beââ
âIt is. I know itâs hard.â He looked at Chase with empathy. âI remember when someone explained it to me the first time. It ⦠felt crazy.â He sighed. âIt will take a while to get used to.â He patted Chaseâs shoulder. âBut you will be okay. And Iâll be here to help you.â
Chaseâs mind ran like a fan, over and over, trying to figure out if he could really trust this guy.
There was a sound at the door. âOh, someoneâs wanting to see you.â He got up and opened it.
Baxter stormed in, his tail thumping, his whole body wiggling with joy. He let out a low moan, then jumped up on the bed and immediately started licking Chaseâs face. Chaseâs eyes filled with tears and the dog licked them away, too.
He finally looked at the man still standing there. He cleared his face of the weakness. âYou found him?â he asked.
âYes.â
âIs he okay?â Chase asked, running his hand over the dogâs black fur.
âYeah. I think he is. I was worried about him at first. All he did was bark. I had a friend look after him when I went to find the plane. I was told he barked the whole time. Never stopped. Not even for one minute. As soon as I came in with you, he went silent.â
Chase remembered hearing Baxter when heâd been in that strange tunnel of light. It had been because heâd wanted to find the dog that heâd turned away. Heâd heard Baxterâs barks. Or heâd thought heâd heard him.
The dog whined and dropped his head on Chaseâs lap, licking his hand.
âIâll leave you two alone. Youâll be weak for a few more days and then ⦠then Iâll show you a thing or two about what you can do now.â
Chase didnât understand, but he nodded. The man left. Chase reached over to the nightstand and picked up the dog collar. âThis is for you, buddy,â he said, his chest filled with grief.
He changed out the dogâs collar and then buried his face in Baxterâs thick fur and let a few more tears fall. âI thought Iâd lost you, too. But no.â He pulled back and took the dogâs face in his hand and looked into his dark eyes. âIt was really you, wasnât it? You called me back. I heard you.â
Somehow Chase knew it was true. Baxter had saved his life. He didnât know how he could hear the dog from the mountainside. Didnât know how heâd survived the crash. Or what the hell had happened to him, or ⦠He looked at the glass with a red rim around it. Was that ⦠? Oh, hell, he still didnât know what was happening to him. He bent his legs again, remembering not being able to move them. And his arm. It had been broken. How had he healed so quickly?
Taking a deep breath, he glanced at the collar. N EVER TURN YOUR BACK ON A CHALLENGE.
Live, son,
his dadâs words echoed inside him.
Live for us.
âIâll try, Dad. Iâll try.â
Also by C. C. Hunter
Born at Midnight
Awake at Dawn
Taken at Dusk
Whispers at Moonrise
Chosen at Nightfall
Reborn
About the Author
C. C. HUNTER is the bestselling author of the Shadow Falls series. She lives in Spring, Texas, where sheâs at work on her next novel. To learn more, visit her on the Web at www.cchunterbooks.com .
Photograph courtesy of Leah Fortney
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authorâs imagination or are used fictitiously.
UNBREAKABLE. Copyright © 2014 by Christie Craig. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martinâs Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Elsie Lyons
eISBN: 978-1-4668-7504-3
First Edition: September 2014
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