Page 33 of Shadows Relived
Callen glanced at her, a smug smirk twisting his lips. “Seems someone found a trap I left out there. Let’s hope the rest of them find the others.” Callen shouldered the pack with a grunt and motioned her forward. “Get the kids moving. I’ve got point.”
Meaghan’s throat tightened as she helped Sophie upand whispered reassurance into her curls. Behind them, Lucas and Willie scrambled to their feet. She moved to Callen’s side as they began picking through the underbrush again, and before she could stop herself, her hand brushed his arm.
“You shouldn’t be walking.”
His mouth twitched, almost a smile she knew he forced. “Then you’ll just have to carry me if I fall.”
She blinked hard, biting back the surge of emotion. No time for tears. No time for fear.
They had to survive.
And then they moved, the boys trailing close behind, Sophie clutching her arm as she stayed close to Callen, just in case.
The trees were a blur of green and shadow as they stumbled through the dense woods, Callen bleeding and the kids gasping for breath between sobs. Meaghan clutched Willie’s hand in one of hers, Sophie’s in the other, while Lucas kept close to her hip, eyes wide and terrified. The air was thick with humidity, buzzing insects, and the coppery scent of blood, Callen’s blood.
Branches snagged her sweater as she ducked under a low limb, her lungs burning with every gasp. Behind her, Lucas stumbled, and she reached back blindly, catching his arm before he hit the ground. Callen still led the way, even shot, pale and sweating. His hand remained steady on the compact pistol as he cleared the path with slow, deliberate steps. Each time he staggered, she felt it like a punch to the gut. She had no idea how he was still on his feet. She should’ve been stronger. Faster. She should’ve remembered Lucas had an iPad.Then they wouldn’t be in this trouble. Callen wouldn’t be shot and bleeding out.
The gunfire had stopped. Either they’d lost interest or were regrouping, but she knew better than to think they were safe. Not yet. Not until they were far from the cabin, far from that damn iPad and the signal that had doomed them.
“Here,” he rasped, pointing to a low outcropping of rock overgrown with ferns and brambles. “There’s a hollow behind it. Used to store gear there a long time ago. We can hide there for a few.”
She pushed the kids ahead, ushering them into the dark, narrow crevice. It wasn’t much, but it shielded them from sight. As she ducked in last, Callen collapsed to his knees just outside, his back to the stone, keeping guard.
The kids collapsed to the ground, gasping and whimpering, and Meaghan fell to her knees beside them. Sophie clung to her, burying her face in Meaghan’s side, while Willie pressed against her other shoulder. Lucas curled in, his face blotchy and tear-streaked.
Callen remained where he was, hand on his weapon, his body still alert despite the pain etched deep in the furrow of his brow. Finally, he turned, staggered slightly, and sat down hard.
“You need to come inside,” she whispered, touching his shoulder.
He shook his head, though. “Not until I know they’re safe.”
“You’re going to bleed out if you don’t let me look at that.”
He exhaled slowly, the sound like wind through gravel. “You remember that first-aid kit in my pack?”
She nodded.
“Get it. And hurry. We can’t stay here for long.”
She slid from the crevice and tugged the bag from his shoulder. When she unzipped it, the sight of the blood-soaked material around his waist nearly broke her.
“Jesus, Callen,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice calm for the kids’ sake.
“It’s just a graze.”
“Bullshit.”
He didn’t argue.
She opened the emergency kit, hands trembling, and began cutting away the fabric. The wound was a through and through, high on his side, painful but not life-threatening. Still, it needed cleaning and bandaging.
“Graze my ass,” she told him, her face pinched as she stared at it. “This needs stitches.”
“No time. Just patch it up for now.”
She worked fast. Gloves. Gauze. Disinfectant. Her hands trembled, not because of the blood, but because it was his blood. She’d watched him walk away once before, telling her it was for the best. And now that he was back in her life, in her arms, he might not walk away at all.
Because he might not survive whoever was after them.
