Wyatt! Mon Dieu, Wyatt! How bad are you hurt? Do you need help? I’m close to the children, but I can get to you in a few minutes if I have to.

The sheer fear and concern pouring into him lightened his mood considerably. The knife wound had gone from numb to blazingly painful fast. And the miserable refusing-to-die-no-matter-what cyborg-man was making hideous noises and thrashing around.

I swear I’m in the twilight zone, he said to his team.

Privately he responded to Pepper. Honey, I’m just fine. Sittin’ here on the floor makin’ Draden do all the work for me.

He included Trap in his next response. Get to the children before Trap plays the hero and opens the cells. The babies will bite him just because he’s so mean lookin’.

I can feel your pain, Pepper said. You’re really hurt and you’re lying to me.

He couldn’t help grinning a little at the edge to her voice. He did love sassy women. Now, babe, don’ go gettin’ all feminine on me. You’re just worried about my good looks. I’m still as purdy as I ever was.

How big is the hole in you? she demanded.

Pepper felt sick with his pain. She could taste blood in her mouth and her side throbbed and burned. If he didn’t do something about the pain, she might not be able to make it through the vent to the children.

As it was, her body was squeezed so tight in the air duct that she literally was pushing with fingers and toes and wiggling her shoulders and hips to propel herself forward, just as a snake would have to do. Feeling sick to her stomach definitely wasn’t helping. Wyatt getting stabbed made her feel not only sick physically, but every single cell in her body demanded she turn around and get to him.

The thought of Wyatt actually dying was more than she could bear. Wyatt, you can’t joke about this. I need to know exactly how bad it is.

His touch inside her was warm and soothing, like the stroke of his fingertips down her skin. She shivered and pushed forward another few inches.

Don’ worry, Pepper, I’ve survived a lot worse. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but the blade didn’ hit anythin’ I can’ live without.

The burning is making me feel sick. Really sick.

She felt him take a breath. Felt knowledge pour into his mind, but before she could grasp what happened, he slipped away from her.

Wyatt. She waited. The silence was deafening. Wyatt, answer me.

She couldn’t vomit there in the air duct. She just couldn’t. She’d been very lucky that she wasn’t claustrophobic or she never would have tried to get into the cells that way. Another fan was looming up in front of her, the blades spinning wildly. She was tired from pushing herself forward in such a cramped space. Every bone in her body ached and her skin felt as if it had been flayed right off in several areas, scraped from the tight fit.

Get to our children for me. Get them out of there. Make certain Trap is safe because he doesn’ seem to have the fear gene and tha’s necessary to keep him alive.

Everything in her stilled. Something was very wrong with Wyatt. She’d have to trust his team members. He was counting on her to get to the children and Trap.

I’ll get them, Wyatt, but you be alive when I get out of here.

She took a breath and studied the blades of the fan as they spun around. It was a matter of speed and timing. Speed was extremely difficult when she was so cramped.

She hadn’t explained what it was like to Wyatt or the others. She couldn’t crawl like they all imagined she was able to do. She actually pictured herself in the belly of an anaconda, being squeezed from all sides as it tried to devour her as she moved through the narrow air duct.

She had to let go of Wyatt completely if she was going to get through the last fan to get to the children. She lay very still, gathering her strength, counting her own heartbeats and focusing on the spinning blades. She needed to know the exact revolutions per second in order to pause them just enough to get her through.

She wasn’t as adept at using her mind to control inanimate objects. She could do it only for seconds and it always gave her a tremendous headache. Right now, after making her way through several of the fans, her head felt as if it might explode. It was no wonder Braden thought she was such a reject. Her mind and heart wouldn’t allow her to seduce men and then assassinate them and she couldn’t control objects without bringing on a migraine. Great soldier she turned out to be.

Within a few moments, her body was tuned to the rhythm of the blades. She gathered herself, pulling every muscle back, coiling like the snake she was supposed to be. Her mind reached out and took command of the cold steel. At once, she ruthlessly put the brakes on, even as she propelled herself forward, using the blurring speed of the cheetah and the slithering motion of the snake in combination.

She didn’t hesitate or think about the possibility of being slashed to pieces by the sharp blades. That way was disaster. She shot forward, zipping between the blades, dragging her legs out of the way just as her mind refused to retain command of the fan. She lay still, her air coming in ragged gasps, like it did each time she stopped the fan. The way back with two babies was going to be even harder.

Wyatt had wanted to open the cells from the outside, using vibration, but it was too dangerous, the entire team had agreed on that. If he shook the building too hard, it could come down on them. And the concrete was so thick he would have had to use a fairly hard blast. Still… She closed her eyes for a moment, refusing to think about the journey back.

No one had really told her how Trap intended to get into the cells. Maybe she’d be lucky and they could go out the way he’d come in. Pepper wiggled close to the vent and peered down into the holding area. There were three cells and a small space for the guards to stand. The doors to two of the cells were open and a body lay in each of the cells. The babies lay curled up in Trap’s arms where he sat with his back against the wall. It was the last thing she expected.