Page 7 of Bewitched

Amy stumbled, and Will spun around and caught her before she crumpled to the ground. The team stopped while Will checked her. “Pulse thready,” he said as he lifted her. “Let’s hustle it up the hill.” Once Will had her in his arms, the group moved at a faster clip along the path.

“Local firefighters are under attack,” Bryce said into his mic. “HQ said two men are down.”

Blake couldn’t pick up the sound of gunfire from their location, so he assumed it was snipers who’d taken out the first responders. There was nothing to accomplish by shooting firefighters unless they wanted to make a point. Seemed ISIS was making a play for the northern region of Jordan, which was bad news for everyone.

The distant sound of a helo filled the air, and Blake grinned. Always a welcome sound. “Hope those assholes are not carrying RPGs,” he said quietly.

“Just makes the party more interesting when someone’s pointing a rocket launcher in your direction,” Frisco responded. “They’re going to hear the helo. I’ll ride the door as we exfil.”

Ten minutes later, the group was assembled at the exfil point. Will laid Amy down, did a quick check, and determined she could make it to the hospital without much worry. “Let me see how Paige is doing,” he said as Blake laid her down and lifted her top. “Don’t like the look of that.” Her bandages were soaked with blood. “I’ll pack her wound again when we get in the helo. I have some new foam I can apply that will stop the bleeding.”

“Whatever you think, man. Can’t lose a fellow Texan on this op. Especially someone like her.” Blake glanced up at Will and realized that he’d said it aloud. “What I meant…”

Will punched him and shook his head. “Got it. No need to explain.”

Fifteen minutes later, the sound of the rotors filled the air, and Blake welcomed the sound like he did every time he was out in the middle of nowhere. Only this time, he swore the sound was a little sweeter.

The men were in a Y-formation as the pilot carefully landed the helo. Bryce stood point as Will quickly loaded Amy, then pulled himself in and took Paige from Blake’s arms.

“Let’s get the hell out here,” Blake barked into his mic. The men climbed into the Blackhawk and Blake yelled, “Clear.”

Frisco sat opposite him and quickly converted his Colt into a grenade launcher. As the pilots lifted them into the air, a Humvee screamed up the hill. “Hostiles coming in hot,” Blake said into his mic and he laid cover with his assault rifle. “Looks like they brought an RPG,” he said as he hit the first man out of the vehicle.

The Blackhawk swung south, and Frisco clipped his belt to the safety line. Leaning forward, he planted his feet on the rails, launched a grenade, and blew the vehicle just as two men lifted the rocket launcher in their direction. “Fuck you,” Frisco said as the pilot moved them out of range.

“Sitrep,” Blake said into his mic as he sat in the open door of the helo. He was sweeping the area and looking for the next threat.

“Clear,” Frisco said into his mic.

“No new intel from HQ,” Bryce added.

“ETA to hospital?” Will asked. “Paige’s pulse is dropping.”

“Fifteen minutes,” the pilot reported.

Blake felt his heart speed up. “Anything I can do?” he said quietly.

“No,” Will answered. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to let anything happen.”

Nodding, he planted his feet more firmly on the rails of the helo, Blake swept the black valley below them. No reason to believe they had operatives this close to the capital, but Blake sure as shit wasn’t going to take any chances.

The moment they landed on the roof of the hospital, they were surrounded by medical personnel. Two doctors greeted them at the door, and Will quickly gave them all the relevant information. He explained what he’d done as Bryce lifted Amy out of the helo and laid her on the gurney. Blake lifted Paige and felt his heart kick against his ribs. It was the second time that had happened, and he had no way to make sense of it. He gently laid her on the gurney and squeezed her hand before the medical team rolled the women away.

The wind whipped around him as he stood with his arms crossed and waited until the elevator doors closed. Leaning back on his heels, he fought the compulsion to follow her and make sure she had everything she needed. It was as though a rope connected them, and the further she moved away from him, the more uncomfortable he got. He ran his hand over his face and tried to shake the feeling. Whatever the hell was going on had better end quickly, because he had to be fully operational as they moved on to the next phase of the mission.

“You okay?”

Turning, he considered Will’s face. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Will clapped him on the back. “No reason. Just checking.”

Spinning around, Blake climbed into the helo and pulled out his tablet. There were going to be updates, and he had a feeling this mission just got a lot more complicated. If ISIS was playing in northern Jordan, then they were not going home for a while. That was for damn sure.

Once they were airborne, he took one last look out the window and studied the hospital. Take care of her, he thought. The further they moved away from the building, the emptier he felt. Whatever it was that connected them was going to have to remain a mystery. At least for now.

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