Page 110 of Hero's Prize

“Good. Can Colton walk?”

“He’s going to have to. The only way I’m going to be able to move him is if he helps.”

“Okay. Restrain Tony and then start moving Colton toward the car. You’ve got help headed in your direction.”

She glanced over at Colton. “He doesn’t look good, Callum.”

“He’s strong. You just get him moving. There is a bad storm coming in that direction.”

Great. The last thing she needed.

She disconnected with Callum and found zip ties to restrain Tony’s wrists and ankles, not that she thought he would be going anywhere anyway. Then she walked back over and tapped Colton’s cheeks again.

“Okay, buddy, naptime is over. We’ve got to get moving.”

“Tired.”

She moved his shirt and looked down at his wound. Blood was starting to seep through the bandage.Shit.

“We’ve got to go, Harrison.”

She slid his arm around her shoulders and slipped her arm around his waist, careful of his wound, hooking her fingers into his belt loop. “On three we get up, okay? One, two, three.”

It took all of her strength to get him to standing, and even then, most of his weight was on her. They started taking a few shuffling steps out into the darkness, and she prayed she’d be able to find the car.

It was slow going. Colton could only take a few steps at a time and fell more than once. She was running out of energy herself, but there was no way she was going to stop. Especially once the rain started.

The storms here in Colorado were just as quick and violent as the ones they sometimes got in Wyoming. Less than a minute after it started sprinkling, it was pouring. Every inch of her was soaked. She didn’t know how they were going to make it.

She found a small overhang by a group of rocks and pulled him under it.

She just needed to rest for a few minutes. But she knew theycouldn’t stay there; water was already starting to pool around them. Flash flooding was probably a concern around here.

“Go back to the cabin.” Colton’s voice was frighteningly weak.

“We’re closer to the car than the cabin. I can’t get you all the way back to the cabin.”

“No. You.”

“Fuck that shit.” It wasn’t language she normally used, but it was definitely appropriate for this situation.

He chuckled just slightly. “Butterscotch. Love you.”

His voice was getting weaker.

“Damn it, don’t you start professing love now. Let’s get you to the hospital, and this time, Tony won’t be there to keep me out.”

He grunted again but didn’t argue when she shifted them out from under the overhang. The wind and rain had really picked up even more in the few minutes they’d been out of it.

She managed to haul Colton up to his feet one more time, but that was using the last of her strength. If they didn’t make it to the car soon, she didn’t think they would make it at all.

And he was definitely slowing. Finally, he stopped moving altogether.

“Come on, Colton. We can do this. We can do anything together.” He couldn’t stop now. Lightning crackled overhead, dangerously close.

“Promise. Promise me.”

She turned so she could look him in the eye. “I’ll promise you anything you want in this world as long as it’s not about leaving you here alone and saving myself.”