Coulter bent over Neve, palming her cheek until she blinked a few times, slivered open her eyes. He took her hand from Wynn’s, held it tight. “Hey, beautiful. Eyes on me, sweetheart.”
Neve coughed, faded then jolted back, staring up at him as if he’d actually saved her. “Next time, you ride the lift.”
He laughed. Not because it was funny but because she was still alive. Still able to be saved. He leaned in close, warming her clammy skin with his. “Deal, but that means you gotta keep fighting. Keep breathing.”
She nodded. Not much, maybe an inch of movement before her eyes drifted closed.
He squeezed her hand. “That’s an order Master Warrant. Eyes open and on me.”
Neve groaned again. “I take it back. You’re not charming, you’re a hardass.”
“Damn straight. And I’ll only get worse if you even think of dying on me.”
Wynn wrapped the last of the bandages, zipped her kit. “Her pressure’s dropping. She needs blood, and I can’t do that here. We need to move, now.”
Coulter released Neve’s hand, then scooped her up, using his shoulder to keep pressure on her side as he headed for the ladder, careful not to jostle her as he climbed down, ribs screaming, head pounding. His boots clanged on the wet metal, each step broadcasting his position.
Wynn had Scout and Zadie on the comms, coordinating the rest of the retreat, as she followed him down, doing her best to sweep the area with her rifle. Scout met them at the bottom, mouth pinched tight, her rifle at the ready.
Her voice wavered as she stared at Neve. “Anyone left standing took off in a couple Hummers. Said something about Ramsey rigging the place to blow. I’ll take point. You just focus on following without tripping.”
She turned, raced across the pit, looking more than lethal as she cleared each section, then darted ahead, ducking back through the fence. She grabbed the cutters, cut the chain link all the way through, then peeled back one side.
Coulter squeezed through, headed for the SUV when a deep whop pounded the air, the heavy beat echoing in his chest. A spotlight panned the forest a few miles off, blinking lights marking out the helicopter’s progression.
Scout jumped behind the wheel, revving the engine once they’d clambered in, Wynn wedged between the seats as she took Neve’s vitals. Gravel pinged off the undercarriage, the entire vehicle fishtailing as Scout roared down the road, taking the turns as if she knew what was around the corner before they’d even reached it.
The rotors sounded louder, that light brightening the canopy just ahead of them. Scout veered off the road, nosing the SUV into a tight opening between two massive spruce as the chopper soared overhead, the large beam sweeping over them, then continuing on.
Coulter bit back a curse. While he knew they needed to wait until it was clear, he couldn’t stop staring at Neve. At the blood already seeping through the bandages. How she faded in and out of consciousness, giving him fleeting glimpses of her insanely blue eyes.
It should be him bleeding out.
Wynn started an IV, adjusting the rate of the fluid before she nudged him. “You’re O neg, right?”
Coulter didn’t wait, just rolled up his sleeve. “Take whatever you need.”
“Easy there, big guy. She just needs a pint to keep her stable until we get back to the bunker. I’d use someone else, but no one else is a match.”
“We both know she’s lost more than a pint.”
“And we both also know you’re in no shape to be donating one, let alone more. But my gut says you won’t outright die on me before we get back, so…” Wynn looked over her shoulder at Scout. “Give me sixty seconds before you peel out.”
Scout waited until the chopper disappeared over the training site, and Wynn gave her theall clearsign, then reversed, kicking the vehicle back up to speed a heartbeat later. She glanced in the rearview, eyes narrowed, lips twisted into the beginnings of a frown. “RCMP, again. We’re lucky we got out when we did.”
Coulter looked out the back, the scenery dipping and blurring a bit. “Do you think that guy you know, I think Neve said his name is Quinn, was on it?”
Scout met his gaze in the mirror for a moment. “Probably.”
“You okay?”
Her focus dropped to Neve. “Ask me again after Darwin pulls another save out of his ass.” She hit the accelerator. “Hold on. We’re not losing anyone tonight.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Cold.
The kind that burned into her bones, drained any hint of energy out of her. Left her drifting in a void she knew she might not escape this time.