Page 56 of Sanctuary of Secrets

“We have to keep going,” she ground out, hiking up a small incline.

“No, wait—”

Her sudden scream snuffed out his words. She disappeared from sight.

“Seyla? Seyla!” With cautious steps, Jax crept forward, searching the weeds and dirt for clues. When he got close to where she’d vanished, he slid a hand across the waterlogged soil. A sharp drop-off in the earth, slick with mud, met his fingertips. When he reached farther, only air met his palm. A mudslide. Jax lay on his stomach and scooted forward to peer over the edge.

No sign of her.

A thick tree limb, broken during the storm, lay close by. Breaking off two pieces, he drove one into the ground at an angle above the mudslide, hoping it would hold. He skirted over the edge, holding onto the makeshift handle, then drove the next one in below it.

He forced himself to concentrate on his descent, blocking the myriad scenarios of Seyla lying injured, dying, or drowning at the bottom.

He drove the sticks into the earth one by one. His mind screamed in frustration at the slow progress.

He could tell water flowed with rapid speed somewhere below him now. Had the current swept her away?

Hopelessness attacked him at a level he hadn’t experienced, held at bay only by prayers and years of mental preparation exercises for tactical operations. If he gave in to the panic overtaking him, he’d be useless to her. If, in fact, she’d survived the fall. When he neared the bottom, he heard a groan. “Seyla?”

“Jax? Jax, I’m slipping. Help!”

Panic filled the words, ripping through his heart like a fishhook. Jax twisted around to verify her location. “Hold on! I’m coming!” He squinted to sharpen his focus and caught sight of her form hanging onto a downed tree trunk in the rushing waters.

“I can’t hold on much longer. I’m slip—”

She disappeared, sucked under the trunk by the powerful undertow.

“No!” Driving the sticks in one at a time, Jax felt the brisk water soaking into his shoes. After loosening one of the sticks, he swung himself onto the slippery trunk, digging the other stick in his hand into a groove. He used the trunk to springboard into the turbulent rapids, hoping to offset some of the distance between him and Seyla. Battling the pull of the fast-moving current, he yelled her name.

Darkness surrounded him, yielding no sign of her. “Help me, Lord,” he whispered.

He choked on water, nearly missing a cough to the right coupled with splashing. Taking off in that direction, he collided with a body in the rushing water. Jax grabbed onto her, holdingher in front of him. She could drown them both in her panicked state if he didn’t. “I’ve got you. Hang on!” He hoped his abilities could back up the confidence in his voice.

The water swirled around them, disorienting him.

Jax tucked Seyla close to his body and drifted with the current to save his strength, waiting for an opportunity. Hope flared when he spotted a tree limb hanging low over the water, the trunk submerged under the flood. He angled them toward it, tucking the stick he held into the side of his shorts in a deep pocket in case he needed it. “Seyla, can you hear me?”

“Yeah.”

A rush of joy unleashed within him at her steady voice. She hadn’t given up. She was a fighter. “There’s a tree limb ahead. I’m gonna tell you when to grab hold of it with your left hand. Keep your right hand in mine. Got it?”

“I can do it.”

Jax smiled to himself and kissed the top of Seyla’s head. “I know you can. Okay, ready? Three, two, one, grab!” They both grabbed the limb. However, Jax’s relief changed to dread when a sickening crack split the air, tossing them both back into the current, the broken-off limb clutched in their hands. “Don’t let go of me!” Jax shouted. “Hold on!” He felt the weight of her hand lift from the branch and grab onto him. “Let’s work to get closer to the water’s edge. I think we’ll have better luck there.”

Lord, we don’t need luck. We need your help. Please help us.

They drifted downstream, both of them shivering. The water catapulting them forward had leeched the warmth from their bodies, weakening them. A log in the water smacked into the back of Jax’s head, nearly knocking Seyla from his arms. Pain throbbed through his skull, producing waves of nausea worsened by the rapid current. His lungs were tight, his legs heavy. They had to get out soon, before the muscles in his legsstopped working altogether, dragging them both to the bottom like a cement block.

Lord, help!The simple prayer was all he had left.

They drifted further along, maneuvering closer to the edge of the water any time they had a chance. Ahead, Jax spotted a long shape looming over the water from the edge, disappearing into the current. It might be their last chance before hypothermia caused them to drown. The shape resembled two tree trunks, one on top of the other at an angle. He yanked the stick from his pocket. If he could wedge the sturdy stick between them, it would give them some leverage to hold onto.

Unless it broke.

“Hang onto me. I’m planning on wedging a stick between those fallen trees. I won’t be able to hold onto you. Loop your hand in my belt and hold on tight.”

“Okkkkay,” she answered, her teeth chattering.

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