Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)(6)

Nathan…He drew in a breath and then let it out. Nathan Kelly.

She dragged herself upward in her seat, worried that if she remained on the side of the road for too long, she’d draw unwanted attention.

Wearily she pushed her hair from her face and fumbled with the keys as she attempted to start the car again.

Nathan.

She hadn’t realized she’d sent the name out until he responded.

If we’re making introductions, I’d at least like to know what the insane part of me calls herself.

She bit her lip as she maneuvered back onto the highway. Exhaustion dragged at her, pulling relentlessly until she could barely keep her eyes open.

He frowned and put a hand to his head. Are you…Are you all right?

He was irritated that he’d ask, that he’d accept that she wasn’t his own crazy manifestation, and yet he could feel her just as she could feel him, and he sensed her weakness and pain, especially now that his was gone.

She smiled faintly at his reluctant concern for her.

I’m Shea, she finally said after battling over whether she should even divulge that much.

CHAPTER 3

NATHAN leaned his head back against the rough stone surface of the cell wall and stared sightlessly into the dark. His pain was gone. Sort of. He could feel it hovering on the fringe, almost like he was catching impressions of pain from someone else but not exactly feeling it in his body.

Was she real? It wasn’t possible.

But then did it matter if his imagination got him through this ordeal?

Shea. She’d said her name was Shea. And she wanted to help him.

Was he crazy? Was this some cruel trap hatched by his captors as a way to drag information from him? How could they get into his head? He’d heard of subliminal shit, but he’d never given it a thought. Besides, how the hell did someone subliminally talk to you? Shea—whoever she was—wasn’t planting ideas. She’d taken his pain and she was suffering. Because of him.

She’d been silent for several long seconds now, and panic grabbed him. His pulse sped up, and a knot formed in his throat that remained no matter how hard he swallowed. Regardless of whether she was real or imagined, he didn’t want her to go.

Shea.

He tested her name in his mind, liking the way it sounded. The way it felt.

I’m here.

She sounded weak. He frowned. What did you do? How is it you can take my pain away?

That’s not important. You have to tell me how to help you. Isn’t there anything you can tell me about your location? Who is holding you? What branch of the military are you with? Surely there’s someone I can contact.

He could sense the hundred questions bursting into his mind from hers. She was frustrated and impatient. She needed information fast because she feared not being able to hold their link.

He frowned again and felt the beginnings of a throb in his head. He was feeling her pain.

Every one of his instincts told him that this was crazy. That this was some bizarre manifestation brought on by endless torture. He’d broken from reality.

But if that was true and he was merely imagining this entire conversation with Shea, then it couldn’t hurt to tell her how to contact his brothers.

Hope flickered and he angrily called it back. He wouldn’t put stock in this insanity. He knew that any disappointment could finally break him completely.

Nathan, hurry.

He palmed his temples and pressed, closing his eyes. Sam Kelly. He lives in Dover, Tennessee, with the rest of my family. Garrett, Donovan, Ethan and Joe…God, where was Joe? The idea that his twin could be in a similar hell sent fear crashing through him. No, Joe wasn’t here. Nathan would know. He would have heard. Joe wasn’t even on the same team. He’d be home by now. Maybe even discharged already. Nathan had to believe that because he couldn’t bear any other alternative.

He felt her stir again, and he got the sense of her stepping out of a car. Had she been driving? She drifted farther away and alarm slammed into him again. Sweat covered him and he swallowed rapidly.

Then she touched him. The sensation of her hands on his shoulders, soothing and warm. A gentle brush of her lips against his temple.

Give me a moment. I have to make sure I’m safe. I won’t leave you. Not yet.

The next moments were the longest of his life as he sat in the darkness. There was…nothing. No distant cries. No sounds of violence. It was so quiet that unease slithered down his spine until he was gripped by panic again.

They wouldn’t come again. Not so soon.

He licked his dry, cracked lips. He’d sell his soul for water. Food, he’d long since lost the desire for. But water. He could make himself ill on it if only he had it.

He thought of his brothers. His mom and dad. Imagined himself at home in the loving hold of his family. Where were they? Were they looking for him now? What had the army told them about his disappearance?

But even as he thought of rescue and of going home, he wondered if he’d ever be the same Nathan Kelly again.

He didn’t feel like a man. He felt like an animal. Less than an animal. His mind didn’t even work the same as before. He was reduced to basic survival. He coped from one hour to the next, locked in hell.

As a soldier he lived with the reality that each day could be his last. Death wasn’t something he could afford to be in denial over. It wasn’t what happened to other people. It happened to his fellow soldiers on a daily basis.