Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(84)

Soon the room was filled with men. Hard warriors. Armed. Expressions harsh as they seemed to weigh the opposition.

“This is how it’s going to play out,” Hancock began.

But Grace slipped her hand from Elizabeth’s and boldly stepped forward, staring Hancock in the eye.

“No, you aren’t calling the shots here. This is the way it’s going to happen. I want everyone out.”

She felt Rio’s immediate protest, but she shut him down with a quick mental rebuke.

“I won’t have this little girl intimidated by a bunch of hulking Neanderthals. You can all wait in the hall.”

“I’m not leaving my daughter,” Farnsworth said tightly.

“Of course not,” Grace murmured.

Then she looked to Rio. “Make sure he isn’t armed. He only stays if he has nothing on him that threatens me.”

“How the hell could you defend yourself against anything at all?” Rio ground out. “You’re going to be defenseless. He could kill you with nothing more than his bare hands.”

Elizabeth made a sound of alarm and then stared questioningly at her father.

“He and I have an understanding,” Grace said calmly. “He’s well aware of the consequences of him trying to kill me.”

Farnsworth whitened but he nodded. “All I want is for my daughter to be well again. What happens after is of little consequence to me. I’ve given her my guarantee that she and whoever accompanies her will leave the island unharmed.”

Rio looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he looked at Grace.

I love you. The fierceness in the declaration gave Grace the strength she needed for what was to come. Don’t you dare leave me. You hang on.

I love you too. Trust me.

I do, honey. I do. If I didn’t, I’d be tearing this f**king place apart from the top down. I don’t want you to worry. The entire KGI team is here. We’re not going to go down without a fight if that’s what it comes to.

Grace looked pointedly at Farnsworth. “We’re wasting valuable time.”

Farnsworth jerked in reaction and then barked the order. “Everyone out.”

Hancock waited until Rio made the first move, and when Rio and his team retreateÀteam retd from the room flanked by Hancock’s men, Hancock left last, turning one last time. But it wasn’t Farnsworth he looked at. It was Grace. His gaze was intense, and she was sure it held some meaning she wasn’t able to pick up on.

When everyone had left, Farnsworth closed the door and then turned back to Grace, hurrying to the bed. “Hurry, please. Whatever it is you need, just tell me.”

“What I need is for you to take a seat over there,” she said, pointing calmly to a chair by the window. “And don’t interfere. I don’t care what you see, what you hear, what happens. Do not interfere.”

Farnsworth leaned over the bed, gathered his frail daughter into his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, little one. Daddy loves you. I want you to always know that.”

Elizabeth smiled faintly. “I love you too. Now go so Grace can help me. She promised she would and I trust her.”

He looked startled by his daughter’s words, but he backed away, taking position on the very edge of the seat.

Grace took a deep breath and then she settled onto the bed next to Elizabeth, took both hands in hers and tried to infuse as much confidence into her smile as she could. She dreaded what she was about to do. She knew it could well be too much. The child was too far gone. So much cancer. Maybe they’d both die. But at least Grace would try. She had so very much to live for, and she knew if she failed, Rio and all his men’s lives would be forfeit.

“Close your eyes,” Grace said softly. “And I want you to concentrate hard. You’re going to feel me. Don’t fight it. But what I need you to do for me is to focus on being better, on fighting this illness and on getting better. The stronger you are, the stronger I can be.”

Elizabeth nodded and squeezed Grace’s hands. Grace smiled at the child’s obvious effort to give Grace reassurance.

Grace sucked in another breath, closed her eyes and then focused all her mental energy into the pathway between her and Elizabeth.

She nearly recoiled from the sheer magnitude of the cancer eating away at Elizabeth’s body. It was everywhere. There was no medical explanation for why this child had lived as long as she had. She’d hung on by sheer force of will.

Grace drew it away, absorbing it in her own body, and felt herself weakening with every passing second. But then she was joined by Elizabeth’s own iron will.

It was a light in the darkest tunnel. Dawn breaking after a stormy night. Strength. Hope. Love. Only the resilience offered by the young. Elizabeth’s spirit was as strong as her will. Her soul hadn’t given up. Nothing about this girl had signaled defeat.

Fused together, their wills strengthened, the light became stronger. The warmth and power of their combined determination infused Grace with much-needed support.

Grace sagged, struggled to keep herself upright, to keep her focus and not lose the battle for Elizabeth’s life. And then tiny arms wrapped around her, holding and supporting her.

A whisper in her ear. “You can do it. I know you can. Thank you.”

Grace reached for the last of the darkness, those ugly shadows that hung tenaciously, and with the last of her strength, she yanked them away, taking them into her own body. She fell forward into the pillows, heard Elizabeth’s cry of alarm. Her plea for her father to help.