Rebecca Zanetti - Sweet Revenge

“Are you all right?” Matt asked her.

“Yes. I’d be better if you just killed this guy,” she said, her eyes full of apology.

He shifted his gaze to the soldier. “I plan on it. Let her go, now, and I won’t break your neck.”

The guy smiled and revealed a gold incisor. “I’m going to fuck her senseless after you die.”

“I don’t think so, G.I. Joe.” Matt used the code word for Nate and silently counted to three. At three, both he and Nate struck.

Matt leaped for the soldier and used his superior strength to yank the knife away from Laney’s throat. Shoving her to the side, Matt broke the guy’s wrist and took the blade, slashing it across the jugular.

Pivoting, he stopped cold at the sight of Emery with a Glock pointed at him.

Nate finished off the other soldier and turned, his face a cold mask.

With a grim smile, Emery changed his aim to Laney.

She held out her hands. “Whoa, wait—”

Emery fired.

Matt exploded with a burst of energy and jumped in front of Laney. The bullet slammed into his upper arm and sliced an artery. Not feeling the pain—yet, Matt threw the knife as he pummeled to the ground.

The knife embedded in Emery’s right eye, piercing to his brain. Emery stilled and dropped the gun, falling back. He hit the wet earth with a soft thump. Dead.

Matt’s shoulders impacted first followed by the rest of his body. Pain lanced up his face.

Shit. He blinked rain and blood out of his eyes.

Laney skidded to her knees next to him, cradling his head. Nate dropped to his haunches, concern lightening his eyes.

Matt swallowed. He knew a kill shot when he felt one. He tried to speak to both Nate and Laney. “I’m sorry.” The world wavered in front of his eyes.

Laney applied pressure to the wound in Matt’s upper arm. Blood squirted out. “Oh God. The bullet sliced the brachial artery.” Blood. So much damn blood. The liquid filled her hand, trying to escape through her fingers, still warm from Matt’s body.

She pressed harder. Nausea filled her stomach, and bile rose up her throat.

If she didn’t hold it together, he was going to die. A roaring rippled through her head, and she swayed. The forest went fuzzy.

“Laney.” Nate’s sharp tone jerked up her head. “Press harder.”

She blinked rain out of her eyes. Or maybe that was tears. She yanked off her shirt and pressed it to the wound, trying to stem the blood. He’d lost too much already.

Matt swallowed and focused on Nate. “Plan?”

“Get your ass up, and I’ll show you the plan.” Nate grabbed his arm.

“Wait. We can’t move him.” Laney flattened her palm around the injury.

Nate lifted Matt up. “We have to move, now. More troops are coming.”

Matt smiled at her, but with his face so pale, he looked more gruesome than reassuring. He slapped a hand over her drenched shirt and pushed. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

He wasn’t fine. Not at all. Laney nodded and stumbled, following Nate through the path. Matt followed doggedly after her, and she turned several times to view his progress. His face lost all color, but he kept moving.

The man was a machine.

Whatever genetics they’d used to create him were beyond belief. The guy should be passed out and almost dead. Instead, he sent her a smart-assed smile.

They reached the shoreline, and Nate had already uncovered a small wooden boat with three tiny benches stretching across. “I found it scouting last night.”

Laney glanced out at the churning lake and dangerous clouds. She shivered in her wet bra as the rain drenched her bare skin. “We can’t go out in that.”

Nate yanked off his wet T-shirt and tugged it over her head. Then he grabbed her hips and plunked her on the middle seat of the boat. “We stay here, we die. I’d rather take my chances.” Sliding his arm around his brother’s waist, he helped ease Matt onto the third seat and shoved the boat out to the violent lake.

This was such a terrible idea. Laney reached for Matt to lean back against her. “Let me see.”

“You’ll faint,” he murmured with a quirk of his lips.

“No, I won’t.” And she wouldn’t. She’d suck it up and deal with ghosts in order to save him. “Let me see.”

He moved his hand. Red coated the shirt. Bile rippled up her throat. She glanced at the wound and quickly replaced the shirt. “You’re still bleeding, but it’s stemming.” Not really, but he didn’t need to know that. She angled around toward Nate, who was rowing the boat against the wind with fierce grunts. “As soon as we dock, I need to tie off the artery.” God. Could she do it? A real surgery in these conditions?

As she glanced at Matt’s gray face, she realized she didn’t have a choice. “Hurry, Nate.”

The boat bucked and spun in the dangerous waters. Water poured from the sky, and lightning lit up the night. It’d be a miracle if they made it to the other side without being electrocuted. Water splashed over the sides, and the boat began to fill. Laney wanted to bail, but she had to keep pressure on Matt’s wound. If the boat began to sink, she’d have to release him.

He glanced over his shoulder, flashed her a halfhearted grin, and his eyes fluttered shut.

“Matt!” she cried, grabbing his undamaged shoulder and yanking him toward her to prevent his falling overboard. His rear slid down, and she allowed his butt to fall into the waterlogged bottom of the boat, keeping his head elevated to avoid venous bleeding.

The boat pitched dangerously, and Laney glanced wildly over her shoulder.

Nate kept rowing, his face a grim mask. “Is he okay?” he yelled over the storm.

She shook her head and bit back a sob. “No. We need to tie off the artery. Now.” The wind slapped her wet hair onto her cheeks.

Nate nodded and turned the boat just slightly. Rain slammed into him, coating his bare chest and his tattoo, which was identical to Matt’s.

Freedom.

The price they’d already paid for it stunned Laney. She turned back to Matt with determination. They wouldn’t pay any more… not today.

Nate beached the boat, jumped out, and dragged it along the shoreline. Hustling over, he studied his brother, concern bright in his eyes. “If I throw him over my shoulder, he’ll bleed out.”

Yes. Gravity was a disaster they didn’t need right now. Laney kept her hand on Matt’s wound and stood, her shoes squishing in the water. “How about you take his torso, keeping pressure on his injury, and I take his feet?”

Nate nodded. “You keep the pressure on until I get him from the boat.” Reaching for Matt’s armpits, Nate turned his brother and lifted him over the boat with a fierce grunt and kept him in the bear-hug position. “Jesus. What has he been eating?”

Laney snorted and tried to ignore the fact that Matt might bleed out anyway. The guy was solid muscle. She gingerly stepped over the side, keeping the pressure strong. Finally on squishy sand, she took Nate’s hand and put it into place. “We need to hurry,” she yelled while running to grasp Matt’s ankles. Wrapping her arms around him, she bent with her knees and lifted. He did weigh a ton, and his huge feet took up her entire torso.

Nate strode backward, up the embankment, keeping a quick pace.

Laney kept a strong hold of Matt, even while her shoes slipped in the waterlogged sand. Her knees and shoulders shook from the exertion of carrying Matt, although Nate had kept most of the burden. Even so, her breath panted out with the difficulty.

They arrived at a rough wooden shack, and Nathan kicked the door open without even turning around. Matt didn’t make a sound as they carried him inside and all but dropped him on a crude kitchen table.