Page 13 of Into the Storm

ChapterFour

Audrey screamed as she took a step back, then stopped short. She was only steps away from the edge of the cliff. Unable to retreat, she planted her boots and raised her arms to somehow fend off the coming knife attack.

Xavier was a blur as he launched himself at the man, catching the assailant around the waist and slamming him to the ground. The two men rolled, bumping into Audrey and knocking her down, close to the edge. She scrambled to the side to get out of the way, then gasped as Xavier rolled toward the brink, gripping the other man’s knife-wielding arm by the wrist to stop the blade from plunging downward into Xavier’s throat.

She’d seen the scars on his left shoulder. She knew the arm that held the knife at bay was the weaker one. He lacked full range of motion with his left arm.

She crawled to the side, looking for something, anything that would help, and spotted a jagged cobble the size of a grapefruit, a meter away at the base of one of the warning signs. She scrambled toward it as Xavier and the dark shadow of a man grappled at the edge of the cliff.

She hadn’t thrown a softball since middle school, but she chucked the rock with all her strength.

It hit the man in the neck and thumped down onto Xavier’s chest, but it was the distraction her SEAL needed. He shoved upward, pitching the specter back and reversing their positions. The knife disappeared into the void beyond the cliff edge, and Xavier straddled the assailant, landing blows with both fists on the man’s face.

“Who are you?” Xavier asked between blows. “Who do you work for?”

The man said nothing and managed to land a few punches of his own.

They grappled and rolled, and again, Xavier was at the edge, on his back.

She searched for another rock, but before she could lay her hands on one, Xavier kicked upward. The man launched into the air, but his hand caught the night vision goggles mounted to the top of Xavier’s helmet.

Panic surged in Audrey’s chest as momentum from the kick sent the man over the cliff, his hands grasping equipment strapped to Xavier’s head. The moment seemed to freeze as the SEAL was jerked toward the edge.

Audrey dove forward to grab Xavier at the same time he punched at the man’s hand and twisted his head.

In a blink, the specter disappeared over the edge, taking Xavier’s goggles with him. A chilling wail echoed across the lake.

Xavier still teetered on the edge. Audrey grabbed him, centering his weight firmly on the wide flat.

He rolled toward her, adding more distance between himself and the edge, then flopped to his back. His breath came out in ragged pants.

Audrey collapsed beside him, her heart still pounding. “You almost went over.”

He rapped on his helmet, then dropped his hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I could’ve worn full gear for this exercise. But I’m just a trainer—not participating, just observing—so I passed on body armor and chose this cheap, lighter helmet. I only needed it to mount the NVGs so I can monitor the team in the dark. And the cheap-ass mounting clip on this helmet just saved my life.”

She took that in. Breathed it, like his words were air. A mounting bracket on a helmet was such a minor thing to be the difference between life and death. She squeezed his hand, feeling so thankful for the cheap helmet’s crappy mount.

She rolled to her side, facing him. “Thank you for saving my life,” she whispered. “When he charged me, all I could do was freeze.”

“There was nothing else you could do, given where you were standing.” He rolled toward her, bringing them chest to chest. He brought their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to her glove. “Thank you for saving mine too.”

“I didn’t—”

“My shoulder was a hairsbreadth away from giving out. If you hadn’t thrown that rock, I don’t know what would have happened.” He shifted, rolling the joint. “Fuck, that hurts.”

She wanted to reach out and touch him, to try to soothe his pain, but getting too familiar with Xavier Rivera was certain to only bring her more agony.

She rolled to her back again. “Who was he?” It was a silly question. Xavier couldn’t possibly know more than she did, but they were the first words that came to mind.

“No clue.”

“Why come at me with a knife? Wasn’t that a rifle strapped to his back?” It had all happened so fast, she hadn’t registered the rifle she’d seen until just now.

“He might simply prefer knives. Or he wanted to avoid the noise. Gunshots would have echoed across the lake.”

She rose to her feet. “We need to find George.”

“Audrey,” he said as he too stood.