When he didn’t receive a response, his lips tightened in frustration. At the top, Decker and Alton shone their lights down. He dug his feet into the side, finding purchase, and then he carefully let go of the rope to slide his arms underneath her limp body.
Mentally counting to three, he hoisted her up and then arranged her over one shoulder so he could hold the rope with a free hand. He held her tightly, his arm a steel band over the backs of her legs.
“Pull us up,” he called up to his teammates.
Toe over toe, he dug into the side as the rope inched higher. His muscles bulged with the strain of bearing both their weights. The rope cut into his skin and his fingers were numb from his grip.
Let me die. Please.
At first he thought she’d said it aloud. It startled him into stillness. His toes dragged as they hoistse,s they ed him higher and he had to scramble to regain his footing and assist them as they pulled him and Grace the remaining way.
He was suddenly swamped with desolation so acute that he couldn’t breathe. Pain. Fear. Regret. Hopelessness. And weariness that went soul deep.
He knew then that he’d heard Grace’s innermost thoughts. He was feeling what she felt. And her sorrow was so great that it staggered him.
Her tears were locked inside her, but he felt each one. Memories of all she’d endured flashed through his mind until he had to close his eyes to control his reeling senses.
I won’t go back.
Her voice whispered through his mind, so broken that he wanted to bellow in rage. He wanted to crawl up over the side of this damn cliff and rip apart the savages who’d pursued her so relentlessly and kill them all over again. The men who’d broken her spirit and made her even now want to die rather than endure more.
He knew that Nathan Kelly had been able to communicate with Grace’s sister, Shea, telepathically, but he hadn’t considered how or that he and Grace might be able to communicate the same way. It hadn’t been important at the time. He’d been gripped by the urgency to find her and keep her safe. Nothing else had mattered at that moment.
Tentatively, he reached out with his mind and spoke gently and reassuringly to her.
You’ll never go back to those bastards, Grace. You’re safe now. I’m here to help you. Don’t give up. You’ll get through this.
There was nothing but silence, and he clenched his jaw in frustration. How the hell did you communicate with your mind? How did he even know if he was able to talk to her the same way she’d just spoken to him? He didn’t even know if she was cognizant of the fact that he’d picked up on those desperate thoughts.
His teammates’ faces came into view as he neared the edge. Their expressions were tense as they hauled him the remaining distance. Diego pushed forward while Decker and Browning held tight to the rope and he took Grace from Rio’s grasp.
Free of her weight, Rio hoisted himself over the side and he rolled to his feet. Terrence let out a light huff, his only indication of the toll the rescue had taken on him. Rio quickly untied the rope and issued orders for his men to dispose of the bodies and then to be prepared to bug out.
They were in the middle of nowhere, no backup, no helo, their vehicles at least two miles away.
He strode to where Diego had laid Grace carefully on the ground and he dropped to his knees beside her.
He pushed the hair out of her face with gentle fingers and frowned at the deep shadows under her eyes, the paleness of her features and the deep lines of fatigue etched into her forehead. Her expression was grim even in unconsciousness.
Not knowing what possessed him, he found himself leaning down to press his lips to her forehead.
You don’t give up, Grace. You’re safe now. I won’t hurt you and I won’t allow anyone else to do so eit
her. I’m going to take you home.
CHAPTER 2
SUNLIGHT warmed her face, though she was in the grip of a pervasive chill that was bone deep. It hurt to shiver and yet she couldn’t do anything else.
It was as if there were weights pressing over her eyelids, preventing them from opening. Or perhaps she simply lacked the strength to do the simplest tasks anymore.
Pain crept over her, through her, puzzling her with its intensity. It was new. Fresh. And laiothen she remembered falling over the side, sure that death had finally come to claim her.
A soft moan escaped before she could call it back, and she chastised herself for that momentary loss of control. Such a lapse could get her killed.
Grace. Grace.
It took her a moment to realize that the person calling her name wasn’t saying it aloud but in her mind. She recoiled, wanting nothing to do with the distant voice. And then she was surrounded by strength. Warmth. It flooded into her veins, so comforting that it shook her to her core.
“Grace.”
This time it was said aloud. A deep, rough, slightly accented voice. Just a hint of another world, one she couldn’t place.
“Wake up, Grace. Let me see those gorgeous baby blues.”
Her brow wrinkled and she tried to process her surroundings. She was afraid to open her eyes. Afraid that she’d be right back in the hands of monsters, forced to do their bidding. The mere thought made her want to weep. She wasn’t strong enough to endure more.
A gentle hand stroked over her cheek and carefully pushed away her hair, tucking it over her ear. Such warmth and tenderness. It was like rain to a sun-parched desert. She soaked it up, desperate for any comfort.
It took everything she had to conquer her fear and open her eyes. Sunlight stabbed through her vision, momentarily blinding her.