Page 49

Under normal circumstances Ian would put this shitty day right up there at the top of his list of days in his life that had purely sucked. Except for one thing. Piper’d said she loved him. And damned if she hadn’t sounded like she’d meant, it, too.

The idea had distracted him enough that he’d actually been able to forget the terrible deadline they were working under for a few minutes at a time. He was even able to forget the throbbing pain in his shoulder from time to time. Which was saying something. The joint hurt like a bitch.

They were in big trouble. With no sign of water anywhere, they would survive maybe one more day in this blistering heat before one or both of them collapsed.

And then they were done for. His only hope was to put on an everything’s-fine face, pray for a miracle, and do his best to keep Piper in a positive frame of mind.

Ideally, they would walk all night and rest all day tomorrow.

But time and that damned virus were against them.

If they stopped before it cooled down too much tonight, they could set up a condensation collector with their tarp and gather a few ounces of water for themselves. And right now, every drop counted.

He marched Piper onward until he estimated it was about midnight.

Then, he veered toward a long ridge of red volcanic rock he’d been paralleling for hours.

It should be riddled with caves, which would provide a little shelter against the night cold still to come.

Piper following, uncomplaining, but stumbling more often than before. Brave girl.

It didn’t take long to find an overhang with some scrub bushes in front of it.

And tonight, he wasn’t picky about where they stopped.

They just needed a small space in which to trap their body heat.

Piper went to work piling rocks and brush up to mostly enclose the crevice while he dug a water pit with his bare hands and a flat rock he used like a spade.

They spread their precious plastic tarp over the empty pit after centering an old tin can he’d found earlier underneath the tarp.

He poked the center of the tarp down to a point so condensation that formed overnight on the underside of it would run down the plastic and drip into the can.

Hopefully by morning they’d have a few swallows of water apiece.

Piper declared their shelter ready, and he crawled into the low space.

She had cleared away all the rocks and gravel and laid out a bed of brush and smashed tumbleweed for them.

She crawled in after him, and they cuddled on the surprisingly comfortable makeshift bed.

Or maybe it just felt that good to lie down and quit moving at long last.

She groaned beside him. “How’s your shoulder?”

“It’ll be okay. Not high on the priority list at the moment.”

“We’re not going to make it out of here, are we?” she asked in a small voice.

He rolled onto his good shoulder and drew her close. Their breath mingled, and as their body heat did the same, he felt a little better. “I’m going to do my level best to get us out of this alive.”

“That’s not an answer.”

He sighed. “It’s the best I can do and still be honest with you.”

She laid her palm against his cheek and leaned back enough in his arms to stare up at him in the near total darkness. “There’s no need to sugar coat it for me. How bad is our situation?”

“If we don’t’ find water tomorrow, we’re going to be in a world of hurt.

And it’s not like we can just sit out here and hunker down to work at surviving.

We’ve got to get to civilization and let the authorities know how to stop the virus.

And tell them all to start looking for El Noor. That he—or she—is the mastermind.”

They were silent for a few minutes, resting in each other’s arms. She said reflectively, “If I have to die, I’m glad it’s with you, Ian.”

“We’re not going to die!”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not giving up. Not by a long stretch. I’d give anything to live to a ripe old age with you. I’m just saying. If we both have to die, I’m glad you’re here with me.”

The idea of growing old with her rolled over him like a tidal wave. Yeah, he’d have liked that, too. Having some kids. A passel of grandkids who invaded his home on holidays with noise and laughter and the happy chaos he’d grown up with. Piper would make a hell of a mother, he’d bet.

He pushed her hair off her face to stare down at her. “Only thing you have to do is live. For me. For us.”

She smiled up at him sadly. “I appreciate the pep talk. I really do. But I know the score. We’ve got about one more day, and then we’ll die of dehydration.

And if that doesn’t get us, the virus will.

This is the mission that was bigger than us.

The one that got away. But hey. It was a good run. And I got to meet you before the end.”

He would have cursed and raged and battered at her defeatist attitude if there was even the tiniest glimmer of hope that she was wrong. But as it was, he could only sigh and pull her closer to him. “You’re a hell of a woman, Piper Roth.”

“Thank you for not lying to me,” she whispered, her words slipping into the night on silent wings.

“You’re welcome.”

“I do love you,” she murmured low.

He absorbed the words into himself like healing water, cool and soothing to his soul. “I love you, too.”

She went very still. “It’s a hell of a note that we found each other now, huh?”

“Better late than never.”

“Amen.”

To have found Piper just in time to lose her, to lose his life, was hard to swallow with grace. But for her sake, he did his best. He wasn’t about to give up on getting both of them out of this mess alive. He had to stay focused. But he couldn’t resist repeating, “I love you.”

Damn, it felt good to say that. Now, if only it weren’t too late to act upon it.

Piper stared at Ian’s shadowed profile in awe. Who knew three such simple little words could carry such profound meaning? She stared at him, letting his quiet, intense declaration of love and all the emotion and loss and discovery behind it sink into her soul.

She loved him, too. More than herself. More than life. This love filling her and spilling over into him felt bigger than both of them. Eternal. Sacred.

They might have failed in their mission, might have lost everything and merely be biding time until the end, but at least they’d found each other. And it was enough. She could die in peace.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for everything.”