Breaking Away (Delta Force Strong #3) - Elle James Page 0,33

they started to fall, Kylie had no way to keep it from happening. She couldn’t take one more step. All she could do was aim to land in the shadow of a large boulder, praying it would provide enough concealment for both of them to remain hidden from the flashlight beams.

Maybe the men below would miss them all together and leave.

Kylie hit the ground on her knees.

Musa landed on one knee and toppled onto his side. He lay so still, Kylie thought he might be dead. She pressed her fingers to the base of his throat, her pulse pounding hard from her rush up the hill.

Before she could feel the man’s pulse, a hand came up and Musa whispered. “I am not dead, yet.”

“Good,” she said so softly, no one but Musa would be able to hear her voice. She grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him toward the shadow cast by the giant boulder. “Must hide,” she said as she inched him across the ground.

He helped as much as he could. Between the two of them, they were able to scoot, roll and slide into the darkness of the shadow.

Musa lay on his back, his eyes closed.

Even if they weren’t being chased by the Taliban, Musa might not make it. He could be suffering from internal injuries caused by the beatings.

Kylie collapsed on the ground beside Musa and dragged in deep breaths, filling her starving lungs with air.

Just when she could breathe normally again, she heard a sound in the darkness.

Instead of it coming from below them, it was coming from above. Loose gravel slithered down the slope behind her, landing at her feet.

Kylie gasped and spun on her haunches in time to see two figures, both carrying guns, sliding down the hillside toward her.

She had no time to react. No time to run before the figures crashed into her and Musa.

Though she was exhausted, Kylie rolled onto her feet and prepared to take on whoever it was who’d plowed into her and her new friend.

“Kylie?” a familiar voice said beside her.

“Mac?” She spun and threw herself into his arms. “Oh, sweet Jesus. Is it really you?”

“Shh, sweetheart.” He chuckled softly. “Yes, it’s me. And Blade’s here as well.”

“Josh?”

“Waiting in a vehicle not far from here.”

“He’s alive?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes. “You’re all alive.” The tears spilled down her cheeks. She quickly swiped them away, grabbed his hand and pulled him to. Crouching position. “You have to get down. There are men after us.”

“I know. I counted a cool dozen,” Blade said. “Give or take a few.”

The crunch of gravel sounded nearby.

Mac touched a finger to his lips, indicating they should all be silent.

All four of them hunkered low behind the boulder.

Mac stood at one side of the boulder and held his rifle at the ready, aiming toward the sound of footsteps heading their direction.

Blade took up a position on the other side of the boulder, aiming in the direction of the sound.

A moment later, a young Taliban soldier walked by the boulder, shining his flashlight right then left, the beam landing on Mac’s face at the same time as Mac grabbed him clamped an arm around his neck and locked him in a chokehold.

The soldier dropped the flashlight and his rifle and clawed at Mac’s arm trying to free himself.

Mac’s arm flexed as he tightened his hold.

Kylie grabbed the rifle from where it had landed on the ground and assumed Mac’s previous position on the edge of the boulder. She couldn’t stand by and not do anything. Their lives were at risk. And Mac had found her. Her chest swelled with love and gratitude. Together, they could conquer the world.

Mac’s heart swelled. This woman was smart as well as beautiful.

She knew that, though he’d caught the young man before he could fire a shot or shout, the sound of their scuffle could draw attention.

As if on cue, another man, wielding a flashlight and a rifle appeared on the opposite side of the boulder.

Still contending with the first man, Mac prayed Blade could handle the new threat on his own.

Blade flashed the knife he’d taken from Ahktar’s men and dispatched the latest Taliban soldier with little more noise than the clatter of his rifle and flashlight hitting the ground.

The man would no longer be a threat to anyone as he bled out of his torn carotid artery.

Mac’s guy finally slumped in his arms. When he released him, the guy sank to the ground.

A quick check for