Page 15 of Rusty's Command

And Soda—was she okay? That yelp . . . did she get hit? Was she lying back there, bleeding out? Or worse, already gone?

The thought of that brave, beautiful dog dying because of her . . .

Gunfire pinged off the rocks around her, growing closer. Rusty’s answering shots came slower now, more deliberate. Each crack of his pistol counted down like a timer. How many rounds did he have left? Did he have spare bullet thingys? The thought of him running out sent ice through her veins.

He was behind her, shielding her, deliberately making himself a target. If something happened to him—or their dogs . . . The thought twisted fear into her gut and carved guilt deep into her mind.

Her foot struck something hollow, a sound so alien and wrong that it reverberated through her bones before her brain could process it.

The ground gave way.

She screamed as the earth crumbled beneath her, dissolving into nothingness. The world tilted violently as she fell through the ground, clawing at the jagged edges to stop her descent. Volcanic rock tore into her palms, shredding her skin, but she couldn’t hold on.

Her stomach plunged as gravity yanked her into the void and blackness rushed up to meet her, swallowing her whole.

She hit the ground hard and the impact drove into her like a sledgehammer. Air punched from her lungs and her head cracked against something solid. White stars exploded behind her eyes, fragmenting her vision into painful shards as lightning bolts of agony ripped up her spine.

She lay there, gasping and each breath sent knives through her chest.

Something wet and warm trickled down her temple, and copper flooded her mouth.Shit! I’m bleeding.

Somewhere far above, gunfire continued to echo, but it sounded distant and warped like she was hearing it through swamp water. Reality seemed to pulse in and out with each throb of her head.

Through the high-pitched ringing in her ears, Rusty’s voice cut through everything else, sharp with a panic that matched hers when she’d found Paige.

“Sienna!” Raw fear laced his voice.

She couldn’t respond. Her world wobbled in and out.

Everything went black.

CHAPTER 5

Rusty

Rusty skiddedto the edge of the gaping hole. “Sienna!” His voice vanished into the volcanic tube Sienna had fallen into. No response.

Twenty feet below, maybe more, Sienna lay crumpled on her side, one arm twisted awkwardly beneath her. In the dim light, he couldn’t see her face, only the unnatural stillness of her body.

Beside him, Pickle crept to the edge, releasing a high-pitched whine that pierced Rusty’s chest like a knife. Soda pressed against Rusty’s leg, trembling with barely restrained energy, her coiled muscles waiting for his command.

“Sienna.” His voice cracked, raw with blind fucking rage.

Gunfire erupted behind him, rounds snapping past his head, kicking up volcanic debris around him and the dogs. But he didn’t move. Couldn’t. His focus was locked on Sienna below, his mind screaming the one thing he couldn’t let himself believe:She can’t be gone.

“Motherfuckers.” He rolled to his side and squeezed two shots toward the ridgeline where two of the shooters coweredbehind buckled lava. Another gunman used a fallen ohia trunk for cover. Their wild return fire confirmed they were amateurs, but they had him pinned in the open, one lucky shot away from being meat.

His back throbbed where two rounds had slammed into his vest. Good thing he’d been paranoid enough to wear his Kevlar today. Soda had gotten lucky, too. A bullet had bounced off her Kevlar rather than penetrating her center mass. Still had her fighting mad, though. She would rip out their throats when he gave the command.

He was looking forward to that.

The next volley of bullets chewed rock inches from his head. Fragments stung his face.

“Sienna!” He pressed flat against the edge of the hole, calculating the distance to her. She’d fallen into a massive lava tube that was big enough to swallow a truck.

“Sienna. Move your hand if you can hear me.” Nothing. Just darkness swallowing his words.

His throat tightened.

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