Page 39 of Last Destination

Marley immediately moved to my side, seeking my comfort through her darkness. I gripped her shoulder and pointed toward the opening in the trees that would take us to hell’s waiting gate.

Before our group moved into line, Tessa spun to face me, the blue of her eyes muted by a shield of tears. Her tiny arms wrapped around my waist in a hold far tighter than she appeared capable of, burying her snotting nose into my shirt.

I looked down at Marley with a confused frown. I did not want another woman touching me who wasn’t my ángel, but pushing Tessa away after the night she’d endured would be cruel. I was not built to be anyone’s emotional support but Marley’s.

My captain’s lips turned up into a watery smile, but she looked through me as if I were only a vision. Wherever she was in her head right now, it was not in this jungle with us.

“Thank you.” Tessa tilted her head up to look at me, a lifetime of torment present in her eyes. I had once considered her and her partner the weakest of us all, but here she stood, badly bent but not broken. She held a temporary place in Clube de Morte.

“You’re welcome.” I patted her shoulder as I would pat a dog’s head and took a step back, forcing her to release me. “You will make it home, Tessa.”

I shifted into the line before she could attempt another touch and pulled Marley in beside me. We shuffled between two men who hadn’t taken a bath in weeks and a group of teenage boys who held themselves with the swagger of men. Their cocky smiles and flippant taunts had not waned overnight, reminding me of the youth I once had before desperation stole it away.

The hike to the boats took three hours, the terrain far easier to move through than that of our previous days. Marley clung to my hand for the duration, completely mute with every foot forward. The remainder of our crew kept pace with the crowd but stayed close, their silhouettes ahead were now as familiar as my own.

Uncertainty sat in my stomach as biting as it was unfamiliar. What could I do for my ángel when she was stuck in the purgatory of her pain? Jamie’s declaration was true: the only way out was through. Here, I could not protect her, but I would be her guide.

We crested the hill to the sight of empty, long, narrow vessels on the river. The crowd devolved into chaos like the riots in prison, the hope of the final stretch outweighing the fear of the armed guards.

A mistake. A rapid succession of sharp pops carried over the din and shouts of delight became screams of terror.

My captain dissolved into gasping sobs and dropped to her knees despite the stampede of bodies. I swept her into my arms, clasped her head against my chest and continued forward, not waiting for the panic of others to change our course. I sought out the heads of Clube de Morte, but in the time it took to protect my ángel, I lost them.

People fled to the river and leaped into the boats from their sides, not waiting for a bullet to take them before tasting freedom. The shots continued behind us. I covered Marley’s head with my arms and took off for the inclined tree line next to the river to get a better line of sight. Scanning the horizon, I glimpsed Nikki being pulled into a boat by Ambrose, Tessa already halfway down the river in another. Once Nikki had taken his seat, his body movements bordered on hysteria as he searched the crowd on the shore for us.

When he caught my gaze, Nikki scrambled to get off the boat, his manic stare fixated on Marley in my arms. She whimpered in my hold, producing a prick of pain in my heart with each cry for Charlie.

My captain had imprisoned her pain deep within her mind, and the jungle had slowly released it from its cell. To protect the woman shaking in my arms, we would have to wait.

Ambrose held Nikki’s shoulders to keep him from diving back into the murky depths. I rocked my head, giving my second a direct order. “Go,” I mouthed, adopting the face that had scared lesser men. The chameleon’s handsome features twisted in pain, but the boat had already floated upstream.

All the boats had filled and were leaving shore, the rest of us stuck until the next run. A few bodies floated face down in the water, the latest victims of the cartel. I clenched Marley tighter to my chest. It could have been her.

Jamie made his presence known on my right, his distinct stench louder than his breathing.

“What’s next?” he asked quietly, gaze flitting between Marley’s quaking form and our retreating company.

I turned to him, stone in my eyes. “Now, you earn your redemption.”

“We need to get back to her!” I shouted to Ambrose, despite him being only a chair’s distance away. “We need to get off the boat right now.”

The image of her cradled in Madman’s arms like an injured bird tore at my heart so viciously, I could have collapsed from its gash. When Jamie came up to stand beside them at the top of the hill, a burst of jealousy ripped through me alongside my pain.

I should be the one by her side, to offer her comfort, even if Madman was the best one to shelter her. Not Jamie. Not anyone else. Me.

It was as if Madman heard me from across the channel. He mouthed the word “go” with a firm shake of his head, his glower enforcing the directive he’d given hours ago.

Fuck, fuck, FUCK!

“Tessa’s on the boat ahead of us. Madman will take care of Marley, Nik.”

Ambrose’s words were barely audible through the screaming of my own thoughts. He gripped my shoulder, squeezing it with what he likely meant as reassurance, but it just felt like another blow. Was I choosing him over her by remaining? Or was I simply following orders from someone far more capable of taking care of her in a time of crisis?

“What if they need us? Madman is one person! Tessa was attacked by three! What if …” I didn’t want to utter the words out loud. What if he couldn’t keep her safe?

I’d been infatuated with Marley since our horrendous dance, but I’d loved this woman since she’d threatened to turn the plane around when an unruly passenger harassed me on a private flight to Buenos Aires. I’d fallen for her talent, her wit, and the awkward blushes she called flirting, and I was a lucky enough twit to have her love me back. She’d never once given up on us in her time in the jungle, and now we were abandoning her.

“Are you going to swim back?” Ambrose’s voice was quiet against the pounding of my heart. “Look at the river, Nik.”