Page 3

CHAPTER 3

February 29 th

10:01 P.M.

Everything was hazy.

Something rumbled in the distance.

Pain sparked up and down her body.

Hands touched her.

Maybe her voice cried out, begging for mercy.

Then it was like a switch flipped.

Ava opened her eyes to see the clearest, bluest sky she’d ever seen. It was perfect, not a single cloud in sight. The sun was bright. Almost too bright. It hurt her eyes, but she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from the sky.

So pretty.

So blue.

Like it went on forever.

Did it?

What was at the end of the sky?

Was there an end to it?

Or did space just go on and on and on?

Around her people chattered. Everyone seemed to be smiling and laughing, the bright, sunshiny day good for everyone’s spirits. Including hers.

It had been a long day at work, and she was surprised that it was still so light out considering it was winter and should be dark by the time she left.

That wasn't the only strange thing.

Not only did everyone seem happy, too happy, but everything was so clean. There was no trash on the streets, all the buildings looked freshly washed, and even the snow that lay in small piles dotted about had that newly fallen look to it even though it hadn't snowed in days.

Or had it?

Maybe she was wrong?

Things seemed both too bright and too fuzzy simultaneously, which was odd, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.

But she did know where she was going.

The little bakery by her house that sold the most delicious chocolate eclairs. They were her absolute favorite treat in the entire world and since she and her team had provided essential intel today to Alpha Team as they tracked an Ethiopian warlord who had kidnapped half a dozen aid workers and intended to infect them with a deadly virus before releasing them, she felt like she, Chelsea, and Teresa deserved a special treat.

Just as she passed by an alley that ran behind the row of businesses, including the bakery, Ava was vaguely aware of a delivery van stopping too close. While she loved living in the heart of Manhattan, it also meant putting up with a lot of traffic. Sometimes she missed the quieter neighborhood she’d grown up in. Coming from a very well-off family who ran a successful investment firm had come with a lot of advantages, including the leafy neighborhood with the huge house, the enormous yard, and an amazing pool she’d enjoyed as a child.

It also came with a lot of disadvantages.

Like being expected to marry for business rather than love and being kicked out of the family when you refused.

That was what was running through her head when hands grabbed her.

Working for Prey and being surrounded by highly trained former special forces operatives meant she knew self-defense. It had been drilled into her from the time she took the job six years ago. In fact, Eagle insisted that all employees who weren't part of an active team and ran their own drills attend self-defense lessons once a month.

She was actually pretty good at it.

Granted, she’d never had to put it into real-world situations, but she knew all the right things to do depending on how she was grabbed and held, and if the person had a weapon. She’d always been confident she had what it took to get out of a bad spot.

It turned out she was wrong.

The attack was perfectly coordinated.

Lasted for no more than a few seconds at the most.

Someone grabbed her from behind with an arm banded around her chest, pinning her arms at her sides as a hand clamped over her mouth. Something pricked her neck, and almost immediately, the world shimmered around the edges.

Ava fought.

At least, she thought she did.

But her efforts were uncoordinated at best, completely belying her training, and the worst part was, she wasn't sure if it was because she’d been drugged or because of the fear coursing through her system that made her forget everything she knew.

Her last thought as whatever drug had been injected into her system sent her floating into unconsciousness, was that she had failed.

Failure that was going to get her killed.

If only she’d known what awaited her on the other side of consciousness. That it wasn't rape and a quick death, but something so horrific she had never really contemplated it as a possibility. Already these men had taken one of her organs, and now she was going to lie there helplessly tied to a bed waiting for them to take the next, then the next, and the next, until there was nothing left.

“Ava. Come on, Aves, wake up for me. Wake up, Ava. Now.”

The insistent voice yammered in her ear, but she did her best to ignore it.

She didn't want to wake up.

Who would?

At least while she was asleep, she didn't have to think about how she was lying in a bed with an IV in her arm, and nothing to do but dwell on the fact that she hadn't saved herself. That all the training she’d done over the last six years had been useless the second she was no longer in the gym at Prey’s main office working out with her friends and people she trusted.

A failure.

That’s what her parents thought she was, and they were right.

“Please, Aves, wake up for me.”

The voice, so soft, so insistent, so the opposite to the way she’d been spoken to since she was thrown into the back of that van and woke up a prisoner of an organ trafficking ring, nudged her gently toward consciousness even though it wasn't what she wanted.

“There you go. You're doing great. Open those pretty eyes for me. They’re blue, aren't they? It’s hard to tell in the dark, but they looked blue. My favorite color.”

Blue was her favorite color too.

There was something so soothing, so calming about it.

Her parents hated that. Apparently blue was not an appropriate favorite color if you were a girl. She’d never understood why. Colors were just colors, there was no right or wrong when it came to your favorite. Girls could like blue just as boys could like pink.

“Come on, Aves, wake the rest of the way up for me,” the voice urged, and this time it worked, snapping her the rest of the way awake.

Awake.

She’d been dreaming.

Reliving for the thousandth time the abduction that had forever changed her life.

Because she’d failed.

Not put into practice the moves she knew like the back of her hand.

“Good girl, you're back with me.”

Turning her head, she saw that Nathaniel was kneeling beside her. While his voice had been calm, she could see concern on his face, and she wasn't sure if it was because of her not waking up or something else.

“You’re still here,” she whispered weakly. The last thing she remembered was begging him not to leave her, then she must have passed out.

“Not leaving you behind,” he said firmly, then glanced at something over his shoulder.

Just because he wasn't leaving her and she was no longer on that boat didn't mean she was safe. Not in the least.

“What's wrong?” Ava asked.

“They know you’re gone and they’re searching for you,” Nathaniel replied, and she was grateful he didn't try to downplay things or shield her from the truth. “We might have to get into the water.”

That wouldn't be pleasant, she was in a lot of pain, and her wound was still bleeding, plus the water would be freezing. It was still a bazillion percent better than getting taken back onboard the ship.

“Okay,” she agreed.

“It’s storming,” Nathaniel added.

She nodded but didn't see how that changed anything.

It was go in the water or be found.

Water it was.

Above the howl of a storm, she could hear the distinctive sound of an approaching helicopter. Over Nathaniel’s shoulder, she could see a bright beam of light scouring the ocean.

For her.

She was an investment, and they weren't going to let her go this easily.

“Let’s go,” she said, doing her best to scramble up into a sitting position.

Nathaniel was there, his hands helping to steady her, and the relief of finally having someone on her side was immense.

A crack of lightning lit up the sky like a Christmas tree, and Ava would have sworn that the helicopter caught sight of them because it seemed to veer toward them.

Was it already too late?

Was she doomed to a slow death as her organs were harvested and sold off one at a time?

She’d thought luck was on her side. Not being tied up properly, being left alone, getting into the lifeboat without being spotted, and Nathaniel stumbling upon her. But now it looked like luck had turned its back on her.

Then another lightning spike shot through the clouds, and the next thing she knew, it hit the helicopter.

It spun through the sky, completely out of control, with flames dancing from the damaged craft.

Luck hadn't left her yet because the hit helicopter slammed into the ship she had escaped from earlier tonight and the whole thing burst into flames. There were innocent people on there who were going to die in that fire, but there were also a whole lot of bad people who would perish as well. Which meant they wouldn't be coming after her tonight.

She had a chance to live, but only if luck remained on her side.

* * *

March 1 st

5:34 A.M.

Finally.

In the distance, Nathaniel spotted the shore.

It had been a long night. The storm died down shortly after lightning hit the helicopter, sending it crashing into the ship. The wind had remained fairly strong and the seas choppy, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been and hadn't impeded his ability to get the small raft moving in the direction he wanted it.

There was no way to know how bad the damage to the ship had been. Whoever was in the helo when it crashed was almost definitely dead, and the crash would have taken out some of the people on the ship as well. Hopefully, all or at least most of the victims on board had survived so they’d be alive when the ship got to where it was going and was raided.

While that crash hadn't been good for anyone on the boat, it was for him and Ava.

With fire on the boat and some of their men dead, there were no other resources they could dispense to search for their missing captive.

Giving them the chance they needed to slip away.

Because he knew it was nothing short of a miracle that had given them that chance, Nathaniel had made sure to make the most of it.

The weather wasn't the only thing that wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Ava was still sick, definitely weak, running a fever, and in and out of consciousness, but her vitals remained stable, and she was lucid when she was awake. All he had to do was get her to the land ahead of them, and then to a hospital.

Unfortunately, whatever had happened to knock out his comms, breaking the connection to his commander and team, hadn't rectified itself as the storm died down. With the crash there had been no concern he might be given orders to leave Ava behind, so he’d immediately tried checking in again once the helo went down. There’d been no response.

Just like there’d been no response all the other times he’d tried reaching out.

Which meant for now it was just him and Ava.

Glancing down at the unconscious woman lying beside him, Nathaniel had to hope that whatever beach they were going to wash up on was close to civilization. They were off the coast of Mexico, he knew that because he knew where the ship had been and where he’d been dropped off. Getting her across the border could wind up being a problem depending on where exactly they landed and if he could contact his team.

But that was a problem for later.

Right now, he needed to get them to shore, give Ava a little time to rest, then get her home. After everything she’d been through, she deserved to live, to get back to her life and the people who loved her. Besides, if that fire had wiped out the ship, she could literally be their only lead.

“Nathaniel?”

“Yeah, Aves?” He looked down at the woman blinking open sleepy eyes and was hit by a rush of gratefulness that he was here tonight. For so many reasons. So Ava wasn't alone when the helicopter started searching for her, and he could tend to her injuries the best he could, so she didn't drift alone at sea for days before exposure took her life.

“Do you think we’re going to find land?”

There was a dullness to her eyes he didn't like, and he wished he knew what organ they’d stolen from her. Whatever it was obviously wasn't going to kill her—although infection might—but it would help to know if there was anything specific he should be doing for her, or looking out for should she start deteriorating.

“Don’t think about it, Aves. We’re going to find land.”

“How can you be so sure?” Her voice was weak, but despite the red staining her otherwise pale face and the exhaustion that covered her like a blanket, a spark of determination inside her was still visible.

She hadn't given up.

It was that spirit that had saved her life, and it was what would keep her going until he could get her safely back home.

“Take a look for yourself,” he replied, nodding in the direction of the shore he already knew was there.

Resisting the urge to reach out and help her as Ava began to struggle into a sitting position, he held back only because he didn't want her to forget about the strength that had guided her through an ordeal that would crush most people. She was going to need that strength over the coming days, weeks, and months. Years even. Her ordeal would leave scars beyond the one from the wound on her stomach.

If she asked for help, he’d offer it in a heartbeat, but Nathaniel already had a pretty good idea that the woman before him had enough determination to figure out a way through any roadblocks life threw in her path.

“Oh,” she cried out and he knew from the smile that broke out on her pretty face that she’d just spotted what he’d seen earlier. “We’re already so close to land. You did it.”

When she turned that gorgeous smile on him, he felt something shift inside him.

Just because he kept most people at a distance, including his siblings, it wasn't because he didn't care about others. It was just that he’d already reached his capacity for being let down and wasn't prepared to let another person in and risk them failing him too.

But Ava’s smile …

It did something to him.

Warmed something cold and dead inside him.

His heart.

He felt like the damn Grinch because that stunning smile of hers was making his tiny little heart grow three sizes in a single second.

“Thank you,” she said softly. She leaned closer, wincing as the movement caused her wound to pull, and touched a kiss to his cheek. “You saved my life. There is no way I would have been able to get this life raft to shore on my own.”

“Somehow I think you would have found a way,” he said honestly and because he felt uncomfortable with her praise. Compliments weren't something he was used to unless they focused on his swimming ability. Other than that, it always made him feel like the person was lying, trying to play him or manipulate him somehow.

Only he could think of no reason Ava would have for trying to manipulate him.

Maybe to try to ensure he stuck with her?

That didn't seem true, and he wasn't going to abandon her, although Ava didn't necessarily know that for certain.

“I didn't find a way to save myself when they abducted me,” Ava whispered, her smile dropping, gaze dipping so it was no longer aimed at him. She seemed to curl in on herself, and it was clear she viewed this as some sort of failure on her part, regardless of the fact that these people were professional and he doubted anyone without special forces level skills could evade them. Possibly not even that if they drugged their victims.

Was this what she’d been dreaming about earlier? What she’d been sobbing about and failing while trapped in her nightmares?

“Hey.” Hooking his forefinger under her chin, he nudged until she reluctantly lifted her gaze to meet his. “You did the impossible by escaping from them. Eagle is going to be proud of you. Hell, I'm proud of you.”

A tentative hope lit in her big blue eyes, and the gratitude in them made him uncomfortable, uncertain about how to deal with it.

So instead, he released her and focused on navigating his little craft to the shore.

Because he knew that Ava would insist that she could manage on her own, and he wanted her to conserve her strength, when they reached the shore, he scooped her up, jumped into the water, and carried her the remaining distance to the sand. Then he scanned the area, looking for a safe place to hole up for a little while before he found them help. As much as he wanted to run until he found a phone, he had to acknowledge the possibility that someone from the ship would have gotten the word out about the escaped prisoner, and all beaches in the area may be patrolled.

When his gaze landed on some caves, he headed there, setting Ava down toward the back of the largest one. He’d have to go and drag the raft in there with them, then sweep down the sand so his tracks were no longer visible, but he didn't like the idea of leaving his charge.

This woman had messed with his head in mere hours, what would she do given more time?

Regardless of whether or not he was on the lookout for a girlfriend, and he absolutely was not, this woman was way too good for him. She was strong, beautiful, brave, and sunshiny goodness.

He was cold, hard darkness.

The kind of darkness that would crush her light.