“Bloody hell, but I’m going to kill that bastard slowly,” Avery muttered under her breath.

The shivers that had started earlier were constant now. She felt like someone had placed her feet on an electric mat and was having fun at her expense by turning the power on and off. No sooner would one mass of shakes end than the next one started.

Her blood had congealed around the ripped sutures in her shoulder. The gauze taped to her skin was no match for her oozing blood or the cold weather. The psycho bastards had an awful sense of humor. They had placed the key to locks holding her within view, but far enough away there was no way she would ever be able to reach them, even if she were able to free one arm.

Concern gripped her that she was beginning to succumb to hypothermia. Her mind was growing foggy and her fingers and toes had become numb an hour ago. She tried to shift to ease the burden on her aching arms, but instead her knees trembled and threatened to give out on her. Locking them, she clenched her jaw. Her head was starting to sag when she suddenly felt a surge of warmth and energy flood her.

Avery, ku lei, I am coming. I need you to guide me to you, Core’s tender voice filtered through her mind.

She lifted her head and looked over the open area. Hope and a renewed determination filled her. There was about to be a war and she wasn’t going to miss it if she could help it. A small, dry chuckle slipped from her lips at the thought.

I’ll be chilling out and dreaming about how we’re going to kill all of these bastards until you get here, she responded.

She closed her eyes and focused on pulling on the mental silver thread that connected them. She’d lead him to her position and once she was free, they were going to do some serious ass-kicking. Focusing on the details of the route the men had taken earlier to her location, she kept the image in her mind so that Core could access it.

Breaking into a fast run, Core’s long legs covered the uneven ground. He heard the startled shout from one of the men in the turret when the man saw how fast he could run.

Ordinarily he would have preferred to keep such a skill hidden from the humans since the surprise factor might have come in handy later. Such luxuries were not an option at the moment. Besides, he reasoned, Markham had been involved with the experimentation on Merrick. He probably already knew how fast a Prime could run.

His connection with Avery pulled him to the north. He could see the rough road in her mind. Concerned that the road would not be a straight path to her, he focused on what she was mentally envisioning and compared it to the holographic map that RITA had shown him.

He estimated that he would have approximately seven and a half hours before the next satellite passed overhead and he could contact the others. Once he had Avery and could access the beacon in his heel, he’d know for sure. The beacon had a visible count down until the next satellite sync. Regardless of how much time they had left, it would be a moot point unless he could remove or deactivate the capsule inside Avery. There was no way he could risk alerting the others while Markham could still activate the device.

A thick blanket of menacing clouds had rolled across the sky since he arrived on the island. The wind had also picked up and the temperature was beginning to significantly drop. A new concern struck him as he ran. Avery was exposed to the elements.

Avery, love, I am almost there, he promised.

Fear rose inside him when she didn’t answer. He could still feel their connection, but it was very weak. He pushed his body faster than he’d ever gone before. Behind him, he could hear the whine of vehicles. They were using motorcycles instead of the large, slower transports.

Running uphill, he maneuvered through a series of boulders. Once he crested the top, he could see a narrow valley. In the center of the valley was a platform—beneath which Avery hung limply between two poles.

Avery, I see you, he urgently said.

What… took you… so long? she tried to tease, but the words were slurred and broken.

Relief swept through him when he saw her head lift for a moment before she lowered it again. He covered the ground between them swiftly, thanks in large part to the fact that he was moving downhill. He estimated he had only minutes to free her and disappear into the rocky terrain surrounding them.

“Avery, my love,” Core said, reaching the platform.

He jumped up onto the wooden structure and cupped her frozen face between his warm hands. A soft moan escaped her. She turned her lips into his palm.

“Key… Key on post,” she forced through stiff lips.

He turned to look for what she was talking about. In front of her was a low post with a hook. On it was a key. He quickly released her to retrieve the key.

Seconds later, she was lying limply in his arms. Her face was white and there were pinched lines of pain around her mouth. She was breathing with quick, shallow breaths.

“Avery, I have to get you out of here. The other men will be here shortly,” he urgently murmured, hoping his body heat would raise her temperature quickly.

She forced her eyes open. “Markham… is hunting us,” she whispered.

“He only thinks he is,” he teased.

A hint of a smile tugged at her lips. “Can you carry me until I get my body to work?” she asked.

“To the ends of the universe and back if necessary,” he promised.

“God, I’ve been such an idiot,” she muttered.

He rose to his feet with Avery cradled in his arms. Regret poured through him when he jumped down from the platform. He hated jarring her, but at the moment, speed was essential to their survival.

I wish I could block all of your pain, he said with regret.

Don’t. It helps remind me that I’m alive. How far behind you were Markham’s men? she asked.

Not far, he replied.

She trembled in his arms. He needed to find a place to hide them so he could tend her injuries. His gaze swept over the rugged surroundings. They were in a narrow cut between the rocks that he was sure would abruptly end. Their only option was to go up.

His assumption was proven correct when he saw the dead end ahead. He slowed and gently lowered her to the ground. She leaned back against a boulder and held her left arm close to her body.

“Please tell me that you have weapons or a miracle or two in your back pocket,” she sighed.

He grinned down at her and pulled one of the buckles on the side of his vest free as well as a strip of leather that he wound around his wrist. Pinching the end, he pulled some of the fine wire free. He created a knot and slid it over the notch of a small, black grappling hook that looked like a decoration on the strip of leather he had wound around his wrist.

He pressed the release, and the slender grappling hook shot upward. When it disappeared over a large rock outcropping, he jerked on the wire.

Satisfaction coursed through him when he felt it snag and hold. Bending, he hooked the wire to the side of his boot, and created another loop so he could slip his foot into the stirrup that he’d created. Next, he pulled a fingerless glove from his vest and slipped it on.

Turning, he reached down to Avery. In the distance, they could hear the roar of the motorcycles drawing closer. She looked up at him with a confused expression.

“I don’t think that piece of sewing thread can handle our combined weight,” she protested.

He wiggled his fingers and winked at her. “Maybe not if it was from your world—or from someone other than Cosmos,” he teased.

Her lips curved into a rueful smile. She placed her icy fingers in his, moaning softly at the pleasure of the warmth in his hand. He pulled her up and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I’m not sure I have the strength at the moment to hold onto you,” she admitted, shakily standing on his boot.

“I’ll do the holding,” he promised.

Looking up, he pulled the thread taut. Immediately, they rose up off the ground. He could feel the friction warmth of the wire as it slid against his protected palm.

When they reached the top, he braced his legs against the side of the rock face, and steadied Avery as she clumsily crawled upward, using his body as a ladder. Only when she had disappeared over the edge did he pull himself up and over after her. He quickly retrieved the grappling hook and replaced the buckle on his vest.

Avery sat huddled next to the boulders. He could see her slender shoulders shaking and hear the chattering of her teeth. He unbuttoned his vest and pulled off the long-sleeved shirt under it. Kneeling, he gently helped her slip on his warm shirt over her clothing.

“What… what about… you?” she asked.

He smoothed his hand over her cheek. “Our body temperatures run warmer than yours. I’ll keep the vest as it has most of our weapons integrated into it. You can have the shirt,” he said.

They both turned their heads when they heard the motorcycles in the valley below as they reached the dead end. Core stood and peered over the side. Three men sat on the machines looking around them.

“They had to have come this way,” one of the men shouted above the noise.

A second spun his motorcycle in a tight circle until he was facing the way they had come. Core pulled back, his gaze on the cliff wall across from them. There was a fissure. If he could set off an explosive in it, there was a good possibility that the entire shelf would collapse. He reached down and pulled one of the buttons off of the front of his vest. Twisting it first one way and then the other, he threw the small explosive with the precision of a major league baseball pitcher.

The tiny black button disappeared into the black hole before slowly rolling back down. It caught on the bottom edge against a small rock. Core bent and grabbed his vest. Sliding it on, he turned and scooped Avery back up into his arm. Ahead of him was a sheltering cluster of trees.

He had only taken a few steps when the explosive detonated. He listened to the hoarse shouts of alarm before they were drowned out by the avalanche of rock. A flash of lightning lit the dark sky. They made it to the cluster of trees just as the first cold raindrops began to fall.