Page 28 of Brawler
He leveled his gaze on her, letting her see the edge she’d put there. “I was distracted by something red and annoying.”
Emily let out a bark of laughter, the sound spilling bright in the dark. “Oh,touché. I heard most green giants are jolly. I thought maybe you’d lost the gene somewhere.”
He rose in one smooth motion, towering over her, his fists curling tight. “Yeah. Somewhere between a rescue and a nut punch.”
Tex’s voice slammed into his ear, shredded by static, “…where the fuck are you! Flash is—” Then silence, the jungle swallowing the rest.
Brawler froze, stomach dropping. He’d been lax. He’d let her drag him into the fog, the banter, the fucking sparks of it, and fora split second he’d forgotten the world was on fire. The fog of war was one thing. Emily Shade was another. She was her own storm front, overtaking him, scattering his focus like leaves in a gale.
Not again. Never again.
Security was his first concern. He grabbed her hard, hauling her into cover behind a jut of tangled roots. She made a soft, angry sound, but he ignored it. His arm locked around her small frame, anchoring her whether she liked it or not.
He swore, low and vicious, scanning the dark. His rifle was gone, lost in the tumble, but his sidearm was still holstered. He drew it, thumb brushing the safety, eyes cutting through the shifting shadows.
No movement. No sound. Just the press of jungle night, thick and breathless, like the world was holding still.
Emily seethed beside him, her fury sparking through the air, her nerves jangling against his as sharp as Beast’s tension ever did. He didn’t have to look to feel it, the tight little knot of pixie madness, jaw clenched, chest rising quick under her pack straps.
Brawler depressed his comm. “LT?”
Nothing but static.
His curses came soft and deadly. He ripped the connector, reseated it, tried again. “LT?”
The jungle crackled back at him, Tex’s voice bleeding through, ragged with fury. “…Brawler, copy! You’re breaking up. We can’t wait…Flash?—”
The words dissolved into static. Brawler forced himself to block it out, focusing on the signal, the mission.
“Fell down a slope,” he bit out. “No way back to you. We’re uninjured for the most part.”
More static. Then, clearer, Tex’s voice slammed through.“Fuck! Go around. We’ll meet when you hit higher ground.”
“Copy that,” Brawler said, clipped and hard. His next words ground out. “What about Flash?”
Static swallowed the answer. Nothing but the hiss of interference.
Brawler’s jaw clenched tight, fury gnawing at his control. He holstered the sidearm with a snap. Emily’s eyes, fierce and bright as hammered metal, burned at him, her jaw locked just as tight as his.
The jungle pressed in, hot and heavy, the two of them braced against each other like flint and steel, sparks inevitable.
“Stay here,” he growled.
Emily’s mouth opened, protest already forming, but he caught her chin in his gloved hand, tilting her face up until her eyes locked on his. “Don’t test me. We are fucked right now, so unless you’ve got some tactical advice I need to hear, shut it and don’t move.”
Her wildfire stare was quick and consuming, but he didn’t have time for her anger.
“Beast. Guard.”
The dog shifted instantly, planting himself at Emily’s side, hackles raised, eyes fixed on the dark. She gave Brawler a grudging nod, jaw tight, like she wanted to bite him for the order but knew better than to risk it.
He swept the jungle with his NVGs, every sense stretched taut. The night pressed close, too quiet, the air thick with the damp reek of earth and gunpowder.
He moved back to the slope where he’d tumbled, boots sinking into loose soil. Searching under NVGs was easy as pie, every branch and rock glowing green. A glint in the leaf litter caught his eye.
His rifle.
Brawler crouched, brushed it off, fingers running the familiar length, tension easing a fraction. He checked the chamber, then took stock of his vest. Three full mags. One full clip. Enough to do damage. Enough to keep them alive.
