Page 49

“No,” he moaned. “Leave me.” He managed to grip my hand. I could feel bone poking through his skin. Oh, fuck, no.

Beams crashed.

Flames sizzled in shades of blue.

The fire was out of control, consuming everything.

“No, I’m not leaving you.”

Lights. There were suddenly lights. A beam flashed across us and I winced, shielding my eyes.

“We gotta get you out of here!” Commander Jenkins and a group of men rushed in.

“Where is… Maddox? Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” another man called.

“Ah, fuck,” Commander Jenkins hissed. “Come on, son. The place is going up in flames.”

“Save him,” I shouted. Where the hell was Maddox?

Boom!

Another explosion vibrated the ground.

More screams.

Smoke. So thick. I stumbled, searching for Maddox. I couldn’t leave him.

“Out. Now! Move. Move. Move!”

“No. Not without Grant.”

“Son, we can’t help him. He’s gone. There are others.”

The commander’s voice was cut off by a series of explosions, the blasts keeping the earth beneath our feet tumbling.

I glanced down just as I was pulled to my feet.

Fuck. No. No. No!

Fuck.

I jerked from the nightmare, taking gasping breaths. Sweat was running down both sides of my face and the back of my neck. Panting, I immediately reached for my weapon, caught off guard from disorientation.

A few seconds later, I was able to focus, the moonlight streaming in through the crack in the blinds highlighting Juliette nestled under the sheets in the second bed.

I pulled my hand away from my pistol, taking several deep breaths.

I’d climbed into the other bed not long after we’d…

Fuck me.

One. Single. Mistake.

I’d made few in my life. But those I’d made had cost me dearly. In the world of battle, any mistake could erase an entire unit.I’d experienced that twice, the last time the worst. And had been reason one I’d wanted out.

The reason I had fucking nightmares. A part of me wanted to reach for the whiskey, but I resisted. Alcohol would only dull my senses and I needed to remain sharp.