
Silence answers me this time.
Then fingers briefly touch the back of my arm.
Quick.
Steadying.
Gone before I can react.
Somehow that’s worse.
Because my body notices the loss immediately.
God.
This is a disaster.
We climb higher along the ridge while the canyon slowly opens below us.
Nobody talks.
The children are too exhausted.
The adults too tense.
Even the wind feels quieter now, like the mountains themselves are listening.
Lucas suddenly raises a fist.
Everybody drops low instantly.
I slide behind a jagged outcropping and peer carefully over the rocks.
Movement catches immediately.
Not scouts this time.
Too many.
Men spread across the valley below in organized lines, weapons visible even from this distance.
Sweeping patterns.
Covering ground.
My stomach sinks hard.
“They brought reinforcements,” I whisper.
Clay shifts beside Lucas. “Search grid.”
Miles mutters a curse under his breath.
Because we all see it now.
The spacing.
The coordination.
The way they’re slowly funneling everything uphill.
“They’re herding us,” I say quietly.
Russ moves beside me.
Close enough that his shoulder brushes mine for half a second.
“Yeah,” he says grimly. “They are.”
Which means the mountain is running out of places to hide us.
Behind me, one of the smaller children lets out a frightened whimper.
I turn immediately and pull her closer against me.
“Hey,” I whisper softly. “Look at me.”
Wide terrified eyes lift to mine.
“We’re okay,” I tell her.
Lie.
But she nods anyway.
Trusting me completely.
The weight of that trust presses painfully against my ribs.
Because I almost died yesterday.
Because if I had—
These kids would’ve watched it happen.
A shadow settles beside me again.
Russ.
Always Russ now.
“You good?” he murmurs quietly.
“No,” I almost say.
Instead: “Yeah.”
His eyes stay on my face a second too long.
He knows.
Of course he knows.
But this time he doesn’t call me out on it.
He just stays close enough that warmth radiates off him through the cold.
Close enough that my body immediately remembers exactly how it felt pressed against his inside that rock shelter.
Stop.
Focus.
Lucas motions us lower again.
We move carefully along the cliffside in tighter formation now, shoulders nearly brushing as the trail narrows dangerously.
Loose gravel shifts beneath my boots.
Pain pulls sharply through my side when I step wrong.
Then suddenly my foot slips.
A startled breath leaves me as the ground shifts beneath my boot—
And a hand catches my waist instantly.
Russ.
Always him.
“I’ve got you.”
The words brush against my ear low enough to send heat straight through me despite the cold.
His grip tightens briefly to steady me.
Strong.
Warm.
Safe.
My breath catches embarrassingly fast.
“I’m fine,” I whisper.
Lie.
Not about the footing this time.
Neither of us moves right away.
For one dangerous second, the world narrows again to his hand at my waist and the way he’s looking at me.
Then—
Gunfire explodes across the ridge.
“MOVE!” Lucas shouts.
The mountains erupt into chaos instantly.
Bullets slam into the rocks overhead, spraying shards of stone across us.
I grab the nearest child without thinking and run crouched low behind the others.
Instinct takes over completely.
“Stay down!” I yell over the gunfire.
The mothers scramble after us while more rounds crack against the cliffside.
A bullet smashes into the rocks beside me close enough to shower my face with dust.
The little boy in my arms cries out.
“It’s okay,” I breathe immediately, holding him tighter while sprinting toward the next section of cover. “I’ve got you—I’ve got you—”
Another shot tears through the space we occupied seconds earlier.
Too close.
Way too close.
We dive behind a larger rock formation together.
I hit my knees hard beside the child instantly checking him over with shaking hands.
No blood.
No wounds.
Just fear.
Good.
That’s survivable.
“Olivia.”
Russ’s voice cuts through the gunfire from directly in front of me.
I look up.
Big mistake.
Because he’s crouched right there close enough to touch, rifle in one hand while his eyes sweep quickly over me.
“You hit?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
His gaze narrows slightly like he’s checking for lies.
Then finally he nods once.
Barely.
“Stay here.”
“I’m not staying behind while you—”
“Stay.”
That tone again.
Firm.
Protective.
Absolutely immovable.
I open my mouth anyway. “I can help.”
“You are helping.” His voice lowers slightly. “By staying alive.”
The words hit harder than the gunfire.
Not tactical.
Not strategic.
Personal.
Painfully personal.
For one second I forget how to answer him.
Russ shifts back toward the edge of the rocks before I can figure it out anyway, rifle raised as he scans the ridge again.
And just like that—
He’s gone back to being the man between us and death.
Focused.
Deadly.
Untouchable.
Except now I know that isn’t true.
Now I know what he feels like with his hands on me.
What his voice sounds like when he says my name close enough to kiss.
And somehow that’s far more dangerous than the bullets still flying overhead.