The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4)

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Thankfully , Winter ignored my thoughts.

  “How far away are we?” she wondered, completely composed, unwrapping one of her meals.

  It probably wasn’t the first time someone had thought vulgar things around her, about her – far from it.

  I cleared my throat. “GPS says fifteen minutes.”

  She nodded, taking her first bite.

  I knew she’d be pressed for time to finish all that food before we arrived, so I just let her eat, instead of trying to socialize. Granted, it was only just a little after four o’clock, so we’d still have plenty of time to scope out the hospital even if she needed to take another five or ten minutes to finish after parking.

  But I also suspected she probably wouldn’t want to do that, so I kept my mouth shut.

  She paused the moment I thought that, quickly swallowing. “Thank you.” She hesitated. “And thank you for the food too.” She then resumed eating.

  I couldn’t help but smile.

  Figuring I’d check in on everyone back home, I sent them a message, only to get a response from Lily about how she’d completely forgotten about her surgery coming up on Monday. Shit, I’d kind of forgotten too, since it was Freya who got her scheduled. Usually I probably would have asked what day it was, now that it was closer to the date, but so much had been going on that it slipped my mind.

  But now that I was thinking about it, I wondered how that would work with her being a regenerator now. Obviously, she’d heal right away, but healing too quickly could be problematic for something like implant surgery. Or any surgery for that matter.

  When we pulled off the interstate and took a few city roads, toward the north side, I finally took over the driving again, since the hospital was now in sight. Grandview Memorial wasn’t downtown like I assumed it would be, instead being on the outskirts, appearing to have been built in the last fifty years or so. Which was saying something. Hospitals built that recently were pretty wealthy looking, as if they were the upper class of medical centers, even though they still treated everyone – all people, from the most well-off, to the homeless.

  But damn, this place was seriously nice.

  Bright white walls on the outside, lush green lawns, large trees, and elaborate landscaping, along with roads made of those dark hard-plastic tiles that doubled as solar panels. Following the signs for the parking garages, since I figured we’d be here for a while, I made my way around the side of the behemoth building.

  Once we were in the garage, with me driving slowly as I searched for a spot, Winter angled in her seat more toward me.

  “I’m going to need your help,” she said bluntly.

  “Okay,” I agreed. “What do you need me to do?”

  She paused. “There are a lot of people here. A lot of minds to scope out.”

  I slid into a space, and then gave her my full attention.

  “Okay,” I said again, waiting for her to continue.

  “I will begin from right here. But once we are walking, I need you to hold onto me.”

  My eyes widened slightly. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, I can do that.”

  “Like, wrap your arm around me so I don’t have to focus so much on where I’m going.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I can do that,” I repeated.

  “I might want to sit down, or otherwise stop somewhere to focus on someone in particular.” She paused again. “And I might also pretend like I have a really bad headache when I really need to concentrate.” Another pause. “I don’t have a headache, so don’t worry about me. It’s just an act.”

  Now I was a little skeptical. “Are you being honest?”

  “Yes.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “My ability doesn’t give me a headache, no matter how much I use it. But, especially because of my appearance, people seem to perceive it as normal when I stop and look like I have a migraine.”

  “Because of your appearance?” I repeated.

  Another nod. “Yes. I guess seeing a goth chick act like her head hurts doesn’t seem unusual to most. As if it fits in with their perspective of them being moody anyway.”

  I couldn’t help but grin at hearing her for calling herself a goth chick, especially when she’d commented earlier about having made an attempt to adjust her appearance in the past.

  Her pale green eyes unfocused then.

  Was she already getting to work?

  She continued to stare into space, seeing right through me, as she responded simply.

  “Yes.”

  I waited patiently while she began doing her thing, trying not to think too much myself to avoid distracting her, although I doubted it really affected her that much. Either way, I figured every little bit might help. And when we were walking in a few minutes, I’d just try to observe things instead of thinking a ton.

  The good thing about a hospital, it was normal for people to look around a ton, and even normal for people to be lost. We could get away with a lot here, even if we ended up in a location we weren’t supposed to be.

  And with Winter being able to read people’s minds, I was sure we’d have a huge advantage.

  After about five minutes, her gaze focused on me again.

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  I nodded, carefully climbing out of the car and meeting her at the back. She immediately slipped around to my right side, and then grabbed my right hand, pulling it around her back to hold onto her waist, while she slipped her left arm under mine and wrapped it around my waist.

  Holy shit, she was skinny!

  She was the same height as me, and yet I felt like I was holding onto only three-fourths of a normal woman. I mean, the girth of her chest and shoulders was completely normal, as well as her hips being nice and wide, but her waist tapered inward way more than I even realized, her skinniness more extreme than her clothing revealed.

  Obviously, I’d caught a blurry glimpse of her when we first met, but I hadn’t looked since then, and feeling her skinniness was very different than just seeing it anyway. Not to mention, while being just skinny wasn’t necessarily anything special, every muscle in her body was super toned. I couldn’t even imagine how amazing her belly looked, suspecting it was hot as hell. Women didn’t usually have visible abs unless they were flexing, even if they were super skinny, and I could just picture her toned muscular belly looking so smooth, curvy, firm, and hot .

  Needless to say, Winter didn’t react at all to my thoughts, and I sincerely appreciated it. Because I really needed to get a grip.

  Making our way inside, we got into an elevator with three other people, and then we walked down a hallway, with lots of folks coming and going. As usual, Winter got a lot of stares from everyone, but I again doubted it had anything at all to do with her lips, and everything to do with the overall attractiveness and exotic feel of her appearance.

  I definitely got some looks too, with a lot of people gawking at her, only to notice that the guy holding onto her had softly glowing blue eyes. However, thankfully, the shifting colors, like coals glowing in a blue fire, were usually subtle enough in broad daylight that people had an expression on their faces like they were wondering if they imagined it.

  Once we reached the main lobby, which was a massive space with four different designated seating areas for people to meet, Winter unexpectedly gave me a tug in the direction of the humongous main hallway that led to the rest of the hospital.

  Damn she was strong.

  She then gestured for us to make a left down a normal-sized hallway, her pale green eyes still slightly unfocused. I looked up as we entered the hall, shocked to realize that it had a street sign. Like, shit, just how big was this place that it labeled its halls like streets?!

  After walking at a normal pace for a good hundred feet, I suddenly wondered if the reason we’d come this way was because there was a restaurant specializing in deli meals and desserts. And sure enough, the moment we got to it, she gave me a slight tug inside.

  We then sat down, her e
yes still unfocused.

  “I’ll have a mega-chip cookie, a yogurt parfait, a slice of lemon cake, two cake-pops, and a large vanilla iced coffee.”

  I tried really hard not to laugh, grinning at her instead, before getting up to get her order. There were two people in line, but the wait wasn’t long at all, since most customers were just grabbing one or two things. However, when I stepped up to the cashier to start placing Winter’s order, I saw her in my second-sight unexpectedly lean forward, and hold her head between her hands, her elbows on the table.

  Her jet-black hair was just long enough to cover up her neck when she was upright, but now I could see her pale skin with her leaning like that. The sight made me recall that Moulton guy making a rude comment about her shaving her neck to look like a normal person during their short spat at my negotiation, yet there wasn’t even a hint of white peach fuzz on the back of her neck…

  But then I considered what I’d seen in my blurry second-sight, the one and only time I took a peek. I previously thought she was wearing lingerie because of the way the exotic pattern covered her legs from the middle of the thigh down, as well as her shoulders, and then a thin strip down the sides of her torso. So then, maybe she did grow fur on her neck, except only a thin strip underneath her ears or something.

  Not that I should be focusing too much on it right now when she was trying to concentrate.

  At the very least, her posture didn’t alarm me at all, since she warned me ahead of time, so I went back to finishing the order and began to move to the side to wait for it. Only for a guy dressed nicely to walk up to her. Our table was close enough that I could easily overhear.

  “Are you alright, miss?” he asked politely, seeming overly concerned.

  “Headache. Fine. Boyfriend getting a coffee to take my medicine with.”

  He glanced in my direction, saw I was looking, and then stood up straight and immediately walked away. I couldn’t help but grin again.

  Once I got everything I ordered, I sat back down at her side, feeling like teasing her.

  “You sure having a headache isn’t just getting you unnecessary attention?”

  She shrugged as she sat up, her pale green eyes unfocused as she reached for the mega-chip cookie without looking at it. “He was going to try anyway. Easier to make him leave me alone this way.”

  Huh, I supposed that made sense. At the very least, it was easier for her to insert that she was with someone, by pretending to have a headache. Otherwise, someone saying ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ didn’t segue well to ‘I’m taken, go away.’

  I remained quiet while she ate, especially since she still seemed focused. I thought about taking a bite of lemon cake, but then decided against it, since it was hers now even though I bought it. However, the moment I thought that, she reached out and slid it toward me.

  So, I took a bite.

  And then took a sip of her coffee when she grabbed that and set it in front of me too. I wasn’t really that hungry though, having just had my own fast-food meal, and would just get my own stuff if I was going to be consuming a lot of hers.

  Once she was finished eating, we continued to sit there, with her resting her head in her hands again, like she had that headache. Figuring it would look weird if I just sat there and stared at her, I carefully rested my hand on her upper back and slowly rubbed side-to-side, acting like I was doing my part to comfort her.

  We remained like that for a good twenty minutes, and no one bothered us.

  Finally, she sat up again. “New spot,” she said simply, getting to her feet.

  I went ahead and gathered all her trash while she went back up to the register to buy herself another coffee. I then wrapped my arm around her like before and we began walking the way we came to the humongous main hallway.

  I knew it really shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but I was so used to all the women in my life being shorter than me that it was strange having Winter’s head directly next to mine. Like, technically Lexi was tall for a woman, being only two inches shorter than I was, and yet those two inches made a huge difference in the way it felt to walk beside Winter.

  Honestly, she felt like an alpha female because of her height, never mind her strength.

  She immediately shook her head, not looking at me. Her voice was barely a whisper. “It doesn’t work like that. An alpha female only holds that position if the alpha male makes her one. And despite my height and strength, it’s doubtful I’d ever be an alpha female.”

  “Why is that?” I wondered hesitantly.

  Her brow furrowed. “Ask me later. Not relevant right now.”

  I nodded in understanding.

  We stopped at another large sitting area that had palm trees and a gurgling fountain, like an indoor town square. Sitting down at a white bench, I wrapped my arm around her upper back, prompting her to lean her head against my temple while staring at the fountain with a vacant expression.

  Again, we sat like that in silence for a good ten minutes while people came and went. As usual, I tried to keep my thoughts clear, since it was becoming obvious she’d answer some of my questions if I got to thinking too much. Instead, I just tried to watch the people, not thinking too much about what I saw, and honestly just kind of focused on enjoying my arm around Winter.

  In a weird way, it was really peaceful, because she was super comfortable to hold, but at the same time I wasn’t trying to be interested in her. I wasn’t trying to be attracted to her. We were on a mission, we had a goal to accomplish, and the task required enough of her attention that I almost felt like she was asleep in my arms and I was just watching over her so she could stay safe while unconscious.

  But seriously, I’d never imagined that a woman with basically no fluff could be so comfortable. Granted, it wasn’t like her muscles were hard as a rock – not unless she was flexing them. But right now, she was completely relaxed, leaning pretty heavily into me, and the warmth of her temple pressed against mine was really nice.

  That, and having my thoughts clear probably had a meditative effect as well.

  However, right about at the ten-minute mark, her pale green eyes suddenly narrowed, her body stiffening just slightly. I certainly didn’t want to distract her, so I kept my mouth shut, and tried not to feel too hopeful that she might have found something.

  Because it might not have been anything at all.

  Thus, I waited.

  And waited.

  Winter’s brow remained furrowed, but she otherwise didn’t budge an inch.

  Then, her expression abruptly hardened, and she opened her mouth to speak.

  “Let’s go.”

  We rose in sync, and she used her arm around my waist to guide me to the nearest set of elevators. Getting on with another couple, she hit the button for the seventh floor, asked the others what floor they needed by simply saying ‘Floor?’ only to hit the button three as well and then pull me against the side.

  Needless to say, they gave us a strange look when it was obvious that she was kind of lugging me around like baggage.

  I gave them a reassuring smile and wrapped my arm around her neck, pretending to be more affectionate. Her expression remained impassive, so I wasn’t sure we were as convincing as I hoped. Not that it really mattered what a couple of strangers thought.

  Getting off the elevator, we began walking past a nurse’s station, our pace casual, with her body relaxed now, a slight smile touching her lips, her pale green eyes soft. And then the moment we were beyond the hospital personnel, her expression became determined again.

  As we got to the end of the hall, she stopped by the doorway to the last room, pushing me up against the wall and looking at me with a big grin, while leaning into me. She was so close that it would have been really awkward looking if I didn’t wrap her up in my arms.

  So I did, our faces just inches apart.

  Her smile was breathtaking.

  “So yeah,” she abruptly began randomly, her voice the most animated I’d ever heard. “I�
��m so relieved. They said my dad would probably be out of here in a week.” I tried to keep my gaze focused on her as a middle-aged man and women came out of the room next to us, with them having what I assumed must be three grandkids in tow, all of them under the age of twelve.

  “That’s great,” I offered, trying to sound sincere, considering we were obviously putting on a show.

  Damn, she was a good actor.

  Her expression became more serious. “I know, I was so worried. Turns out the stroke wasn’t as bad as they thought. They even think he might be completely back to normal with just a little bit of physical therapy.” She sighed heavily, sounding extremely appreciative now. “Thanks for being there for me, baby. I’m not sure I would have managed without you.”

  She stopped talking as her eyes unfocused again, the family far enough down the hall now that our conversation probably wouldn’t be overheard at this point. We then just waited, my arms wrapped around her, our faces directly in front of each other silently, as if we were about to kiss or something.

  Her gaze then focused, her black lips parting.

  “Okay. They’re definitely gone.” She looked at me intently. “Sam, this room. Kill. Now.”

  I looked at her in complete shock. “This room?” I hissed. “The one the family just came out of?” At the same time, I glanced inside to find an old man with dark brown eyes, lying in bed, literally so skinny and emaciated that his bones were visible through his skin. Like, he looked to be about the most brittle old man I’d ever seen.

  And he wasn’t entirely whole. He was missing his right leg, and his stomach had some crazy scarring, being so sunken in that it was like he didn’t have organs inside, though I knew that couldn’t be the case, but then a quick peek revealed whatever he had going on was definitely messed up. There was a massive bag of thick white fluid, almost looking like a grainy milk, connected to his IV in the crook of his arm.

  “Don’t believe me?” Winter replied. “Then go inside and meet him.”

  I gave her a confused look, before doing just that. Because there was no way in hell this was the guy. Like, seriously, was this maybe just a different enemy she happened to know was on the list of ‘kill on sight’ terrorists? An enemy that was only a threat forty years ago?