Chapter 76

Ash ignoredthe searing pain in his shoulder, as he held Kayla close. He inhaled and found a hint of her honey-vanilla scent amidst the smoke.

Before he’d located her makeshift den, he’d begun to think the dying merc had duped him, until he noticed several small trees had branches ripped from their wispy trunks. He followed the trail of sapling destruction to the downed tree.

Branches were placed willy nilly over the enormous trunk and scattered across the ground to give the impression a wind storm had ripped the fragile limbs from the trees above. Many would’ve been fooled by their ruse.

But Ash had felt Kayla’s presence. Knew down to the cellular level that she was close by.

Adrenaline from his fight with the merc began to ebb, a bone-deep weariness taking its place. He couldn’t give in to it yet. They still had a puppet master to apprehend and family to protect. He kissed her temple. “Where’s your mother?”

“She ran to a neighbor’s house to call for help.”

He grasped her shoulders and set her away from him. “Why didn’t you go with her?”

“Elsie forced me to ingest some sort of paralytic. At first, my body wouldn’t cooperate and it was clear Jillian would be more successful in going for help if I stayed behind.”

“All your limbs working now?”

“For the most part.” She averted her gaze. “But it still feels like I have an alien inside me, operating the controls.”

Something about her expression alerted his instincts. “Why do I feel like there’s more to this story?”

Her face cleared, and she cupped the side of his face. “I’m so damn glad to see you alive.”

Covering her hand with his, he lifted her soot-covered fingers to his lips, kissed their tips. “Same. Now tell me what scheme you’ve hatched.”

She sighed. “I wanted to search for you, but needed to ensure Jillian would be safe first.”

“You didn’t trust me to keep my promise?”

“I did. I swear.” She squeezed his hand, then swallowed. “It’s just that . . . ”

“What?”

“When Elsie’s head mercenary couldn’t get a hold of the two men tasked with murdering you, she had him send two more. The odds that you’d survived seemed rather steep at that point.”

“Elsie could’ve sent an army, and I still would’ve made it back to you.”

She rose up on her toes and kissed him. “Now I know.”

He gave her a wry grin. “I have to admit, keeping my word would’ve been a lot more difficult if Zeke and the guys hadn’t shown up.”

She glanced around. “Your brothers are here?”

“Thanks to Liv. Cruz and Phin are tracking down the two mercs you mentioned. Zeke and Rohan are clearing the big house.”

“We should update them.”

“In a second.” He wrapped an arm around her and poured every fear he’d been consumed with, since the moment he left her standing outside the guesthouse until he discovered her beneath a tree, into the kiss.

Ash leaned into it, wanting to bury this nightmare and sink into her light. But a wave a dizziness struck, and he pitched into her, all one hundred and ninety pounds of him.

Not expecting the weight shift, her body buckled under his. She held on tight though, somehow guiding them into a jarring knee crash, rather than a face plant.

“Sorry,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.

She steadied him, then turned her head to cough up a smoke-filled lung. “What’s wrong?”

“Lost my balance for a second. I’m fine. You, on the other hand, sound like shit.”

“Don’t lie to me, Asher.” She reared back, her gaze zeroing in on his bloody shoulder. “Your gunshot wound.”

He nodded.

“What else?” He opened his mouth, and she interrupted him. “Don’t give me any of your macho BS. Where are you injured?”

“Probable concussion, maybe a broken rib or two.”

“Let’s get you into my hiding spot, and I’ll?—”

“Not happening.”

“You’re hardly in a position to fight.”

“I can hold my own just fine, as evidenced by the guy I left back there.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder, then pushed to his feet. “How many mercenaries are left?”

“One is guarding Sybil in the big house and there was a big one, their commander, I think, carrying out Elsie’s bidding.”

“The same one guarding Jillian earlier?”

“Yes.”

“He’s out of commission.” Grasping her hand, he headed toward the house. She stumbled, and he noticed her stockinged feet for the first time.

He bent at the knees, careful to keep his blurry gaze straight ahead. “Jump on?”

“Pardon?”

“Get on my damn back.”

“Are you out of your mind? You’re in no condition to carry me.”

“Your socks are bloody, which means your feet are torn up. I’ll carry you as far as the forest edge, then you can be your badass self again.” When she stayed fixed in place, he said, “I can do this. Trust me.”

Ash thought she would refuse him, but after another short hesitation, she scurried up on the narrower end of the fallen tree, then eased onto his back, taking care not to touch his injured shoulder. He focused on putting one boot in front of the other until, finally, they arrived on the east side of Sybil’s mansion.

Once Kayla slid down and moved to his side, he retrieved his phone to send Zeke a text, when a message from his brother popped up first.

We have a problem.