Page 80 of Inferno

She spotted the letters SWAT on a vest, and a face she knew. Then another she recognized. Tears continued to streak down her face as Romeo crouched in front of her. “Let’s get this off.”

His hands touched her cheeks, reaching back to remove the gag from over her mouth. It slipped free, and she worked her jaw, wincing at the pain in her cheeks where it had split her lips and dug in.

“Let’s get you out of here.” He reached down to slide an arm under her knees.

Samantha smelled the sweat on him and flinched.

Romeo backed up. “Tell me what you need.” But in his eyes, she saw he already knew.

Still, she lifted her bound hands and signed,Coda.

Romeo turned his head and called out, “Julio!” Then turned back to her and produced a knife.

Samantha held still while he wrestled her hands free. Then her feet. She sniffed.

“We need to get the medics in here,” he said.

“No need.” Julio swept in. “I’ve got it.” He dumped a medical bag beside her and crouched. Looking at her with the dispassionate look of a trained EMT. Someone who went on call after call through a shift, no personal connection to any of them.

He dug around inside, hesitated, and then found what he was looking for.

And yet, there was a note of…something in him. She could see it at the edge of his expression. A tiny spark in his eyes that she probably wouldn’t have noticed if she didn’t know him so well. One that said he was barely hanging on.

He tugged on gloves, then took her hand. “Let me check you out, and then we’ll go outside. Okay?”

The way he moved said his shoulder still hurt, but he wasn’t wearing the sling. As though determined to ignore it.

Because of her.

Something switched in her. Like a lever that flipped. Samantha reached up with one hand and touched the side of his neck. It probably felt like she was hanging on for dear life, which is probably what she was doing—but she didn’t want to think about how close to the edge she’d come.

She tugged his face close and pressed her lips to his. All of it was desperation, the need to be close, and the sheer relief of being alive.

He pulled back. “You’re safe now.”

Samantha stared into his eyes, feeling better than she had in hours. Better than she had since she’d been taken. She tried to speak but could only get out a squeak.

“We heard you. From outside.” A crack appeared in his composure.

She signed,Deerdan,making it a question.

“She’s out of surgery and stable,” he said. “They repaired the damage, but it’ll be a long road of healing.”

She’d assumed that Deerdan was dead. That God hadn’t shown up then, or with her in the cabin. No help. No hope. No way out. Now that Julio was here, she felt as if she had something to grasp. She’d never been someone who necessarily “felt” God with her. She’d sometimes thought that meant there was something wrong with her. As if God wasn’t pleased.

Right now, she didn’t have the mental strength to push everything aside and figure it out.

Julio touched something cold to the inside of her arm. “He got you good.”

She bit her lip, more tears gathering in her eyes. Not because it hurt. Whatever Julio was doing made her arm feel better. Shedidn’t want him to see the burns. And from the look on his face, he didn’t like knowing what happened to her.

“Did he do anything else?”

Samantha stared at the emblem on his shirt.

“Sammy, did he touch you any other way?”

She managed to shake her head, and then had to sniff again.

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