His condition had worsened in the few seconds I was gone. I hooked my hands under his arms and dragged him across the floor, with his boots dragging behind me as I pulled him down the hallway.
Every step I took felt heavier.
Heat began building again. I ignored it and kept moving, getting him into the room and dropping him beside Lucas.
Two bodies. One problem.
I stepped back and looked at them.
“Listen,” my voice was low and sharp, demanding attention.
Lucas’s eyes cracked open.
“If you feel yourself going,” I narrowed my eyes, “beat on the wall or yell, and I’ll put you out of your misery.”
A beat.
“…Ben…find…Taryn…”
“Don’t argue,” I snapped. “Worry about yourself for now.”
He didn’t have the energy to respond.
Good.
I stepped out, pulled the door shut, and locked it. Then I dragged a chair from the hallway and wedged it under the knob.
Not to keep them in, but to slow them down.
If it came to that.
“Hold it together,” I muttered.
Not sure if I was talking to myself or Lucas.
My head pulsed again, harder this time. I pressed my fingers into my temples and felt the heat radiating from my face.
“No,” I said under my breath. “I don’t have time for this.”
Not yet.
I straightened slowly and forced my breathing to level. Forced my hands to steady.
I still had work to do and a daughter to bring home. Plans that needed making.
Because if they turned—I needed to be ready.
And if I turned, no one would be left to stop me.
I bowed my head to do something I swore I’d never do after my second wife died. “Lord, please bring my child home safe and give me the strength to make sure she does.”
Before, my prayers had gone unanswered, but I hoped this time would be different.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
BECK
Max continued to growl as if he’d heard Nash, too.
