🗝️Detective Ryker Viltarin must uncover dark secrets before he loses not only his heart but also his life.🗝️
You're on your own, far from home
The wind is blowing in the top of the pines
A gloomy sky where the sun never shines
Deep...
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Ray and Dylan covered most of the distance by car, but they had to run the last stretch to avoid losing their advantage.
Leaves rustled and danced as if the wind were grabbing the two men's legs and whirling them around as they hurried through the forest. They ran between the ancient giant trees as if the devil were at their heels, threatening to catch them. The night made finding a quick and safe path through the forest difficult, but the two men were SEALS and had often served and fought in the dark.
Dylan made noticeably easier progress. Ray, on the other hand, was struggling. His time as a soldier was long behind him, which was unfamiliar territory for both. The ground was soft under the leaves, and even larger branches and holes were thorny. This caused him to stumble several times until he finally lost his footing on a slope and slipped. A sharp jolt seized his tall body and sent a dull wave of pain through his muscles and limbs, causing Ray to inhale sharply.
"Raven!" Dylan's rough voice beside him rang out. His former comrade reached out his hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world to help him back to his feet. "Are you okay?" Dylan asked. He could see the Seal's furrowed brow and pressed lips even in the fading light. Dylan looked at him with a mixture of hurried concern and comradely worry.
"Of course not, you moron!" part of him wanted to snap back at Dylan and knock his hand away. His former comrade knew only too well that the conditions on the terrain were affecting Ray much more than him, who was still in training.
But it wasn't just that; his body's infirmities were also making themselves felt with a dull throbbing. His muscles burned with every damn step they took through the thicket. His fingers and limbs felt ice-cold and numb, even though he was sweating. Or was it worry and fear that made him feel cold? Or a mixture of both?
His concern for Eve and Liam drove him on. It numbed the pain and activated hidden reserves of strength in his body.
He had to keep going, no matter what it took.
And although it was hard for him to admit, he was glad Dylan was with him.
Not only because they understood each other perfectly, but also because their concern for the people they both loved united them.
That was precisely what made him reach out his hand before the Seal pulled him back to his feet with a powerful jerk. He took a moment to catch his breath and finally nodded.
"It can't be much further," he said, his voice a little darker. He could feel Dylan's gaze on his back as he continued stomping off. He heard a low hum, then the rustling of footsteps revealed that Dylan was following him.
It was only a few minutes before they came to a halt at another slope – and between the low-hanging branches of some fir trees, Ryker could make out a source of light.
That had to be the hut Hawkins had mentioned.
They had reached their destination.
The two men exchanged a look that said it all before nodding briefly to each other. Then Ryker's practised hands moved as if by themselves to his shoulder to slowly and silently loosen the strap of his rifle. The pain faded and was replaced by rising adrenaline. Immediately, his movements became more confident and routine. It was a pattern that had burned itself into his memory and his body—and had become as natural as breathing.
