Page 122 of Reclaimed

“I have to go.” Sutton opens his door and steps out. He’s strapped in a bulletproof vest, his face stoic. “I need you to stay in the car, Aiden.”

Our eyes lock across the driver’s seat. “I will.”

“No matter what you see or hear. Donotget out of this car.”

“I said I will!” I explode. I see him flick his gaze to Lee before returning it to me.

“I’m going to get your girl.”

“Bring her back to me, Sut. Please bring them both back to me.”

The deep inhale he takes is visible. “Stay here.” His palm crashes once against the top of the vehicle and then he’s gone.

My skin itches with the need to get out and run. The fight element is strong, bursting through me like an electric current. But I stay put. I’m lucky to even be here. I don’t have any training or a weapon. I can’t go off half-cocked around a bunch of trained officers. I’d find myself face down in a pair of cuffs before I could even tell them my name.

At the sound of a single gunshot that all changes. Sutton’s order fades into the background of my consciousness as I hear the shouts.

Shot fired!

There are three hearts beating in that cabin.

Two of them I’d willingly die for.

The door flies open and my feet carry me across the forest floor before I consciously decide to move. Before I can reach the edge of the driveway, Lee’s arms band around my chest.

“Let me go!”

“No,” he grunts. “Hang on, Aiden. They’re getting her.”

The SWAT team breaches the cabin, but it’s not enough. It’s not me in there. “She needsme.”

“I know. You’re right here. As soon as they get her out, you’ll have her!”

“Fuck.” I push his arm, pull it, beat against it. In the end, I grip it as I feel like I stop breathing.

“She’s coming soon. Hang on, brother.”

Minutes pass like hours staring at the empty hole in the front of the cabin where the door normally is. The black void beckons me. Leading me inside to what could very well be the end of my life. I simply refuse to return to the empty shell I was without her.

A flicker of movement has me bracing against Lee. Sutton’s salt-and-pepper head emerges first, his arm wrapped tight around the love of my life. Her face is pressed against his vest, but she’s walking.

She’s alive.

The weight around my chest falls away and I sprint across the brown, dying grass and carpet of pine needles. Her head pops up, her terrified eyes finding mine.

“Aiden!” she screams, fighting against Sutton’s hold.

He doesn’t have to restrain her for long. In a second, I’m there. We collide, and I pull her flush against my body. “I’m here.” I breathe against her hair.

“You’re here.” She begins to cry.

“Shh.” I palm the back of her head, tucking her face into my throat. The feeling of her warm breath against my skin washes away any remaining fear. She’s safe. She’s in my arms. Now it’s time for me to put aside my feelings and take care of her.

“Get it off.” Her shoulders shake as she claws at the neckline of the dress draped across her body.

“I need a cover,” I say hoarsely. Sutton sprints away at my request. “Come on, starshine. We’ll get you free.”

But she doesn’t wait. Isla starts tearing the fabric from her skin. The threadbare cloth rips and shreds beneath her fingers. Just as the disintegrating material pools at her feet, Sutton returns with a thick blanket.

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