Page 4 of Her Chosen Protector

“I’ll have to console myself with you. You don’t look so hot.” Kane was clearly troubled.

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” he said as he looked over Kane’s shoulder at the flames.

Kane turned his head too, and they both saw two figures running away from the plane.

“It’s going to blow. Clear out. Now!” Max roared. He and Cullen were running full tilt toward them.

“Get back,” Max yelled at them as he pointed behind them toward the forest. “Further back.”

Once again, Kane grabbed at Asher.

“Help Leo,” Asher ordered as he shrugged off Kane’s hand. He would have helped Leo himself, but he wasn’t in any shape to. He staggered toward a thick tree that was two meters in front of him and hunkered down behind it. He waited there for what seemed like hours—or was it just a millisecond?

A massive explosion reverberated throughout the forest, followed by dead silence when it finally stopped. Not even an insect buzzed. Asher counted under his breath.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“Four.”

A cacophony of bird-song burst through the air. They sounded angry at the man-made interruption of their sleep. Above it all, Asher heard the cry of disgruntled monkeys. Then he heard the crackle of the fire. His shoulders slumped as he closed his eyes and said a prayer in French that he’d learned at his mother’s knee. He’d been praying to the Holy Mother a lot in the last six months. Now she had two more good men to watch over. He gritted his teeth as the pain tried to suck him down. Because Asher knew. He fucking knew, the blood of one of the good men up in heaven was on his hands.

“Hold them close Sainte Mere de Dieu,” he quietly begged.

“Asher Thorne, you hearing me?” He lifted his head at Kane’s words.

“What?”

He shook his head trying to clear it and Xavier’s face floated away, just like his life’s blood had.

“Ash, I was just starting to tell the lieutenant that you and Perez were injured,” Kane explained.

“I’m fine,” Asher said as he forced himself to stand. “It’s just a bump on the head. It might or might not be a concussion, but I’ll let you know if I get nauseous or start seeing double. I’m good to hike into Caracas.” He kept his tone upbeat and turned his grimace into a smile.

“And if I wanted to hear from you, I would have asked you,” Max glowered. He turned back to look at Kane.

“You heard Thorne,” Kane said to Max, “it’s just a goose egg until he pukes and passes out, that’s when we worry. Meanwhile, Perez’s shoulder was dislocated, but Ezio popped it back in. He’s hurting, but he’ll live. We’ve already started divvying up his backpack contents to give his shoulder a rest.”

Max looked at Asher dubiously, but he nodded.

Ash looked around the small clearing, taking in the expressions on everyone’s faces. They were all either blank or somber. This was not how the mission was supposed to have started.

“Anything else?”

“I’m going to stick with Asher, and Raiden’s got Leo. We’ll be able to assist them if they have any issues making it to the rendezvous point.”

Max nodded again. “We’ll need to move fast. We’ve definitely made an entrance. Venezuelan authorities are going to be out after us.”

“The FAES, right? The president’s secret police?” Nic asked.

“That’s my take. They’re going to shoot first and never bother asking questions,” Max sighed.

“Lovely,” Cullen said sarcastically. “They’re nothing but street thugs with badges. This whole set-up in Caracas stinks.” He hiked up his rifle, so it sat flush against his body, eager to take retribution.

Another explosion sounded. Flames shot higher.