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When the water cleared from her vision, she saw Krieger gripping a broken branch as if his life depended on it. And it did. If his hand slipped, if the branch broke—who knew if they’d get another chance to escape again?
“Go,” he told her, the water lapping at his face as he held tight to their only lifeline.
The ground was only a foot above their heads. She could reach it.
He dragged her toward him, against the force of the current. As her body met his, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. If both his hands were free, then he’d have a better chance of hanging onto the branch.
Their faces were only inches apart as she took a much-needed breath. “What about you?”
The cleft in his chin and his bottom lip were just about submerged when he said, “I’ll be right behind you.”
He seemed to have a good grip on the branch; they could both make it. She collected her energy and launched her body out of the water. Tucking his free arm under her backside, he gave her a much-needed boost. She was able to rest her foot on his shoulder as her hands dug into the earth, clawing for freedom from their watery death.
Her torso met mud as she spun around and reached for him with her good arm. “Give me your hand.”
He applied his weight to the branch as he stretched for her, but before he could grab hold of her hand, the dead, dry wood cracked, causing his body to be lowered deeper into the water. For a moment, his head sank beneath the surface.
“Krieger!” Eva screamed.
A few seconds later, his head reappeared as he shook the excess liquid from his hair and wiped the water out of his eyes. Wasting no time, she lowered her body farther down the embankment; she’d never reach him unless she got closer.
His body bobbed in the water as he extended his hand to her, and she thought he might reach her, but just as the tips of their fingers met, the branch gave way and he fell back into the dark depths with the branch.
“No!”
She immediately got to her feet as he was being washed away, and for the second time that night, she didn’t know what to do. Dread sank to the pit of her stomach. Not him.
Should she jump in again, see if she could save him, or try and follow his dark form in the water? Hell, everything was dark—even now she couldn’t see him.
Taking off in the direction of the current, she yelled, “Krieger!”
Her limbs were numb, her movements slow. Her only real hope was if he was able to grasp the bank once more. After a while, her body began to fail as the first signs of hypothermia set in, and she had no doubt they were for Krieger too, if he was still...
She pressed on as she scanned the ground and water before her. She tried to listen for his call, but when none came, her heart sank into her gut.
As she stood by the bank, her body began to tremble and her knees buckled under her weight. Damn this weak body and damn this hellhole. Eva inhaled hard as the reality of the situation settled in. She’d lost another—she’d lost him. It was her fault. Tears welled in her cold eyes, and a deep ache developed in her chest that fanned out to every part of her. She couldn’t breathe.
She should have never let him come. He didn’t know, didn’t understand what this area could be like. Her fault.
The man who tended to her, who gave her a glimpse of genuine kindness—the man with the caring eyes and mysterious past—was gone. And she couldn’t stand the thought. A sob escaped her as she buried her head in her hands.
She was so sick of this dog-eat-dog world they lived in. And until she’d met him, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted something different out of this life.
She’d felt the stirrings, an attraction and longing to be close to him—to know him—since she’d heard him whisper Angel in his sleep. She didn’t know what it meant or what she wanted, but it didn’t matter. She would never get to find out now—he was gone.
She fell flat on her back as the pain seeped into her core. She opened her icy lids to view a black sky. Her once beloved valley had turned into a black pit of hell, taking not only her innocence and her mother but now Krieger. Would it someday take her own life too?
With slow movements, she raised her middle finger into the air. “Fuck. You!” She wouldn’t give it the satisfaction.
Knowing she needed to keep going, she rolled onto her side. She had to find shelter before she completely broke down. But before she even got to her feet, she heard something that sounded like a man’s groan. The water still roared nearby, but she was sure she heard... Again, a moan of pain sounded over the raging river. It was a sign of life just beyond the bank.
Everything hurt as she crawled toward the edge and leaned over, but relief consumed her when she saw Krieger lying draped over a rock not five feet from her.
He looked in bad shape, and he didn’t look like he had much time as his lower half still lingered in the water. His eyelids fluttered open and closed as he clung to consciousness. The advanced stages of hypothermia were setting in, and if she wasn’t quick, she would really lose him this time.
“I need you to come to the edge,” she told him.
He pressed up, but his struggle wasn’t hidden. His arms shook as they accepted the weight, but he eased out of the water and crawled over the rock until he reached the edge of the embankment.
