Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)(10)

You were so close to giving up. I was in your mind, Nathan. I knew what you were thinking. What you were feeling. It broke my heart. I couldn’t not help you.

Shame slid through his chest. Guilt that he’d been so weak to even briefly contemplate giving up. Because of that weakness she’d taken far more than she ever should have. And yet, could he have survived if she hadn’t?

He knew the answer. It ate at him that he was so dependent on this faceless woman, just a whisper in the dark. Now that the connection had been made, he’d go insane if it was broken.

There’s no shame in needing someone, she offered softly.

He considered her words for a moment. No, I don’t suppose there is.

You just have to hold on until your brothers come for you. I know how you see them, that you have absolute faith in them. Hold on to that and you’ll be home soon.

You’re a f**king miracle, Shea. I don’t know what the hell I would have done if you hadn’t spoken to me when you did.

You would have endured.

You have more faith in me than I have.

I see who you are, Nathan. The heart of you. You can’t hide that from me. A weaker person would have already given up. You didn’t.

Her words filled him with determination. Her faith humbled him. It made him want to be the man she saw, the one she believed him to be.

You’re going to escape. I’ll be with you the whole way. We just have to wait for the right time. We can do this.

Maybe it was the way she said it with such conviction. Or maybe it was that she said we in every instance. Like they were a team. It was a promise never to leave him and it heartened him in a way he hadn’t been able to do for himself since his captivity.

Whether she was real or imagined, he thanked God for her. His own personal angel in hell.

SHEA left the comfort of Nathan’s arms when the link became too much to maintain. Her body still quivered with lingering pain, but the marks on her skin were gone.

She stumbled into the shower and ran the water as hot as she could bear it and stood under the spray, her forehead resting against the cool tile of the stall.

What the hell was she doing? She couldn’t afford to weaken herself as she had done with Nathan. Just maintaining the link for so long was taxing enough, but the pain took it out of her when she had nothing to spare.

What if she were found again? Would she even have the strength to run?

But she’d made him a promise and she wouldn’t break it. She couldn’t bear the thought of him not making it back home to his family.

The only solution for her was to keep moving. Preemptive run. If she kept constantly on the move, then she would lessen the risk of her being caught at her most vulnerable.

She almost reached out to Grace. She bit her lip to prevent herself from saying her sister’s name. Her heart grew heavy until the ache crawled up her throat and into her jaw.

“I miss you,” she whispered.

Maybe it was why she’d reached out to Nathan. His desolation matched her own. They were both lonely and desperate. Perhaps she saw in Nathan someone whose situation was worse than her own and she’d been unable to turn her back even if it was what she should have done.

When she was through with her shower, she dressed and picked up the bag she hadn’t yet unpacked. She stepped from the hotel room and shivered as the cold mountain air sliced through her T-shirt.

She’d battled her decision to continue westward. But she’d already traveled extensively over the United States. Would her pursuers expect her to double back? She hoped not. She hoped she was making the right strategic choice. Wouldn’t it be the very last place they’d expect her to hide?

She climbed into her car and for a moment she sat there, hands curled around the steering wheel. She was tired. So tired. Of running. Of being separated from her sister. Of worrying that nothing would ever be the same again in her life.

At what point would it all end?

Nagging doubt crept in and her nostrils flared in anger. She’d just given Nathan a rah-rah speech about not giving up, about not being fatalistic and about having hope. She could use a healthy dose of her own advice.

She keyed the ignition, slammed the vehicle into gear and said good-bye to Colorado.

CHAPTER 5

NATHAN awoke when the door of his cell flew open and he was blinded by white light. He flung an arm up to cover his eyes but he was hauled to his feet and dragged out.

This time he took closer stock of his surroundings as they forced him into a chair and tied his arms behind his back. A chill pervaded the air, making the sweat on his body blow cold. It was damp and the scents of unwashed bodies, urine and blood made his nostrils flare in distaste.

Silver flashed in front of his eyes. One of the men waved a knife as another began shouting the same questions they asked every time he was interrogated. Maybe they meant to kill him today. Or maybe they were altering their torture methods.

Strangely, calm acceptance settled over him, and he fixed them with a cold stare.

“Go f**k yourself.”

Even if they didn’t fully understand the expression, they could certainly ascertain the sentiment.

Fire exploded down his arm. He flinched and then glanced down to see a thin cut opened, blood streaming down his flesh.

His lip curled. “Is that the best you can do? Untie me, ass**le. Let’s even the odds a little.”

This time the knife slashed across his chest in a measured cut meant to inflict pain, but not mortal damage.