Page 75 of Mountain Struggle

The realization was as painful as it was unexpected—Damien was used to being strong. People relied on him for help—but right now he was weak like a newborn.

“How does it feel, Gray? Knowing you failed your son, and that I’m going to kill your woman as well.”

Damien called on all his training and stood up to face Dubois—there would be ample time for mourning Jamie, but he needed to make sure Tess didn’t meet the same fate.

“Get out of here, Tess!” he shouted. He didn’t know how badly she’d been hit, if she’d even be able to follow his instructions, but he put that worry out of his mind as he launched himself on Dubois—the man might be strong, but he didn’t have Damien’s experience in hand to hand combat. He threw a right hook, which smacked successfully onto Dubois’s jaw, making him recoil.

Dubois didn’t expect him to bring his injured hand to the fight, but pain meant nothing to Damien anymore.

He made a fist with his bleeding hand and punched Dubois for all he was worth, hard enough that he knew he’d cracked a couple ribs. Dubois fell forward, winded, trying to get his lungs to open up again. Damien slammed his elbows on the bigger man’s back, dropping him to his knees.

And the whole time, only one sentence played on repeat in Damien’s mind.

You killed my son.

Damien pressed his advantage, hitting Dubois with everything he had, until the big man dropped to his stomach. Damien grabbed the big man’s head and slammed it against the floor grating in a display of violence that stunned him. But he could feel himself growing weaker with every second, and had to disable Dubois before his strength gave up on him—he couldn’t let Dubois kill Tess as well.

Finally, the man was still.

Damien’s injured hand spasmed. His vision was growing dimmer, narrowing into a slim tunnel of light. There was a sharp stabbing pain behind his eyes which turned into a hot flash of agony when he moved his head. Ignoring it, Damien stumbled towards the spot where he’d last seen Tess.

She was curled on the ground, her arm outstretched. Damien grabbed onto that arm with his good hand, looking for her wrist. But his hand was shaking too badly to find a pulse there, so he followed her arm to find her neck.

There was blood everywhere—most of it seemed to come from her shoulder.

Please don’t be dead.

Her pulse, rapid and thready, met his fingers. Then her eyes fluttered open—clouded by pain.

“Don’t move, Tess,” he said, fumbling with his cell phone. He needed to get his team here, and an ambulance. Then would be the time to mourn. Damien felt hot, desperate tears rolling down his face—he knew he’d never be whole again, no matter what happened.

“… fine …” she croaked urgently, her hand tugging on his sleeve.

Ignoring the pain inside his skull, Damien brought his ear closer to her mouth to hear her words.

“Jamie’s fine …”

For a moment he wondered if she might be going into shock—but her green eyes were clear.

“Jamie’s fine. Drake took him,” she whispered.

Damien looked towards the edge. Could he dare hope that what she was saying was true?

Tess coughed, and blood spurted from her shoulder from the movement. An instant later, her body went limp.

Damien struggled to find her pulse again, his hand slipping on blood—his or hers, he couldn’t be sure.

Need to get some pressure there or she’s going to die on me.

Chapter 24

Tess

Tess knew where she was even before she opened her eyes. She’d had her appendix removed a couple years earlier, and the smell of hospital disinfectant wasn’t something she’d ever forget.

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were glued shut and sticky.

How long have I been out?