All or Nothing (All Series Book 1) by Ann Natalie

Author:Ann, Natalie [Ann, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-06-28T07:00:00+00:00

Balance the Scales

Slipping out of bed quickly, Ben made his way to the doorway. He stopped and turned, looked at Presley sleeping soundly, hesitated just a moment, then walked on. He wasn’t leaving the house, so there was no need to wake her. She needed her sleep. And he needed to run.

Run away from the fear that clawed deep inside of him when Presley walked up his front stairs last night. Her face had been ghostly white, hollow looking, almost translucent. Her eyes, bright red, filled with unshed tears, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. He wanted to shield her from whatever hurt she felt, whatever pain was streaming through her.

When she had sobbed out Sarah’s name, he thought surely his knees were going to buckle. Fear, a monstrous fear he’d never experienced before overwhelmed him, threatening to pull him under to that abyss he was already struggling to climb out of.

Going into missions, he knew the stakes, so did his men. They knew what they signed up for, the dangers, and the risks. Fear for his men, fear for his body, even his own life, never seized him as much as the fear of hearing Sarah might have passed away last night.

Sarah. She reminded him of Kaitlin. Small, feisty and always willing to fight, never shrinking back from anything, tackling it full-on.

Sarah hadn’t signed up for the fight she was battling. She didn’t know what lay ahead of her, or the risks her body was taking trying to beat the starving demon inside of her. But she fought on anyway. Forced her way through it, because she knew no other way.

The similarities between Sarah and his sister forced a unique bond for Ben. A bond that had him promising Petty Officer Johnson he would send him tabs on his baby sister. Nothing major, nothing serious, just little notes that she was fighting with everything she had. That she smiled that day, or she ate some dessert and talked about going back to school. Happy things, things that would help Ethan through while he was so many miles away.

But when Ben had checked in on Sarah yesterday, he couldn’t bring himself to send a message to Ethan. Couldn’t bring himself to even walk forward and talk to her. She wouldn’t have wanted him to, anyway. So he had walked back out of her room without her the wiser. She had been resting with her eyes shut, and he let her sleep, knowing she needed to get some of her strength back.

Throwing shorts on, he made his way to his gym. Lacing up his sneakers, then jumping on the treadmill. Starting off at a slow pace, he thought of Presley. She was a fighter too. He often wondered how she did her job, how she made it through seeing what she saw day in and day out. Now he knew—she wasn’t as strong as she wanted everyone to believe, and he was glad he was the one to see that side of her.

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