She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 463

Lucian didn't waste a second on words. He quickly found a sturdy tree trunk nearby, anchored a tactical rope, secured the other end around his waist, and rappelled down the slick rock face.

His boots splashed into the freezing water as he knelt in front of Loyce. She looked up at him, her eyelashes fluttering with the cold.

She fully expected the man to scold her, but he remained utterly silent. He simply slipped his strong arms around her waist, hoisted her up, and secured her tightly to his own body with the harness before beginning the grueling, inch-by-inch climb back up the rope.

The hail pelted mercilessly against his helmet and broad shoulders with heavy, sickening thuds, but his wide back shielded her from almost all the impact.

An unprecedented, overwhelming sense of security washed over Loyce, like a surge of warmth breaking through a frozen river. It violently enveloped her heart—a heart that had long been accustomed to shouldering every burden alone.

She had never realized it as profoundly as she did in this exact moment: she could trust this man unconditionally.

No matter how deadly the situation, he would find her.

Reaching the surface, Lucian unclipped the harness. He pulled a thermal blanket from his pack and wrapped it tightly around her to help her retain whatever body heat she had left. Then, he hoisted her onto his back and began the slow, torturous trek toward the extraction point.

Loyce rested her chin against his shoulder, finally breaking the long silence between them. "Why did you come? Do you really like me that much? Enough to risk your own life?"

Lucian's response was simple. Just a low, gravelly hum. "Mhm."

"Then... should we be together?" she asked.

Lucian's footsteps faltered for a fraction of a second. He turned his head slightly, her warm, slightly ragged breaths ghosting across his neck.

"That's my business," he said firmly. "It has nothing to do with you."

He had never intended to force her into accepting his feelings. After all, he was a man surrounded by danger.

Moreover, what he wanted from her was never some cliché 'repaying a life debt with a relationship.'

The sinkhole was miles away from the extraction point, but thankfully, the weather stabilized during their hike, sparing them any further disasters.

Lucian stubbornly carried her on his back for two agonizing hours until they neared the exit and were met by the frantic search and rescue teams.

Blinding floodlights washed over their faces, cutting through the night, accompanied by joyous shouts.

"The General is alive!"

Loyce administered another dose of painkillers, hastily patched the wounds on her leg, and threw herself entirely into synthesizing the antidote.

She didn't sleep a wink the entire night after they emerged from the mountains. It wasn't until the perfect antidote was formulated and successfully administered to Forrest—and the three others who had been poisoned—that her taut nerves finally snapped.

When Gordon Lonsdale pulled back the flap of the medical tent, he froze at the sight inside.

Under the dim yellow light, Loyce was slumped over the edge of Forrest's hospital bed, fast asleep. Her long, messy hair spilled over her pale cheek.

One of her legs was strapped into a crude splint, the pant leg rolled up to reveal a swollen, heavily bruised ankle and a calf covered in hastily bandaged, jagged lacerations. One of her hands rested unconsciously over Forrest's wrist, as if she were still instinctively monitoring her brother's pulse even in her sleep.

"Oh, my precious girl."

Gordon's heart ached terribly. He stepped inside as quietly as he could, took off his heavy coat, and draped it over her slender shoulders.

Morris murmured softly to comfort his grandfather. "We brought the best trauma surgeons from Blossom Hospital. They're all retired military veterans. They're currently in Lucian's tent dealing with his leg. As soon as they're done, I'll have them tend to her."

Thinking of the man who had literally carried his granddaughter out of the jaws of death, Gordon asked quietly, "How is the boy doing?"