Page 68 of Deceptive Lies

The quicker Cooper accepted it the better off he’d be.

At least then maybe he could start making decisions that were in his best interest instead of worrying about her. Willow couldn't deny it felt nice to know she mattered to him enough he still wanted to believe that she could be saved, but not nice enough to know it was going to cost him his life.

“The dark is only going to make it harder for us to see where we’re going, easier for us to trip and fall,” Cooper reminded her.

That might be true, and it might have mattered this morning when they started out on this journey, but not now.

Now it was the sun and their exertion that was killing them. She’d rather risk them falling on the rocks that were everywhere beneath the sand, it was the lesser of the two evils they faced.

“I know earlier you didn't want to hear it, but?—”

“No,” Cooper growled at her. The sound might have terrified her if she didn't know him well enough to know he’d never hurt her. Now it just made her smile sadly at him.

“Cooper, you have to accept the inevitable,” she said softly. This wasn't a conversation she believed she’d ever have with another person, that she’d have to talk about her impending death calmly and factually felt surreal. But she had to do what she had to do.

“It’s not inevitable,” he snapped.

Summoning what she had left, Willow managed to lift her hand off the ground and brushed her fingertips across Cooper’s jaw. “It is. I’m dying. Without a miracle, I'm not going to survive. We both know that. You have to accept it, because … I don’t want you to die, too.” A sob caught in her throat. “Please. I don’t want to die knowing I'm going to be the cause of your death. You still stand a chance if you leave me behind. But if you wait much longer then you seal your own fate.”

Gripping her shoulders, Cooper gave her a small shake, and she bitback a moan as pain sliced behind her eyes. “Get this through your head. I am not leaving you behind. Not now, not ever. I will get you out of here.”

His harsh words were softened when he briefly rested his forehead against hers, but then he was standing, gathering her into his arms, and walking again.

Stubborn.

That’s what he was.

And while she admired tenacity and determination, this time those qualities were only going to wind up getting a man she cared about killed.

Shewas going to get a man she cared about killed.

And Willow had no idea how to stop it from happening.

Chapter

Seventeen

July 13th

10:03 P.M.

In his career in Delta Force and at Prey, Cooper had seen a lot of atrocities.

He’d heard the screams of the dying, stared into cold, dead eyes of evil men, and rescued children from certain death.

Nothing was harder than this.

Sitting helplessly under the clear inky sky, dotted with millions of glittering stars twinkling merrily like they weren't watching an innocent woman die.

And Willow was dying.

As much as he’d love to hang onto denial, pretend it wasn't happening, that a miracle was suddenly going to come blasting through the night, Cooper had to accept reality.

Over the last couple of hours, Willow had continued to deteriorate. Her speech had become slurred, she’d become confused and agitated, fighting against him as he tried to carry her.

By the time the sun had sunk low in the sky and then disappearedaltogether, it had taken his last shreds of hope along with it. Acceptance had sunk in and now all he could do for Willow was stay by her side, hold her head on his lap, her hands in his, and make sure she wasn't alone as she passed.

It wasn't enough.

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