Her father laughed. "First thing we do on the other side is find you two some rings."
I felt my face turn hot with embarrassment. I took her hand and kissed her ring finger. It wasn't an empty gesture. I stood and gazed into her wondrous eyes and felt the chips of stone that guarded my heart fall away. I stood and traced my thumb across her cheek.
"I don't need a stupid ring," she said. "I just need you."
I took her waist and brought her near to me. I placed my palm against her stomach. "We are a family. You are my cure. Both of you."
She closed her eyes. "Kiss me."
My tongue slipped inside her mouth, and our lips crushed together. First, soft. Then, hard.
I caressed the back of her head, fingers woven through her silky, dense hair. She sunk back, and I tasted her.
We breathed the same air. We searched for the same truth. She was my fucking soul mate.
Aiden coughed and dug his heel back against the dirt. "Okay, guys. Maybe it's about time we go over a plan."
I pulled away and cleared my throat, wiping the excess saliva off of my lip. Lilly and I both laughed and shared glances. "He's right. We need to gear up. The next few miles are going to be treacherous."
I looked around us. The sun made the wetlands look okay, but the light was starting to wane. I worried what the dark might bring.
Aiden pointed to another section of water. "I've got something to show you. Follow me."
He held his rifle over his head and stepped into the still liquid. Lilly followed next, and then me. The light started to dim. He stopped before a large plank of wood. He pulled himself up and put out his hand for Lilly to follow. "Built this thing myself. We'll take the water all the way to the end," he said.
Surprisingly, the plank was sturdy enough to hold our weight. Resting on the other end was a cloth. Aiden tore it away and revealed a set of precision hunting rifles, as well as some supplies. They looked brand new. "Been saving these for a special occasion," he said.
Everything seemed to hit me at once. I sat staring at the reflection of light on the water. The sun was halfway underneath, casting the most beautiful purple and orange hue. The sound of a duck sawed through the dancing notes of the insects and frogs. Nature was beautiful, but it was also terrifying.
I closed my eyes and thought of my brother. Once more, I had failed him. I had promised to come back to the labs. I swore that I'd bring him to safety.
Lilly sensed my distress. She trickled her fingers across my back and leaned her head against me. She whispered, "We'll get him back, Lucian."
I nodded and sat solemnly. Maybe she was right, but it didn't feel like it. As the sun disappeared into the water, the entire landscape changed. Fog gently formed above the water like the slow web of a spider.
I set aside my old weapon for a new one, complete with a high-powered scope and custom handgrip. I grabbed a shrapnel grenade and pocketed a flare. "We'll get him when this is over, right?"
Lilly kissed my arm, and I turned to hold her. "Whatever happens, good or bad, we will come back for him. He's my family, too."
Aiden stood and grabbed a large stick of wood. He stabbed it into the liquid and pushed us out. "It's time," Aiden said.
As we moved across the water, I held onto my baby, the woman I had fought so hard to keep. We were closer than ever, but so many things still s
tood in our way.
I kissed her head, kissed her neck, expecting to smell her scent. Instead, I got a whiff of gasoline.
I jumped up. "Aiden, do you smell that?"
As we slowly crossed the swamp, I looked to our left and saw a boot floating in the water. I tightened my grip around my rifle and carefully looked up into the trees.
He was there. My father was sitting in the branches, holding a box of matches ready. He grinned like a psychopath, scar tight around his face and eyelid. His leg was bleeding. He was hurt.
I swung my rifle and took aim. My finger hugged the trigger, but my sight wavered. Before I could act, he struck the match and jumped away.
"Shit!" Aiden dug the branch into the water, pushing us to the side, but it didn't offer us any protection.
I watched that matchstick fall in slow motion. Before it hit the water, I felt my adrenaline spike. I grabbed Lilly and her father, and I dove to the opposite side.