AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jo.
He had his reason to go on. Adrenaline flooded his bloodstream, releasing him.
Rock exploded to his left. Their pursuers were taking pot-shots. Griff dug deep and kicked upward, bellowing through the excruciating pain, arm over arm, moving again, his legs working hard. He climbed, locking away the pain in the dark place he had done so many times before when he’d served in the military.
Damp dirt forced itself under his fingernails as he reached the cliff edge and then powerful hands towed him upward onto the compacted snow. Ice scraped his cheek as Wyatt dragged him under cover, out of sight of the sniper.
“Griff.” Jo fell on him, her arms around his neck. She was shaking, sobbing. “I thought…. I thought I lost you.” He cradled her head with his good arm. Even though his injured arm might be totally messed up now, he had made the right decision, one he would make again without hesitation.
He kissed her temple and pulled her closer, breathing in her sweet scent.
She patted him frantically, checking for bullet wounds. “Are you shot?”
“No. I’m okay.” His voice was cracked. Broken. Different. Holding her gaze, he understood she had irrevocably changed him. He would burn the entire world down to keep this woman safe.
“Your arm?” She rocked back on her heels, tears streaking her grimy cheeks.
“Yeah, might be busted for a while.” He grimaced and eased up to sitting.
Gently, he brushed the tears from her face. “What about you? Are you hurt?” He ran a hand down her arm, noting the tremble in her muscles.
“I’m fine.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands. She batted at him, relief allowing her some anger. “You threw me.”
“Yeah—”
“Saved my life.” Her voice became small.
He swallowed against the thickness in his throat and wiped a fresh tear from her face with the pad of his thumb. “Any time.”
“You crazy bastard. You in one piece?” Wyatt dropped down beside them, clasping Griff’s good hand.
Griff met his gaze. “Thanks to you.”
Wyatt shook his head in disbelief, but his face split into a broad smile. “You’re fucking welcome.” He surveyed the sky and his expression grew grim. “Weather’s turning. We need to move.” His eyes were unswerving with determination. “It’s not over yet.”
37
Exhaustion made Jo’s steps clumsy when Sophie finally called out they were almost there. Day had already morphed into night and the temperature had plummeted. She could no longer feel her toes and her fingers were stiff despite the thick mittens she wore.
“There.” Sophie pointed with a red-gloved finger to a long rectangle on the mountain ridge.
Jo was glad of the opportunity to stop walking for a few minutes. She squinted at the horizon. “That’s your summer cabin?”
“Yup.” Sophie stamped her feet to ward off the biting cold.
“How much longer to get there?” Griff had kept pace with them but Sophie hadn’t missed the way he held his injured arm stiffly at his side. He was hurting even though he didn’t complain.
Wyatt trudged past Jo and shouted over his shoulder. “Another half hour or so. It’s an easy climb.”
Thank God.
She fell into step behind Griff and the others, taking a deep breath. Almost there. Griff had risked his life to save her. Thrown her across a chasm and then climbed a sheer rock wall with an injured shoulder. She licked her chapped lips, not wanting to think about what the ramifications might be. Of what he might have risked for her.
Thirty minutes later, as promised, they arrived at the cabin. Wyatt and Ty disappeared into the surrounding thicket of undergrowth to sweep the perimeter, while Griff waited with Jo and Sophie. He rested on a chopped tree stump, favoring his injured arm, his breath whistling in and out of his chest.
There had to be something she could do. She placed a hand on his forehead. “You’re burning up.”
He knocked her hand away, his jaw set stubbornly. “I’m fine.”
