Her head tips against my shoulder, and I feel the tremor that runs through her the second she lets herself lean on me.
That almost wrecks me worse than the blood.
Miles exhales slowly. “Well. Guess that settles it.”
Clay’s eyes cut toward the compound. “Lucas and I circle east. If the kids are there, we pull them. If not, we level the building.”
“I’m going.”
“No,” Lucas says immediately. “Not carrying her.”
He’s right.
I hate him for it.
Clay checks his weapon. “Ten minutes.”
Then they disappear back into the dark.
Toward gunfire.
Toward danger.
And every instinct in me screams to follow.
Olivia shudders slightly against my chest.
That decides it.
Miles takes point. “Move.”
We run.
I keep her tight against me while we sprint across open ground toward the ridge line.
She’s too light.
Way too light.
Every jolt of my stride makes her tense despite how hard she tries to hide it.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“For rescuing me?”
“For this.”
Her fingers tighten weakly in my shirt.
“I’ve had worse dates.”
A rough breath escapes me.
Almost a laugh.
Almost breaking.
Bullets rip into the dirt behind us.
