Ezekiel was there. Solid. A rock. His face grimmer than Wyatt had ever seen it. He slipped his arm around Wyatt on one side. Draden took the other and they ran for the fence. Wyatt’s movements were mechanical and automatic rather than deliberate. He barely registered his surroundings. Only Ezekiel’s voice giving him commands.

“You can do this, Wyatt. You have to jump that fence. We’re going to be trapped here, all three of us, if you don’t make it over that fence.”

The fence looked insurmountable, but Wyatt crouched low, took a breath and sprang. He cleared the roll of razor wire and came down on the other side, landing on the balls of his feet. The landing jarred him, wrenching every bone in his body. The ground shifted and then rose up to meet his face. He felt helpless, unable to do anything to break his fall. He just watched as the thick vegetation came at him in slow motion.

Ezekiel came up in front of him, blocking his fall. Wyatt grinned at him as he hit Ezekiel squarely in the chest with his solid weight. Ezekiel didn’t so much as rock backward. He dipped his shoulder and caught Wyatt up, and then turned and sprinted through the swamp, back toward the airboat. Behind him, Draden brought up the rear, his weapon out and ready.

We’ll need to stop the blood and get a vein fast, Malichai, Ezekiel said. Be ready with the equipment. Trap, whatever you have to do to get in shape, do it fast. We need blood. Probably lots of it. I’m his type, so is Malichai.

What is it? I’ll give him blood.

That was Pepper, Wyatt recognized through a fog. It would be interesting to get her blood. Would her immunity to snakebites be passed on to him? He tried to rouse himself enough to ask Trap to let her donate if possible, but then his mind was too fuzzy and garbled to get through to his team.

He wants my blood if possible, Trap, Pepper interpreted. He thinks it would be an interesting experiment.

He could feel her, all feminine, pouring into the lonely places, the parts of him always held away from the rest of the world. Those places of doubt and fear he never showed to others.

He reached out to her. She wasn’t as far as the others. She was in him. Feeling what he was feeling. He felt her fingers run down his arm to thread to his.

“He’s very cold. He’s never cold like this.”

There was fear in her voice. In her. He didn’t want her to ever be afraid again. She’d had enough of that in Whitney’s laboratories.

“Open your eyes, Wyatt.” That was Trap. He sounded tough and mean, just like Trap usually sounded.

“Damn it, Wyatt, open your eyes.” That was Ezekiel. You didn’t ignore Ezekiel. Wyatt made the effort. He was a little shocked to be lying flat on his back on the airboat. Draden and Malichai were crouched low and armed with semiautomatics, facing out toward the swamp. That confused him more than ever. He clearly was in a combat situation, but he couldn’t remember.

“Am I hit, Trap?” he asked.

Trap was working on him, his face grim, his movements steady, but very fast. “I’m putting a line in your arm, Wyatt. We need to give you blood and we don’t want your veins collapsing on us before I get this line in. As soon as we’re home I’ll do the repairs, but you don’t pass out on me, you hear? We need you alert.”

Wyatt tried to keep his eyes open. He drifted in a sea of pain and guilt. The last thing he wanted to do was be a burden to his team. He was aware of them all around him, kneeling beside him, their faces grim, their voices low as they worked on him. Ezekiel was on one side of him while they tried to push blood into him.

“We’ve got to go now,” Trap determined. “Get us back home fast, Malichai.”

Wyatt watched the night spinning fast above his head. Every bumping jar of the boat on the water sent a ripple of agony shredding through his muscles and bones. The strange spinning made him sick and he closed his eyes.

Wyatt. Pepper’s voice was demanding. Don’t you dare die on us. We’ve got three children who need you desperately.

I don’ plan on dyin’, honey. Just goin’ to sleep for a little while. I’m tired out.

Well, you can’t. We’re all tired out. All of us. You’re still needed.

He didn’t like letting her down, but truthfully, he wasn’t certain he could stay awake. He’d never been so tired in his life. And cold. Is there a blanket around, I’m freezin’.

“He needs a blanket. Didn’t we bring one?” Pepper asked, anxiety turning her voice soft and teary.

Wyatt hated that. He tried to rouse himself but he couldn’t move. He turned his head toward her, prying open his eyes just enough to make her out. She knelt beside him, the two babies cuddled on either side. She looked as if she was crying. Worse, the two babies, looking exactly like Ginger, looked as if they were crying as well. All three stared at him with big eyes.

Don’ cry, Pepper. You’re upsettin’ the children. I’m goin’ to be fine. Trap’s a good doctor. He’ll fix me up.

“This damn swamp is a maze,” Malichai shouted. “How the hell does he know which way to go?”

“Turn into that canal just ahead,” Trap said.

Malichai scowled at him. “Trap, you’ve never been through the swamp except when we were heading to the plant. How could you possibly know?”

Trap knows, Wyatt told Pepper. He never forgets anything.

“He’s right,” Pepper called, trying to be heard above the sound of the airboat. “That’s the way we came in, Wyatt confirmed it.”