Page 175 of The Illicit Play

My brain starts short-circuiting as I picture her wounded, all alone, bleeding out on the forest floor.

“Shit, Wily!” I run a hand through my hair, breaths punching out of me. “Shit!”

“Hey, dude.” Wily quickly switches roles with me, his voice easing me out of this sudden, blinding panic. “Chill. I need you to stay calm. I need you to find her, okay? Promise me that you’ll find her.”

“I have to,” I choke out. “Because I’m gonna lose my shit if I don’t. Wily, she’s got to be okay.” Images of me stumbling over her frozen body make my heart rate spike.

“She will be.” Wily’s only saying what I need to hear, but he can’t hide the underlying fear lacing his tone. “She’ll be okay, but only if you stop freaking out and go do your thing. Go find my sister, Grady.”

I swallow, nodding and sucking in a breath as I let that sizzling terror rip through me, then force my body around to the back of my Jeep.

“If I haven’t heard from you in an hour,I’mcalling search and rescue,” he tells me.

“Yeah, okay. Reception might be a little sketchy once I get into the forest, but I’ll do my best to keep you posted.” We say a quick goodbye, and I hang up before pulling out my emergency supplies.

I go through them, quickly repacking my smaller daypack and taking the essentials for this situation. The guys always hassle me about having a backup for my backup. Well, it’s for moments like this!

I don’t know what I’m gonna find, but I remind myself that Blake can survive a night. It’ll take temperatures much colder than this for a body to freeze. She’ll probably be dehydrated and suffering mild hypothermia, but she’ll still be alive.

As long as an animal hasn’t gotten to her first… but if she’s making enough noise as she moves around, they’ll probably keep their distance anyway.

“She has to be alive,” I tell myself, willing the statement to calm me, forcing my brain to conjure up images of me finding her sleeping peacefully just off the trail, or stargazing by the lake where we spent our first night.

“But she might be injured.” I have to be prepared for any scenario, right?

Placing my first-aid kit at the top of my bag, I then throw in an extra bottle of water, forcing my brain away from more wildlife nightmares.

Mountain lions, black bears, coyotes. Does she know how to deal with those?

Shit, shit, shit!

Fear is taking out my barely there calm like machine-gun fire.

I’ve never felt like this before.

The thought of losing her is fucking killing me.

Because you’re in love with her. You found your cosmic match, and you just didn’t realize it!

Snatching the bear spray, I slip it into my pocket as a final precaution, then close up my Jeep and catch my reflection in the glass.

“You!” I point to myself. “Calm down and go find her.”

Clenching my jaw, I suck a few deep breaths inthrough my nose, then turn and start running. Shouting her name, I head down the most likely trail and scour the ground for dainty shoe prints.

CHAPTER 62

BLAKE

I’m so cold I can barely think straight. My muscles are so exhausted from shivering that they’ve lost all power, and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.

Every time I drift off and my head starts to tip, I jolt awake, a flush of adrenaline running through my body.

“Stay awake.” My speech is way more slurred than it was last night.

The longer I’m out here, the drowsier I become, and I can feel the danger nipping at the edges of my brain.

I’m in trouble.