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.
Farnsworth’s hands gripped her shoulders, turned her until she was on her side. His face was grim, but full of hope as he looked between her and his daughter.
Elizabeth scrambled Àth scramup to her knees, looking worriedly down at Grace.
“Help her, Daddy. She needs help!”
Farnsworth’s eyes filled with tears as he stared at his daughter, pink, healthy looking, her eyes full of vibrancy that had been lacking for so long.
“Elizabeth,” he whispered.
For a moment, he left Grace and enfolded his daughter into his arms. Muffled sobs erupted as he crushed her to him.
“My baby. My baby.”
Elizabeth pried herself away and again looked down at Grace, who tried to offer her a reassuring smile. She was weak, yes, but she wasn’t incapacitated. She had Elizabeth to thank for that. Elizabeth, who was strong, whose will to live had been so strong that it had aided Grace in the healing process.
She’d lent her strength to Grace so that Grace hadn’t shouldered it all alone.
“Daddy, she needs help. Go get them. They can help her. You promised they could go.”
Farnsworth looked reluctant to leave her even for a moment, but he edged away from the bed and then walked toward the door.
RIO paced outside the doorway. The hall was filled with soldiers. Mercenaries. It was tense. Titan had their guns on Rio’s team as if daring them to make a move. Any move. They looked way too damned trigger-happy.
Rio just hoped to hell that the rest of KGI had made it ashore after the helo drop and were in position. This could all go to hell at a moment’s notice, and he damn sure didn’t want to be without backup.
The door opened and the tension soared in the hallway. Farnsworth stepped out, his back to Rio as he faced Hancock.
“It’s done. She needs help, though. She’s weak. Let them take her and go. I promised them safe passage off the island.”
Hancock pulled his gun, pointed it at Farnsworth, and shot.
Rio leapt instinctively to the side, drawing his own weapon. The hallway became instant chaos. Another shot fired and pain screamed through Rio’s chest.
“Cease fire!” Hancock roared. “Goddamn it! I did not give the order to fire!” He turned in rage and squeezed off another shot, downing the man who’d taken the shot at Rio.
Then he held his gun up high while every one of his team members covered Rio’s team, effectively preventing them from acting.
Rio slid to the floor, blood running like a damn river from his chest and onto the floor. “Son of a bitch! Hancock, you stupid f**k! What the hell are you trying to pull here?”
Hancock nudged Farnsworth’s body as if making sure the man was dead, and then he crouched down beside Rio. His expression was grim.
“Fuck it all, Rio. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was a planned maneuver and one of my goddamn men panicked and got trigger-happy.”
“Daddy!”
The shrill, high-pitched scream echoed through the hallway. Elizabeth ran, trying to get to her father, but Terrence scooped her up, hugging her to his broad chest and shielding her from the gruesome sight.
“Get the f**k out,” Hancock bellowed. “Clear this goddamn area.” Then to Rio, “I know goddamn well you have the rest of your team here. Unless you want this to become a goddamn bloodbath, you better get a handle on them quick. We have no interest in KGI. You were just collateral damage.”
“Diego,” Rio called, his voice fading with every breath. Son of a bitch, it hurt. “Get word out. Stand down. Meet with Sam. Tell him what’s happened. For God’s sÀod‚ke, tell them not to fire unless fired upon.”
He looked up at Hancock with glassy eyes. “You better be telling me the goddamn truth about this. If not, I can guarantee not a goddamn one of you will leave this island alive.”
Hancock nodded.
“Tell Grace…” He gasped, pissed that he couldn’t seem to get air into his lungs. “Tell Grace I love her.”
“Rio!”
Grace tried to push Hancock aside, but nearly fell over with the effort. Hancock reached up to steady her with a gentle grasp.