Forbidden River (The Legionnaires #2.5)(29)

“Don’t tell me what I’m thinking.”

“We don’t have time to argue. Staying is a bad decision. Go.”

Another scream, almost inhuman. He frowned. There was something odd about it. His ears couldn’t get a fix on it over the roar of the falls.

“Cody, go.” She scrambled up a mud bank.

Leaving made sense. Of course it did. He dragged his palms down his face, slick with mist and sweat. But, fuck it. Maybe staying was a bad decision, but it was the only one he could live with.

He caught up with her in a dark gully where the forest muffled the waterfall to a bass boom. She shot him a disapproving look, then started.

“Hear that?” she asked.

A snorting, ahead. Not dog, but he’d swear it wasn’t human. He overtook her—and froze. Farther down the narrow gully, a monster of a black boar tottered and swayed to its feet, curved tusks glowing white in the gloom. Holy shit. Grunting, it lowered its huge matted head—and charged. Cody reared and smacked into Tia. She yelped. An instant of weightless panic and then he landed on dirt, taking her out on the way down. The boar barreled toward them, getting bigger by the second. It threw up its head and squealed. Then its legs buckled and it thudded to the ground, the impact shuddering like a quake. It slid to a stop so close that Cody could feel its hot breath.

“He’s bleeding,” Tia whispered, pointing past Cody to a deep, dirty gash in its flank, oozing with fresh and dried blood and yellowy gunk. Behind it, on the leaf litter, was a long red smear. “The dogs must have had a go at him—a while back. He’s dying.”

“Jesus, a lucky break for us. Let’s go.” He shuffled off her legs and pushed to his feet. “You okay?”

“We can’t leave him like that,” she said, hopping to her feet. “That knife still in your pocket?” She held out a hand.

“Ah man.” They were sniper fodder and she was stopping to be humane? “I’ll do it.”

“I can do it.”

“Tia, I would totally be cool with watching you take on a wild boar. Hell, I’d buy tickets. But you’re injured.”

She pressed her lips together. Her skin had paled, her freckles standing out. He’d landed right on her leg. Fresh blood stained her bandage. The pig squealed, the sound digging into his brain. A dog barked, the echo masking its location.

“Make it quick,” she said.

The exhausted beast didn’t give much of a struggle. It’d had enough of fighting. Still, it stung Cody in the chest to watch its life end, with a twitch and a slump. I’ve had enough of death, Tia had said. Cody’d had enough of death seven years ago. You go mad or you go numb. Which way was he headed? He felt warm pressure on his lower back, under his life jacket. Tia. She jerked her head the way they’d come, her face grim but back to normal coloring. He nodded.

A few steps from the beach, Tia stopped, grabbing his arm. Something was churning through the undergrowth, still out of sight but coming their way. The ferns carpeting the gully remained still.

“Run,” she whispered.

He pushed her ahead but she stopped short, forcing him to sidestep to avoid taking her out. A dog flew off a bank and landed in front of her. Squat and white with pink-rimmed eyes. It advanced with a rumbling growl, saliva dripping from bared teeth like some demon hound. The growl grew into a bark, then another. A whistle answered—from downriver. Shit, the shooter had gotten ahead of them. Cody drew out his knife and flicked it open.

Tia cursed. “Shane must be on the swing bridge, above the falls. Waiting for us to round the corner in the kayaks.”

“We almost did.”

“We need to lure him away.” She straightened. “I have an idea. Sit, Jaws, sit,” she commanded.

“Was that your idea? It ain’t working.”

“No, that’s me giving it a chance to cooperate. Take off your life jacket. Wrap it around your arm.”

Cody blinked. “Holy shit, for real? I liked your first plan better.”

“When Shane told me about training the dogs to go after humans he held out his left arm, like this.” The dog snapped as she raised her arm, elbow wide. She pulled it in. “That’s what he trained the dog to go after. If we get it to latch on, we can contain it long enough to leash it. And shut it up in the meantime.”

“You make it sound so simple.” He unclipped the life jacket and slid it off. “Is this the dog that attacked you?”

“Yep.”

“It went for your leg, not your arm.”

“You have five seconds to come up with another plan. Four, three—”

“Ah, fuck it. You take the knife, just in case.”

He placed it in her nearest hand, wound the jacket around his arm and jumped in front of her, offering his forearm.

“Jaws!” she said, her voice low. “Attack!”

“Whose side are you on?”

The dog pulled back slightly, scrabbled on dead leaves and jumped. Cody winced. Its teeth locked around the jacket. Holy shit, the pressure... He clenched his teeth so hard his jaw clunked.

“Hold on,” Tia said, limping toward the beach.

“You talking to me or the mutt?” Its canines pierced the jacket, scratching Cody’s skin, but the pressure was the bigger problem. Any second he’d pop like a balloon. “This thing must weigh sixty pounds.”