in the smells of the cave; the musty odor of damp rock and salt fills my lungs. I close my eyes and listen. At first, all I hear are our combined breaths, but then the roar of the waves as they crash upon the rocks finds its way to my ears. It’s a low, nearly subsonic sound. Z’s right. I feel it more than hear it.
When I crack my eye, a gull sweeps across the opening. A few seconds later, he calls out to his friends. This is easily the most tranquil place I’ve ever been.
“I can’t believe you kept this from me.”
“Well, I didn’t want you accidentally walking in on Axel and me…”
“You little horn dog.” I can’t help but tease her.
She’s had the hots for Axel since she was five years old. Axel tolerated her because he’s best friends with her brother but gave Z the ol’ heave-ho when she pushed things too far. He really is the love of her life—unrequited love that finally found its way.
I’ve never had that. Not once in my life have I had a boy, or a man, care about me.
At least, not until Griff.
I still don’t understand it. I’m afraid to believe it’s true. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Zoe lies back and looks over at me. “I’m really glad you’re safe.”
I adjust the blanket she gave me and lie beside her. Together, we stare at the granite overhead. It should feel oppressive, but I’ve never felt more free.
“Me too.”
“Tell me what you remember, and I’ll fill in what I can.”
“I remember walking on the beach with you. We found those college kids.” All I wanted that night was to do something a normal girl would do, like hang out on a beach, sit around a campfire, and sing stupid songs. We did all of that, and like good buddies, we set limits on the number of drinks we allowed. “You said they drugged us?”
“It was late. We were walking back to the house. We were laughing, dancing at the water’s edge, and thought we were safe.”
“I don’t remember leaving the bonfire, but I remember being attacked.”
“There were three men who approached from down the beach. It felt wrong, so we headed away from the water. That’s when I realized you were drugged. You were slurring your words but had only had water. We fought them.” She puts a hand on me. “We fought hard, but there were too many of them and the drugs…”
“Slowed us down.”
“Exactly. I like to think we could’ve taken them.” She snorts, then giggles. “We fought hard, Moira.”
“But?”
“They took us. Ditched our phones.”
“How did the Guardians find us?”
Zoe pulls out her necklace. It’s the tracker the Facility gave to all of us. I feel around my neck, noticing for the first time, despite everything, that mine is gone. Zoe glances over at me.
“They found our phones and your necklace in the sand. Fortunately, I still had mine and activated the tracker. They took us straight to the airport and flew us to Columbia.”
My breaths become shallow and rapid as Zoe explains everything that happened. She takes me through what happened in the van. How I actually bit a man’s dick off. How he retaliated. How Bossman killed him. Then she tells me how Alpha Team rescued her in Columbia and how they lost me.
“So, you really dangled on a rope below a helicopter?”
“It was terrifying, but I was just happy Axel was there. Griff got shot.”
“Is that how it happened?”
“Yeah. They exchanged gunfire. It was terrifying, and when he was pulled up… Well, Axel put a tourniquet on his leg and Skye and her team fixed him up.”
“That explains a lot.”
“How’s that?”
I tell her about my rescue, and how I too dangled on a cable beneath a helicopter, and how the wound in his leg reopened.
“So, he’s now on indefinite medical hold until it heals.”
“Is that where he went?”
“Yeah, he has an appointment with Skye.”
“I guess that means we have all day.”
“I suppose we do.”
“Now, tell me what happened on that ship.”
Twenty-Five
Griff
“So?” I stare at the back of Doc Summers as she types away on her computer screen, inputting the results of her exam. “How’s the leg look? I’ve been babying it like you wanted.” My leg bounces nervously while I wait for her answer.
“Your leg looks good.”
“That’s good, right?” I release the tension in my fingers. The knuckles turned white with the death grip I held on the side of the exam