Free Cover of Darkness by Kaylea Cross Page B

grasped his shoulders, hard, as if loath to let go of him. "But if, um...if we don't make it—"
    "We're not going to die, Bryn."
    Sure. Whatever. She tried a small smile, felt as though her face would crack with the strain. A tension-filled silence stretched between them in the darkness. She settled beside Spencer and held tight to his cold hand. Calm. That's what he needed. She needed to present the illusion of calm to keep him grounded. Striving for a steady voice, she attempted a stab at normalcy, even though it was nuts.
    "Will you both go back to the States after this?" She wanted to believe Spencer would make it, squeezed his hand and was relieved by the pressure in his grip as he returned the gesture.
    Dec laid a hand on his buddy's shoulder. "Spence will be laid up awhile and I'll be on Pro-Dev rotation. What about you? You going home?"
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    "I guess I will, once I know my father's going to be okay."
    How could they be having such a calm discussion when they might have only minutes left to live?
    He checked his watch, leaned over to take Spencer's pulse.
    "Hanging in there, pal?"
    Spencer let out a weak mutter.
    Bryn discreetly leaned forward and put her head next to Dec's. "Will he be okay?" she whispered.
    "If I can get him on that chopper in the next ten minutes, yeah. They'll give him a transfusion."
    Ten minutes? She passed a hand over Spencer's clammy forehead, sending up a prayer for him.
    As the seconds ticked past with Spence's harsh breathing filling the cave, her thoughts drifted to the everyday, mundane things she looked forward to having once she was safe at home.
    "I need a bath and a toothbrush," she said to no one in particular.
    "Don't we all." Dec sighed as he sat on his haunches, eyes scanning the darkness, ever vigilant. "A big steaming soaker tub filled right to the top—"
    "With bubbles."
    "With bubbles for you," he allowed, "then a steak dinner and a fresh toothbrush, and a big soft bed to crash in."
    She almost moaned, she wanted those things so bad.
    "What do you say, Spence? That sound good to you?"
    "Yeah," he croaked, fingers still wrapped around hers.
    "When we get back," Dec said, "I'll buy us all a steak dinner."
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    Bryn squeezed the hand she held. "How about that, Spence? You want to take me out for dinner with Dec?"
    Spencer bit back a groan and forced a weak smile. Then the distant throb of a rotor broke the silence. They all tensed, listening as it grew louder, then louder still.
    "There's our ride," Dec confirmed, as though he was talking about a taxi waiting at the curb. "You're going to run real fast, right?"
    She nodded. "Like the wind."
    "Then let's go."
    And just like that he pushed to his feet, snuck out to the edge of the boulders with his rifle. He reached back and placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder. "You're gonna be okay, Spence. I'll have you on that bird in no time." He raised his eyes toward the helicopter, waiting, then at some unseen signal he turned to her. "Ready?"
    "Yes." With one last squeeze of reassurance, she released Spencer's hand.
    "Okay, then. Get going."
    Now? She hesitated, fighting the strangest urge to kiss him, to cling to him. What if she never saw him again?
    "Bryn. Go, now."
    "Be careful," was all she could manage past the lump in her throat before she bolted past him out into the clear. The helo sat there a few hundred yards away, like a great black insect perched on the sand. Dec's rifle fired behind her, covering her desperate dash to safety.
    Her lungs burned, her thigh muscles straining under the burst of adrenaline shooting through her veins.
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    Cover of Darkness
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    Two men jumped out of the chopper with their rifles up, and her heart gave a great leap of fear. She almost stopped, but remembered Dec's warning and kept sprinting. They fired past her, the muzzles of their guns spewing fire in the darkness. The bullets sang as they whizzed past