Avenged (Altered #2)(8)

She hurried to follow, less gracefully than him, of course, but finally her fingers tightened on the edge. She scurried, frantic to get out, to smell the fresh air again.

Nick grasped her forearms, helping her to climb the last few feet. She tumbled out of the opening in her excitement, but he caught her against him, hauling her up.

Again, she found herself in his arms, pressed against his wide chest. Again she felt breathless and off-kilter. Except this time, she didn’t blame the moment or the fact that she’d climbed up a duct a second ago.

No, her body was reacting to him. To Nick, who thoroughly infuriated her, who talked down to her months ago and hadn’t thought she could manage herself.

Kitty looked up and into his eyes, allowing him to hold her against him, enjoying the way his arms felt around her.

We made it. I got her out. Thank God. His relief washed over her. While she was enjoying his body, he was thinking about their success.

She pushed away from him, needing to stop being so close, needing to stop feeling him. Only then did she catch the chill in the air. That’s right. It was fall.

“What now?” she asked, wanting to think about anything except him. She’d expected some sort of ATV, or that there would be a helicopter to extract them.

Nick turned to the corner. Even in the dark, she could make out the glint of metal. When she heard his thoughts, she understood what would happen next.

They were going to zip-line out of here.





Chapter Three


Nick knew Kitty wouldn’t go for the idea. It was why he hadn’t thought about it until now.

Overcome one obstacle at a time.

In the ambient light, she scowled at him. She must have heard that.

Well, it didn’t make any difference. They still had to get out of here, and this was the best way he and the special ops guys could find. The complex was situated on the side of a hill. They would use a series of zip-lines to slide down the mountain.

At least, that was the theory.

“Wait—a series of zip-lines?” She glared at him, wrapping her arms around herself in the cool air. “That was the theory?”

Yes. But it was the only option.

“Come on.” He rested his hand at the small of her back, trying to coax her over to the setup. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

The gear appeared undisturbed. Which meant that no one knew they were up here. Yet.

He’d chosen this corner of the building because, as far as they could tell, it was hidden in one of the blind spots from the camera. It had meant a longer journey through the ducts, but they’d decided that was less risky than somewhere more conspicuous.

Opening the pack that held the harnesses, he went through the systematic checklist to ensure their safety. Again. He’d performed the same check when he received them and then again when he’d packed them. They still appeared intact.

He stood, holding a jacket and the smaller harness out to Kitty. They’d had to guess at her weight, estimating high. From how thin she was there wouldn’t be a problem. He tamped down on his anger. Hadn’t they bothered to feed her?

Kitty stood still, staring at the harness as if he offered her a rattlesnake.

He shook it. “You have to put it on.” When she still didn’t move to take it, he sighed. “We’ve come this far. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

It was a promise. He’d done this countless times, was confident he could get her through this part safely. The only thing that made this situation dangerous was Kitty’s inexperience and the highly trained military operatives chasing them.

She snatched the gear from his hand, her scowl enough to melt stone. He smiled. Better her be angry than afraid. “Let me help you with that.”

Her eyebrows dropped, but she nodded. She didn’t like that she needed help, but it was obvious she didn’t know how to use the gear. He focused on the clips, the metal carabiners. He tried not to notice that his fingers were shaking at being this close to her. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.

She could hear his thoughts, after all.

After double and triple checking everything, he attended to himself. But this was his personal gear and went faster.

The sounds of shouting drifted up from below them. If anyone saw them leave, it couldn’t be helped. The jacket he brought covered her chest, but the pants of Kitty’s ridiculous orange jumpsuit were still visible. Christ. Orange. Probably for this very purpose. Hard to hide someone wearing caution-cone orange.

He snapped them on to the zip-line, him in the front, before he turned to give her instructions.

“I’m going first. Watch me. We’ll jump off the edge of the building. You’ll follow me down the mountain. The end is attached to a tree there.” He pointed to the south. “You’ll keep your feet in front of you and together, and lean back.”

“I need to jump off the building?” Her horror might have been comical if she weren’t so obviously terrified.

“It’s not really jumping off the building, Kitty.” He did his best to keep his voice calm. “You’re attached to the line. You’ll follow me.” He reached back, squeezing her arm. “You can do this. I’m sure of it.”

She stared at him, at where his fingers curled around her arm, then nodded again. He didn’t know if she believed him or not, but he didn’t think more time to worry about things would help.