A soft coming together, a symbol of the need for them to press through this together. Her lips trembled under his, shaking him to the core.
They sighed in unison when their mouths parted. “We’re gonna be okay,” he whispered.
She nodded, then wiped away a tear.
Damn it. Now he’d made her cry.
* * *
KYNDAL RAISED HER EYES to the hole in the roof in an attempt to stop the tears. Crying wouldn’t help this situation at all. It wouldn’t ease the searing pain in her foot or the throbbing in her head. Wouldn’t erase the bittersweetness of Chance’s lips on hers or stop her desire to press him closer.
She held the tears in check by logic and an upraised chin.
Chance stood abruptly. The sudden movement changed the mood and shocked her system back into panic mode. His attention was on the flashlight as he examined it closely. He moved something on the side and the beam held steady. “Ha! I knew there had to be a way to make the light last longer so I won’t have to pump it constantly.” His voice held a note of triumph. “Kyn, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to explore a little.”
“No! Please don’t leave.” Her breaths were coming fast, but it didn’t feel as if any air was getting into her lungs. “I—I’m scared…don’t want to—to be alone.”
Chance laid the flashlight in her lap as he knelt down and took her face in his hands. “You’ll be okay. I won’t be gone long, I promise, but I’d hate to think I sat here doing nothing when there might be a way out.”
His words—his touch—calmed her and brought her breathing to almost normal. She nodded, but fought down another surge of panic when he stood and picked up the flashlight. He would need the light, of course, and the thought of being left in the hellish darkness gave her an idea.
Her foot weighed as much as the rock it sat on, but with some effort, she raised it and pulled her backpack from the pile. “I’ll get the flash from my camera. It’s got a good battery that’ll last a long time. If I need to see, I’ll just set off a flash.”
Her fingers worked nimbly in the shadows as she disengaged the flash from the rest of the camera. The battery hummed its high-pitched frequency, and the indicator light winked at her. She held it up and let it flash, catching Chance’s face in a look that softened from surprise to admiration.
“Be back soon, I promise.”
As he moved off into the darkness, his last words echoed around her.
He will. He’ll be back soon.
She’d thought those exact words nine years ago, and they hadn’t been true then.
The pale beam of light grew smaller with the distance, and the smaller it grew, the more quickly she breathed. When he got completely out of sight, the blackness crushed in on her, leaving her gasping for air. What if something happened to him? What if a boulder fell—or what if he got lost and didn’t come back? Ever?
She opened her mouth to call to him but forced herself to take a deep breath instead. He would come back. He would come back…this time.
CHAPTER NINE
SMALL CAVERNS. LARGE CAVERNS. Caverns of every size and shape. The lower level of the cave was as intricate as the one above. It was risky to go farther without something to point the way back, and Chance’s pockets were empty.
He did an about-face and retraced his steps, following the coins he’d placed as markers but not picking them up. They would stay as indicators of the area he’d already explored. In a little while, he’d come back and go deeper, but right now he needed to get back to Kyndal. Even more, he wanted to get back to Kyndal.
Like a lab rat sniffing for cheese in a maze, he swept the ground with the light, watching for the glint of metal. Shiny pennies had never been so valuable.
The trail ended, and he squeezed through the narrow opening into the large cavern where they had landed.
The flashlight beam found where the packs had been, but they were gone…along with Kyndal.
Had someone come? His heart beat furiously as he scanned the jagged hole above his head. He held his breath, listening for sounds from above—sounds of rescue. It was crazy. He hadn’t been gone long. Surely he would have heard shouts.
His heartbeat surged into a panicked rhythm. Where was she? “Kyndal!” he shouted.