Page 93 of The Mechanics of Lust

“Took you long enough, baby brother,” Jules shouted up the slope and the teasing joke told me everything I needed to know. They were okay.

A sigh of relief whooshed from my lungs. The laugh that followed sounded slightly hysterical, but the comforting arm that found its way around my shoulder felt pretty damn perfect.

“I would’ve been here sooner, but you suck at leaving a trail,” I shot back. “A few clues wouldn’t have gone amiss, brother dear. As the sibling of a SAR legend, you’re just damn embarrassing.”

Jules chuckled and the warm sound of it had tears welling in my eyes. He apologised, adding, “I didn’t think I’d need rescuing too. The satphone must’ve gone in the fall. There was no sign of it.”

His words struck home, along with the realisation I’d come damn close to losing him, to losing them both. I sucked in a shaky breath and quashed the unnerving surge of panic in my chest.

“And that’s another thing we’re going to have words about when this is over,” I grumbled. “You guys need more fucking satphones.”

“I know. I know.”

Luke’s arm dropped to my waist to give a reassuring squeeze. “Time for that later, Zach. You found them. Now, let’s finish the job and get them off this bloody hill.”

I shot him a grateful smile and surveyed the scene. Getting them up the scree wasn’t going to be easy. I shouted to Jules, “How’s he looking?”

“Cold. We both are. I think he took a bang to the head on the way down. There’s blood on that rock.” Jules indicated a boulder about ten metres from where we stood. “He was unconscious when I got here and he’s still a bit groggy and rambling. He said his legs gave way and that’s why he fell. But the right side of his face isn’t moving properly and I think he’s had a stroke. I didn’t fancy my chances of getting him back up in this shitty light without sending both of us to the bottom. I was about to evaluate my options when Hopper and Chip went crazy.”

A stroke?The idea sent a wave of conflicting emotions through my chest. The old man might’ve been a bastard about me coming out, but hell if he wasn’t still my father, and my heart flipped like a pancake at the thought of maybe losing him. It made zero sense under the circumstances, but the heart rarely made sense. I threw a glance Luke’s way. Case in point.

“We’d have never seen you if it wasn’t for the dogs,” I agreed. “And FYI, you owe me a beer or fifty when this is over. Luke as well.” I set my pack on the ground, freed the coils of rope from the side and looked for somewhere to anchor them. “The crazy guy landed next to Yellow Tarn. In this weather? Can you imagine?”

Jules smiled up at Luke. “Thanks for having his back.”

Luke tugged on the rope and gave me a thumbs-up before answering, “No problem. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he had planned and that there was zero chance of changing his mind.”

Jules laughed and I flipped them both off before tossing a couple of ropes over the edge. “You can thank me later for savingbothyour sorry arses.” I emphasised the point for my father’s benefit. “We would’ve found two popsicles tomorrow and Mum wouldn’t have been happy.”

The smile drained from Jules’ face. “I know, Zee.” He glanced down at our father. “Believe me, I know.”

“Good. Well, I hopeheunderstands how close he came to royally fucking things up. Now get those ropes around you before one or both of you take a tumble. Do you think he can hold his balance?”

One of my father’s hands lifted in the air as if to say he could manage.

“Not a chance,” Jules corrected.

“Okay, then we’ll do it the hard way. We’ll rope him up like a sausage in the tarps—” I threw a second one down. “—and then haul him up.”

Jules nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

It took a good thirty minutes before we had my father safely up the scree and onto the track. I checked him for broken bones and any other injuries that might impact my next decisions.He seemed okay other than the slackness to his features and zero strength on the entire right side of his body. As I worked, he shivered, a thin sheen of cool sweat covering his face, and although his pulse was regular, it was thin and thready. And when I laid a hand on his cheek, the cool draw of his clammy skin sang a warning. The adrenaline rush was crashing and shock was setting in.

“We should bunk down under the ledge tonight,” Jules declared like it was a foregone conclusion and began gathering everything into his pack. “Let him rest and get him down tomorrow.”

Dad grunted something that sounded like agreement, his dull grey eyes like deep pits in his ashen face. His right eyelid blinked sluggishly, the corner of his mouth loose and slick with saliva.

“No,” I countered. “I don’t like the look of him.”

Jules frowned. “Exactly. It’s too risky to be moving him down the track in the dark and in this weather.”

“We’ll do what Zach thinks is right.” Luke met Jules’ determined look with one of his own. “He’s the expert here.”

I cast a surprised glance Luke’s way but all he did was shrug and say, “It’s true.”

Jules narrowed his gaze. “I know these hills as well as my brother.” He eyed Luke like he was sizing up his options. On the station, Jules was used to issuing orders and only deferred to our father.

“I don’t doubt that,” Luke said calmly. “But Zach’s trained for exactly these types of situations. You’re not.”

---