Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
She kept her gaze fixed on the scene playing out below her. The Kopassus were tying their prisoners’ hands behind their backs and not being very gentle about it. She didn’t blame them. The soldiers had to have seen the dead in the village of Lupa Suku as well as their wounded and fallen comrades. The MSS had murdered the World Health Organization’s doctors to bait a trap. Who did that? The WHO were men and women who had dropped everything and come at a call for help from the Indonesian government. The soldiers had every right to be angry with the prisoners. She didn’t feel in the least sorry for them, no matter what was in store for them.
Did you warn Joe to tell them to burn the bodies? I used a blowgun.
Of course. They know not to take chances. The MSS prisoners will be quarantined and their blood tested.
She was suddenly very tired. Exhausted. That alarmed her. She knew fatigue was one of the symptoms of the onset of the virus. She forced herself to examine her body for any other signs. Her muscles ached. Everywhere. Arms. Legs. Shoulders. Especially her neck.
She tried to slow her pounding heart. For a moment she debated telling him. If she said it, the probability of the virus spreading through her body became real. She knew she was going to have to. He had always been so honest with her and she’d tried to dismiss it, to find other explanations for his symptoms. How had he been so matter-of-fact?
She closed her eyes and drew in air, trying to remain calm when she wanted to panic. Strangely, her body actually prepared for flight. It wanted to run, to stay ahead of the certain death sentence. She forced herself to think, to get past the chaos in her mind. Blood thundered in her ears, drowning out the sounds of the cicadas, something nearly impossible in the Sumatra forest.
She understood why Draden hadn’t wanted to have sex with her. She felt—disgusting. For the first time, it was real to her that she was infected, and the virus would liquefy her organs and eventually kill her.
Shylah?
The moment she heard his whisper, that soft, intimate sound, she pulled away from him. Not pulled. Jerked. She knew this reaction wasn’t about dying. It was solely about the way she was going to die. She couldn’t face him until she got herself under control. The moment the soldiers faded away, she was going to go for a long walk and try to get some of the adrenaline to leave her body, so her fight-or-flight reflex wasn’t so strong. She just couldn’t face Draden, not until she was every bit as calm and accepting about the virus as he was.
12
Draden leapt from the trees the moment the Kopassus cleared out. As a rule, he would have waited for a few minutes, even a half hour, to ensure they were really gone before he moved. This time he took Joe at his word, that everyone was in helicopters and the soldiers were back, circling the ranger cabin so they were safe from intruders.
Something was wrong with Shylah. She’d withdrawn from him, and she’d never done that before. Not once. She’d been open and honest almost since the moment they met. It was that trait that drew him to her. He knew something had to be wrong and she was falling back on her normal way of dealing with things—alone. He knew because he was that way.
Baby, talk to me. He tried coaxing, using their intimate connection.
There was something beautiful about being in each other’s mind. No matter how alone, the moment the other poured in, there was warmth and happiness. She filled all those empty places in him where he struggled with human connections. He hoped he did the same for her. She’d always responded. Always.
She wasn’t hurt. He would have known. He raced across the small open space to the house and up the porch. She’d come down off the roof, he’d seen her slide to the side of the building in order to climb down the side. She wasn’t inside. He swore, biting profanities out between his teeth. He should have been watching her instead of the soldiers.
Not kidding around with you, woman. I need to know you’re safe. Talk to me.
There was a small silence. He counted every one of his heartbeats. Waiting. He’d never had this experience before. This was a first. He’d never cared about someone this way and her silence—leaving him not knowing what was wrong—nearly drove him insane.
Damn it, Shylah. I’m coming after you. You have to know I am.
He began casting around for her tracks. She’d sprinted for the forest. It was still light and with the storm mostly gone, there was only drizzling rain. The sky was overcast. The air muggy. His shirt and jeans were plastered to his body.