by E. M. Moore
He inches his fingers toward my shirt, and I let him lift the hem. I sigh. “There’s something wrong with my rib, I think. Then there are the cuts on my thigh.”
He growls. “I’m going to kill him,” he rages. “You won’t have to worry about him anymore. I promise.” His fingers shake over the dark bruising on my stomach. Then, he reaches down, and I help him lower my bottoms so he can see the thigh bandages. Fresh blood seeps through the one where Mr. Blade Happy stabbed me. Stone immediately gets to his feet and bangs on the door. “I need a medical kit.”
“Fuck off,” the guard snaps.
“Father!”
I jump at Stone’s furious roar. I can’t hear exactly what Lance replies with, but the guard curses and retreats down the hall.
“We need to get out of here,” I blurt before the guy returns and overhears. “We have to leave. Lance is going to hurt you and Wyatt and Lucas. I know it.”
Stone comes back over and nuzzles my cheek, carefully avoiding touching any part of my body. “We have to play his game, baby. Please don’t worry.”
“Don’t fucking say that to me again,” I grind out.
He takes my hand and squeezes, devastation morphing his features. “Relax, please. We need to get you better and then we’ll work on what to do next.”
I groan, hating the worry on his face. I stifle a yelp as I reach out to touch his cheek. “You better have a fucking plan that doesn’t involve sacrificing yourself.”
He glances away, and the truth hits me. He doesn’t. He impulsively came here to save me, but that’s as far as his planning went. I’d be willing to bet on it.
The ex-military guy barges in, throws a medical kit at Stone’s feet, and slams the door closed again. Inside, the contents are all strewn about. Alcohol wipes, antiseptic, and bandages all mix together. There’s even a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide and another vile the color of burnt amber.
“I don’t know what happened to your stomach,” he grimaces. “It’s scabbed over already.”
“Something stabbed me when we were in the river. A branch or something. But that’s not the part that hurts. It’s my rib, I think.”
Stone dumps alcohol on it anyway, and I gag as the potent smell hits my nostrils.
“Sorry,” he breathes, staring down at me like I’m a broken china doll.
“It’s fine,” I assure him, my stomach roiling.
He helps me get my pants all the way off, then carefully peels away the bandages on my thigh. Fresh blood spills out, especially from the stab wound. He grimaces. “This is going to hurt.”
He moves before I can stop him. I press my lips together and scream with my mouth closed as he dumps alcohol all over the cuts, both big and small. My fingers curl into the mattress as fire rips through me.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he repeats. His fingers shake as he opens the butterfly bandages. He uses three on the stab wound, pressing the skin together tightly and sealing it up. He uses two more on the deeper cut, and gauze and medical tape on the others. He even takes care of the slice on my calf, which looks superficial now compared to actual blade wounds. After wrapping my leg in more gauze, he covers everything with the tan sprain bandage, clipping the metal pieces on to keep it closed.
Afterward, he rummages through the kit and takes out a small, white package.
Tylenol. Thank fuck.
He opens it and offers the two capsules to me in his palm. “Do you want me to ask for some water?”
I shake my head. It takes some effort, but I eventually swallow the two pills and lie back to wait for them to do their thing.
Stone stretches out next to me, pushing the kit out of the way and tangling his feet with mine. He rests his hand lightly on my hip.
“Why did you come here, really?”
“You know I can’t let anything happen to you,” he murmurs, lips thinning. “From the minute Lucas got me breathing again, I’ve been worried sick. I’ve been trying to call my father ever since we got back to Clary, but he wouldn’t answer.”
“Ninja and Pete?” I ask, realizing I hadn’t asked about them yet.
“Fine,” he reassures. “Pissed as all hell. But I don’t think anyone was more pissed than Cole.”
My voice breaks. “He’s okay, too?”
“He really cares about you,” Stone admits. “The four of us trashed the house in our grief. I apologize in advance when you see it.”
A small smile tugs at my lips. “Maybe Lance won’t want it now.”
“He’ll be dead before he can make good on his threat to evict us. I’ll figure this out.”
I try to turn on my side, but the pain reliever hasn’t kicked in yet, so I stay where I am and glance over at him instead. “Ninja and Pete are really okay?”
Stone nods. “They said they didn’t have time to react. They heard the rushing of the water, and the next thing they knew they were being carried away with it. The military assholes dammed up the creek, waiting for it to gather as much water as it could. With the rain, it gathered so much that it took out everything in its path once they let it go.”
“These guys are professionals,” I whisper. “I heard them say something about Iraq.”
Stone nods. “Cole found out who they are with help from the evidence on the traps they left in our tent. They’re the type of people you hire when you have no fucks left to give. Those are his words, by the way.”
I chuckle at that.
“Ninja and Pete ended up at the bottom of the mountain. They’re bruised like the rest of us, but they’re completely fine. They started making their way back up as soon as they could, but it was dark and they don’t know the trails as well as we do. The SAT phone was ruined. It was practically a miracle that we even found them again. We helped each other down and caught a ride from someone parked at the trailhead. I think the man shit his pants when Ninja approached him.”
“I would’ve liked to see that.”
“It was pretty funny. Ninja was not in a laughing mood, and I’m sure the way we looked scared the crap right out of him.”
I hum under my breath, finding humor despite our situation. It doesn’t last long. I lick my lips, hating what I’m about to reveal. “Your dad knows about the map.”
His face falls. “I know, baby. It’s okay.”
I shake my head because he has no idea. It’s not okay. Not even a little.
Hope in the wrong hands can make that person damn near indestructible.
29
As expected, Lance doesn’t let our reunion last, and before long, Stone kisses me awake. Thanks to the Tylenol and extra sleep, my head is clearer and my injuries are muted. I groan as he pulls me to a sitting position. “Dad wants us out there.”
I shake my head, grogginess still lifting from me. “This is a bad idea. He’s going to hurt you.”
He doesn’t reply, which makes my heart do a little flip. He knows what he signed up for, and he doesn’t care.
A knock sounds on the door. “Give us a minute,” Stone barks, clearly agitated.
“You have five seconds,” the voice warns, and I recognize it as the leader’s.
Stone helps me with my pants, and they’re barely over my ass when the door flies open, hitting against the opposite wall. My gray-blue eyed boy blocks me and glares.
The leader laughs, sneering at us like pests. “You think I’m afraid of you?”
I pull myself to my feet, holding onto Stone. Now that we’re heading back out there, I’m kicking myself for sleeping instead of making a plan. I should’ve told Stone about the weapon I have in my pocket. Above all, I wish I could tell him not to do anything fucking stupid.
Of course, that’s the first thing he does.
He marches right up to his father and shoves, smacking his head against the wall. The two Jacobs’ square off. “You hurt her,” Stone accuses.
“Technically,” his father growls, “it wasn’t me.” He pushes his son off him and adjusts his suit. “If you two thick-headed c
hildren would’ve listened to me in the beginning, this could’ve been avoided. I’m wholeheartedly disappointed in you, Stone.”
“I don’t care what you think. You’re already dead to me.”
Lance glowers, looking more menacing than when he was dealing with me. The leader makes me sit in the corner again.
“Have a seat,” the elder Jacobs orders, gesturing toward the chair opposite mine. “We need to discuss business.”
Stone sits. He’s vibrating in anger, but he softens when his gaze connects with mine. The only guard in the room is the leader, though I have no doubt the rest aren’t too far away and can show up within a moment’s notice.
Jacobs grins at the two of us. “So, here we are. As expected, Stone’s come to save you. Aren’t you happy your stepbrother loves you so much?”
The leader’s eyebrows raise. I’m pretty sure he mumbles “kinky” but I’m too busy rolling my eyes. Lance really hates the fact that his son fell for me. From his point of view, why wouldn’t he? I have nothing that’s important to him—I have no money, my family isn’t big in the business world, and no prestige.
“I guess we’re not talking now, are we? Should we just start with the torture, then?”
I scoff. “You couldn’t watch them cut me up, do you think you’ll be able to stay in the same room when they do it to your son?”
“I find the whole thing barbaric, but if it gets the job done….”
“If someone else gets their hands dirty, you mean.”
Lance places his hand on his son’s shoulder, and Stone flinches away. A growl works its way up my throat as the elder Jacobs squeezes until his knuckles turn white. If I were fast enough, I’d take him out for daring to even touch Stone. But in my current condition, I’d be stopped before I made it a couple steps.
Jacobs huffs. “As I’ve told you before, what does it matter as long as it gets done? We’re not going to sit here and argue over semantics. Are you going to help me find the treasure or not?”
Stone answers for me. “No.”
His father tightens his grip. Stone presses his lips together. Now that we’re sitting directly across from each other with shafts of sunshine streaming through the haphazard blinds, I notice what rough shape Stone is in. He still has smears of brown over his face from the muddy creek, mixing in with some purple-blue bruising on his cheeks. He took some hard knocks while we were in the water. Understatement of the century, considering when I saw him last, he wasn’t breathing. “Don’t touch him.”
“If the idea of you two together didn’t make me want to lose my lunch, I’d be happy my son found someone to love. It’s a shame she’s not good enough for us, Son. You know that, right? Like I told you when I arranged the marriage with Rissa, Dakota Wilder isn’t someone you marry. A mistress, maybe.”
He’s picking at a scab I’ll probably always have. Stone is better than me. There’s no getting around it.
“I am going to marry her,” Stone boasts, staring straight at me. His lips turn up, and I notice the skin around them is discolored. “We’re going to have babies, too, and I don’t care if I have to give up my last name and take hers to do it. I don’t want to be a Jacobs anyway.”
Lance slaps him across the face. “Family is all we have!” he bellows, his face an angry red.
I get to my feet, only to feel a strong arm band around me, then throw me into the chair again. I hit with such force that I teeter on the back legs for a moment before falling forward.
Stone just grins. “You’re right. Family is all we have, and it’s been a long time since you’ve been family to me.”
His father starts to pace again. I can see in his gait and the stiff set of his shoulders that he doesn’t want to hurt his son like this. He still thinks he can gain control somehow.
When he turns back around, he nods at the leader. The toothless, ex-military man whistles again, calling everyone in. Two of the men return to hold me in the chair while the others restrain one of the men I love. We stare at one another, and my heart breaks all over again. I’m so close, but I can’t do anything to help. I’m useless.
Lance focuses on me. “Tell me you’ll assist us.”
Stone shakes his head, drilling his gray-blue eyes into me. But when Mr. Blade Happy unsheathes his knife, I panic. Revulsion nearly swallows me whole. I can’t go through with seeing him hurt. I can’t even pretend it wouldn’t shatter my world.
A hollowness creeps into my limbs as the guy holding the knife smirks at me. The sparkle in his eyes hardens my heart. He starts to bring the blade down slowly toward Stone’s cheek, and I can’t rush the words out fast enough. “Stop!”
A knowing smile forms over Lance’s face. I turn toward Stone who sits up straighter. “What are you doing, Dakota? Don’t.”
I shake my head. “No, they’re not going to hurt you, too.”
Memories of my father flash through my head. Wilders have always protected the map, protected our legacy, but I’m not willing to risk the people I love.
I bite the inside of my cheek and fight back the emotion rising to the surface. I take a deep breath and hold it before moving my gaze to Lance. “I’ll help.”
“Dakota,” Stone warns again.
I shrug and glance back at him. “You gave me no choice. I’m not going to sacrifice you.” I pull my shoulders back and address the elder Jacobs. “I’ll try my best, but what I said before is true. We’ve had the map for a century and that still didn’t help us.”
“You’ll find the treasure or Stone dies,” he states simply.
I think he’s bluffing, but I also see the warning in his dark gaze—if it’s not his son, it’ll be Wyatt or Lucas. I can only hope they’re someplace safe. Some place far, far away from us.
But I also know that’s highly unlikely. Stone didn’t say as much, but they must know where we are. They won’t stay away for long.
Which is why I need to press forward. “I imagine all of our gear got ruined in the flood?”
Stone glares at me but nods anyway. “We’ll need new.”
“And since daddy dearest is funding this, I’m sure he can handle that, right?” I lift a brow at Jacobs, as if I’m begging him to counter me. When he doesn’t, I grumble, “You better get some gear for yourself, too.”
He lifts his brows. “Me?”
“Absolutely. It’s about time you actually put in the work. Don’t you want to make sure everything goes according to plan? It’s kind of hard to run the show from the sidelines. You do know the treasure’s in the mountains, right?”
“I’m well aware,” he retorts.
“Wyatt and Lucas will want to help, too,” Stone notes. “Now that we’re in this.”
A flash of fear tightens my gut. He just said the last thing I wanted him to say. “No.”
“Yes,” he practically growls at me.
We lock gazes, but I know it’s already done. I shake my head, wishing we could take it back. I want to keep them safe, and wherever that is, is going to be miles away from us and Lance’s hired group of money-hungry assholes willing to do anything he says if given the right price.
I scowl, turning toward Jacobs. “No one’s to hurt anyone.”
He grins. “As long as you keep working toward the treasure, I can promise you that.”
The spark of darkness in his eyes makes me wary. Why do I think he wanted Wyatt and Lucas involved all along? I close my eyes, hoping we didn’t just put everyone we love in the path of a madman, even though it’s a fruitless wish. “We’ll leave in the morning,” I tell him. “So you better get the gear we need today.”
Stone starts listing off equipment like he’s reading a grocery list, and his father scrambles when he realizes he doesn’t have an assistant to take notes. Instead, he gets his secretary on the phone, and the list is repeated, Stone detailing to the lady that we need it all delivered to the trailhead by five am the next morning. When his father hangs up, Stone glares at him. “Better get some sleep, old man. You’re about
to get a rude awakening.”
Lance lifts his chin in the air. “I’m sure I can manage.”
Now that is laughable. Stone and I glance at each other with matching smirks. Lance is going to be less than a treat up there. No fancy chairs, no boardrooms. We’re talking about real, physical work. He won’t know what to do with himself.
Stone stands. His father waves the two military men away when they look to him for their next move. My blond-haired guy crosses the distance between us and reaches for my hand. I wrap mine in his, and he squeezes before helping me to my feet.
We start down the hallway when Lance calls out, “You can come home.”
“I am home,” Stone says, peeking at me.
A rush of love fills me so fast it’s as if I’m practically brimming over with it. He ushers me into the small bedroom and shuts the door behind us. When we’re away from everyone else, he lets his mask slip. “What are you doing?” he pleads, desperation dripping from his words. “Your treasure…”
I grip his forearms, running my palms up and down his cracked skin, relishing that I can even actually do this. When he first bobbed to the surface in those rapids, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able touch him again. “Unimportant when it comes to you.”
He brings me forward and kisses me. It’s sloppy and careless, infused with passion. It’s unlike any Stone kiss I’ve experienced before, but like the others, I’m taken with it immediately. It’s raw and heady between two people who are desperate to remind each other that they’re still here.
Eventually, Stone pulls away. He presses a kiss to my forehead, breathing out over my skin until I’m trembling in his arms.
He smirks, his lips moving just over my brow. “Cole will be disappointed I didn’t get tortured.”
I blink. “Wait. What?”
“He told me if I came here, I deserved whatever I got. I think he wanted me to get roughed up.”