There was something there, wasn’t there? In back of me?” The last of his energy swirled through him, draining away with each second he stood in front of her.
Ryder hoped she would answer quickly, while he had control. “Please, Josie, tell me,” he said, and touched her, the tip of his hand brushing against her arm as she stepped away. There was heat and warmth in the slide of her skin against his, the texture of her skin like a warm nectarine, that silky smooth.
And with that skim of his hand against her, she was there with him in that fast-moving cloud, the images twisting around him, torturing him. Faces, faces, anguished, blurred.
But her face was distinct, the restful green of her eyes calling him, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding on for dear life, for sanity, for his soul’s sake. And, touching her, breathing in her scent, he lost control.
The images sharpened, piercing him. Children’s faces. One face, clear, bright, and he could see it while Josie was in his arms. A boy’s pug nose. Blue eyes wide and terrified. “Oh, God,” Ryder said, praying and swearing, the images ripping him apart. “God in heaven.” Or hell.
Sand. Muddy. Blood, a thin red line that turned to black against the sand.
Like a thousand razors raining down, the pain sliced him apart. He couldn’t bear the pain tearing at him.
And he couldn’t turn Josie loose.
Lost in that darkness with her, he knew somehow that she was his anchor, that she was safety, but he was afraid for her because she felt what he was feeling and didn’t understand anything that was happening to them.
And then, as the child screamed, Ryder felt Josie’s hand brush against his forehead, felt her touching him, willingly, even as she, too, heard the terrible cry.
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