Page 96 of Echos and Empires
“We promised,” Chris said, wiping at the cut above his eye. “You think we’d break that?” He looked at her with such intensity that it almost felt like a rebuke. “Fucking got the jump on me by shooting two of the men I was with.
The cave was chaos, a storm of emotions and injuries. Emma couldn’t focus on any one thing, any one person. Her tears wouldn’t stop, and her heart wouldn’t slow.
“Liam, you’re hurt. I—Ranger’s leg—Alex, you need, Chris,” She tried to make sense of it all, but she couldn’t and her words were little more than a jumbled mess.
“Emma!” Liam’s voice cut through, bringing her back. “It’s nothing. Really. With Victor dead the battle is done but the war isn’t over. Not yet. You need to make a statement.”
“What?” She looked at him, confusion and disbelief written on her face.
“We need to get you to the comms tower.” He was insistent, even as Alex bandaged his side. “You have to send a message to the island. You have to let them know what happened.”
She didn’t understand. Not yet. But she would. She always did. And this time, they were all here. This time, they weren’t going anywhere.
THIRTY-ONE
Liam’s shoulderthrobbed like he’d taken more damage than a damn bullet ripping past it. Even the bleeding had been slow to stop.
Which is why you’re out here in the damn truck instead of inside with Emma.
Liam was hurt, anxious and jealous as hell. Hurt because a bullet had ripped through his shoulder. Anxious because Emma was out there, maybe in danger if the group hadn’t dispersed Victor’s few men that remained. And jealous as hell because it wasn’t him by her side, helping to get her through this last piece of the fight. He was stuck waiting with Chris and the truck while Bash, William, and Alex went inside with her. The fact that he was hurting so damn much didn’t make the wait easier. Just the opposite. He wanted her back, her voice in his ear, reminding him she was safe.
He stared at the truck’s radio like it might decide to speak to him if he watched it long enough, his shoulder burning with every breath, every heartbeat. Chris sat across from him in the driver’s seat like always, looking about as bad as Liam felt. There was a makeshift bandage wrapped around his head, anotheraround his leg, but at least the bleeding had stopped. At least he wasn’t dead. Chris would likely never forgive himself that Victor attacked him and won, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was someone had gotten to Emma in time.
It was too quiet where they were, and even though they were parked right next to the building and the team had cleared the inside before taking Emma in, he didn’t feel like it was safe enough inside. Everything had gone still after the assault on Victor’s compound. He’d watched Emma disappear through the doorway, Bash in the lead and William, and Alex flanking her like shadows, with that desperate need to protect her the way they always had.
Liam didn’t want to just sit here and wait. It didn’t feel right to do nothing while she risked everything one last time, but he knew there was no choice. They’d barely gotten away from the first attack alive. He couldn’t think about what might happen on the second. He couldn’t let the pain and the panic get to him, and without use of his good arm, he wasn’t any help on the inside.
“Fuck, where is she?” Liam asked, impatience twisting his voice. He pushed himself away from the jeep, winced, and sank back against the seat. “Shouldn’t they have started the transmission by now? Or what if it really won’t work with the first tower down?”
“She’s with the guys,” Chris said, the words tired and irritated. “They’ll keep her safe. Just give them a few minutes.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
Chris exhaled, an angry sound in the silence. “They’ll get the message out. The plan will work. We can’t do shit from here, not until we hear from them, and you and I aren’t in the best of shape.”
“Yeah, and if we don’t? Hear the transmission.”
Liam knew he sounded paranoid. He knew it. But every minute that passed without hearing her voice tightened the knotin his chest and made him feel more and more useless, sitting here and hurting while Emma was out there, surrounded by who the hell knew what.
“Then we go in with our injuries and make sure they’re okay.”
It should have been him going with her. It had always been him when it really counted. The first one to find her and the first one to keep his head on straight when everything fell to shit. The first one she let touch her in the way he’d wanted from the moment they saved her from herself. And now she was with the others, putting herself on the line to make the call that would either save them all or get them all killed. Liam’s thoughts made no sense, he was never jealous of the others. It was just the danger talking and his fury that he’d been injured the last two times she’d been in danger and not there for her.
The radio stayed silent, static crackling softly. Taunting him. He clenched his jaw, closed his eyes against the heat of the sun, against the worry that chewed at him from the inside out.
At least it was just a worry. A couple of hours ago, he’d been sure it would end up worse. A hell of a lot worse.
It didn’t stop the guilt from eating at him.
His stomach twisted at the thought of what the others might have walked into. What it would mean if this final step went wrong. The first attempt had been bad enough. What if it went worse this time? They had to make the second one work. They had to let everyone know Victor was dead and Emma wasn’t. They had to make sure it was worth the pain of their bodies and the wait. It would kill him if they went through all this just to lose her. It would fucking kill him.
Chris leaned his head back, looking like he might fall asleep, but Liam knew better. He could see the lines of tension running through his body. The leader of their unit didn’t know how to rest. Especially not now. Especially not when Emma had the same odds he did of bleeding out or being captured or worse.
“You’re really not worried?” Liam asked, incredulous.
“Of course I’m worried. But I trust them. I trust her.”
Liam scowled, shook his head. “We never should’ve split up.”
