Twenty-eight
Gravity was winning. Dani was losing. It wouldn’t have mattered if gravity wasn’t helping Spook. Unfair of it to take sides. As she grew weaker, she could feel him growing stronger, as if her waning strength was feeding his. She could feel his lust grow, too. It beat against her will, adding its demand to the other forces allied against her.
Each foot higher, with only trail mix for fuel, made it harder to launch a rallying cry to rouse flagging body and spirits. A good rally required some unhealthy, wholly satisfying junk food. Spook and his mountain were all there was, all there ever would be.
Though the ear piece for the scanner had stayed in place during most of the hike, Spook hadn’t told her what he was hearing and she had been afraid to ask. Afraid that if he thought
