Blinking away tears, he gathered her closer, wrapping her tighter, and buried his face in her hair. He fought not to cough as he said, “I’m sorry, Louie.”
“What for? You didn’t crash the sh-sh-shuttle.”
No, but it was his fault they’d been on the ship, exiled from polite society, sent to spend time on Englor with Payton. Dust, just let them make it to Englor. He’d be on his best behavior. No more talking himself into crazy schemes and blaming it on his muse in the name of boredom. No destroying his dance card. No more ridiculous wagers with Louie. He’d be the epitome of gentility—dancing every dance, making social calls, and spending his leisure time painting. He might even pay more attention to politics, like his parents wanted. Maybe then they’d take him more seriously and listen to him. If he got out of here, he’d make his parents listen. He’d gain their respect.
Louie’s teeth clacked together as she met his gaze. Tears tracked through the soot on her cheeks and mucus dripping from her nose. “Maybe we should run. It would keep us w-warmer. Remember when we were children? We used to get so sweaty out playing and m-my mom would scold us when we snuck into the kitchen and stole sweets.”
Bannon took off his torn morning coat, and the cold sliced into him so swiftly it nearly took his breath away as he draped the coat over her shoulders. “I remember, but if we run and get sweaty, we’ll just be colder when we stop. We can’t run forever.” Actually, as badly as his knee hurt, Bannon couldn’t run at all.
After what felt like a very long time but was only a few yards farther, she stopped suddenly and turned toward him with dazed eyes. For several seconds, she just stood there looking lost, and then she blinked, as if coming back to herself. “Why did you… do that?” She shook her head at him and tugged at his coat. “Put it back on.” She did want to bicker. It just took her longer than normal, which somehow made him worry more.
“No. I still have a waistcoat and my shirtsleeves. You don’t even have a pelisse.” He stuffed her arms into the coat. On the first try, her hand came out the hole on the left arm, but the second time he got it right. Amazing since he had no feeling in his fingers.
“Maybe for a little while.”
He stepped on something uneven, and his ankle twisted under him. A sharp sting arced up his leg, and his stomach churned. Great. He was going to cast up his accounts. Taking a deep breath against the pain, he swallowed down the nausea. He could just breathe through it and—
His knee gave way.
Louie caught him before he fell too far. “You’re hurt worse than you let on.” She tried to frown, but it was ruined by her quivering jaw. At least she felt well enough to try to coddle him.
“We have to keep moving, Louie.” Another drop of something landed on his face, then another and another. He looked up.
The sky had turned charcoal in color with a splash of olive. It was as beautiful as it was frightening, and as he watched a swath of light crackled down to the barren landscape, followed by the rumble of thunder.
Galaxy help them, they were standing in a field with nothing around them. They were the highest things around—the perfect targets for lightning. They’d survived the crash only to be done in by the weather. He didn’t know the first thing about survival in the wild, but he knew they needed shelter quick. The mountain no longer appeared so distant, and the rain came down around them now in a slow constant sprinkle. The lightning was almost frequent enough to light their way, and the thunder rumbled every few minutes.
“Do you th-th-think they will come looking for us? Wouldn’t there be something on the ship, a computer or something, to tell them it crashed?”
Bannon shrugged.
“Bannon, your family loves us. Surely they’ll look for us, right?”
If they didn’t think Bannon and Louie were dead. Maybe he should have left some sort of message near the crash site. With what, he had no idea, but there had to be something there in the debris. Why hadn’t he looked? Bannon glanced behind him, but the smoke was a thin line now. Or was it his imagination? The clouds were so dark, maybe he was seeing things. He pushed the thought away and concentrated on their immediate problem. Was that a cave? “Louie, what is that?” He pointed toward the horizon of rolling hills. There was a black spot in the gray rock face. It was only about a third of the way up. They could make it there. They had to.
She shook her head, jostling his chin. “All I se-se-see is rain. It’s really coming down now.”
It was. A curtain of water surrounded them. Even the tall, purplish flowered grass they waded through started to lean over from the weight of it.
“No one lives here.” Her voice wavered. “Bannon?” She turned toward him, gripping his waistcoat in her fingers. “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”
“Don’t give up on me.”
Lightning crackled down only a hundred feet or so from them, shaking the ground and letting out a deafening roar.
They both jumped, and Louie began shaking even harder. Her legs bent, and she slithered down his body to the ground and collapsed into a heap.
“Come on, get up. We can’t stop now. If we sit here, we’ll freeze to death.” Or drown. He reached down, trying to catch her under the arms and pull her up, but his shoulder protested, and she shrugged out of his grasp.
He bit his bottom lip to keep from whimpering and clutched his shoulder with his other hand. Gazing up at the mountain, he couldn’t find the long black spot. It had moved. He turned his head, frantically searching. There. It hadn’t moved; he had. He was closer now. The cave was not nearly as high up as he’d thought. He judged it to be at least one hundred yards till they reached the base of the mountain. “We have to make it to that cave.”
Blinking up at him with tears in her eyes, she shook her head. “I’m tired. Let’s rest for a few moments.”
He shook his head hard, his entire body protesting. He didn’t want to die. He couldn’t die. Not without his family knowing how sorry he was…. How much he loved them. “Louie, get u….” Damnation! She’d stopped shivering. Her last plea had been without a stutter. She was in shock. Even now as she lay down and stared up at him, her teeth weren’t chattering. She didn’t even try to blink the rain out of her eyes. That was a bad sign. Maybe he should cuddle her close and warm her. Get out of the wind.
Bannon tried to sit down next to her gracefully, but his knee finally buckled beneath his weight, and he crumpled to the ground. Pain shot up his thigh to his hip. He tried not to bellow but wasn’t entirely successful. Rubbing his thigh, he lay on his back, staring up at the darkening sky and furious spray of water. The sky was nearly black. Within an hour it would be night, the temperature would plummet. A sick feeling washed over him, followed by nothing. He felt numb, not just from cold, but his brain finally gave up. He couldn’t think, it hurt to breathe, and it hurt to move.
Louie crawled over, laid her head on his shoulder, and snuggled close.
Wrapping his arms around her, Bannon blinked back tears, knowing they couldn’t stay here. But perhaps they could just rest for a moment…. He didn’t want this to be the end. He hadn’t done anything with his life, not like his brother had. Tears streamed from his eyes. This was one mess Blaise wasn’t going to be able to rescue him from. The image of his brother’s smiling face haunted Bannon. He’d never imagined that Blaise’s wedding would be the last time he saw his brother and his parents.