Please...
But she didn’t move.
Mama was gone.
Hot tears burned my eyes. I hitched in a breath. “You bastard!” I spun in Malik’s hold, turning to glare at him. “I will kill you for this! I will kill you!”
Malik chuckled softly. “I believe wholeheartedly that you wish to kill me, little Nishi, but you and I both know that will never happen.” He let go of me and stepped back. “Go ahead, then.”
Was that a challenge?
Hatred burned inside me, rising up like an erupting volcano.
I launched myself at him, my rage and pain driving me forward like a whirlwind. Malik stumbled back, his heavy bulk unable to move back out of the way in time. I was a machine, spinning around him, attacking, striking, punching, kicking, then bouncing back out of the way. He stood there, trying to block my blows, grunting each time I struck him. Bulging muscles might make him look frightening, but they hindered his movements. Malik was a clumsy ox, glaring at me as I kept attacking, but doing little more than blocking the occasional blow.
He let out a roar of rage and launched himself at me once again.
I darted back out of the way, rolling as I hit the ground, and bouncing back to my feet.
A soft sound alerted me to another presence behind me. I spun around, preparing to attack.
Then, suddenly, Logan was there. He wrapped an arm around my waist and yanked me back out of the way, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead.
“Let me handle this.” He pushed me behind him and tackled Malik with a roar of rage.
The two men slammed together like giant walruses fighting over females. Slam. I flinched as they struck, fearing Malik’s bulk would knock Logan flat on his ass. Logan only stumbled a little before pressing forward, his leg shooting out to trip Malik. Malik let out a roar as he lost his footing and went down beneath Logan. Malik probably had a good twenty or thirty pounds on Logan, but he wasn’t nearly as fast as Logan. The two men rolled across the ground, grappling like wrestlers, punching, slapping, striking, gouging, doing everything they could to hurt each other.
I gasped and stumbled back out of the way.
“Logan!” I screamed. “Be careful!”
Noah appeared at my side, taking my arm and pulling me back out of the way. “Stay back, Nishi.”
Gunfire cracked across the forest. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Malik’s remaining thugs dropped to the ground around us, dead or dying.
Then Luke strode forward, lowering his gun. He’d killed the rest of them. Malik was now the only Rapster left.
And he was fighting Logan.
I wanted to join in, to help Logan fight, but Noah wouldn’t let go of my arm. “Stay here,” he ordered. “Logan asked me to keep you safe.” While I understood his loyalty to his dreg partner, I had a difficult time just standing back and not doing anything to help Logan.
Malik and Logan kept rolling across the ground, landing painful blows, grunting and groaning. It looked like a fairly even match, except Logan had two gunshot wounds that weakened him.
Suddenly Malik rolled on top of Logan, trapping him beneath him. His thick arm locked around Logan’s neck in a chokehold. He squeezed.
No! He was going to kill Logan!
Noah released me and rushed at Malik. Luke also marched forward. While I stared, they yanked Malik off Logan, tossing him aside. Malik let out a monstrous snarl and rolled to his feet. Luke was by his side in an instant, pressing a knife against Malik’s throat. Malik gasped and grew still, breathing heavily. Noah lowered his hand to Logan. Logan slipped his hand in Noah’s and Noah hauled Logan to his feet. Logan’s gaze landed on me, sweeping down, then up.
“You okay, Nishi?” he whispered, breathing heavily.
My eyes filled with tears. I nodded slowly, my gaze dropping to Mama.
Mama!
I knelt before her, quickly pulling her into my arms.
Oh Mama!
I didn’t look as Logan, Luke, and Noah took care of Malik. There was a faint grunt, a hiss of sound, then Malik dropped to the ground with a thud. I imagined Luke had sliced his throat.
He was dead. Finally, I was free of him. I shuddered.
I rocked my mother’s body slowly back and forth while tears streamed down my cheeks. Malik had killed Mama. My heart seized. My throat shriveled up.
Mama! No! She can’t die! She can’t!
Strong arms came around me as Logan gently drew me against him. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “So, so sorry, Nishi.”
I turned into his arms, craving his comfort. His warmth. His strength.
His arms tightened around me and I snuggled into his chest, clinging to him.
Mama. Oh Mama.
Logan scooped me up as I continued to sob quietly. I was vaguely aware of him carrying me away and back down the escape hatch into their living quarters.
The dregs’ voices floated around me as they talked about “taking care of the bodies” and removing the crumbled concrete from the maze.
Logan took me to his room and set me on his bed. Then he sat next to me.
“Get some sleep,” he murmured. “When you feel better, we can bury your mother.”
I swallowed hard, a fresh wave of misery washing over me. Mama was gone. Dead.
I now had no one.
No one.
You have Logan.
“Don’t leave me,” I begged. “Please. I don’t want to be alone right now.”
He patiently drew me into his arms. “I will never leave you, Nishi.” He gently brushed his hand over my head, again and again. The gesture was soothing. I snuggled against his warm chest, relaxing against him. Logan made it okay to be weak, to be needy. And right now, I was feeling weak and needy.
Mama.
She was truly gone.
This time forever.
I drew in a ragged breath. “Who killed Malik? You? Or Noah or Luke?” I’d seen Malik drop out of the corner of my eye, but I hadn’t known who’d ended his life.
Logan’s chest expanded as he drew in a deep breath. He exhaled slowly. “I killed him, Nishi. Luke and Noah held him while I slit his throat. He will never bother you again.”
My chest tightened. Logan had killed Malik for me. “Thank you.” My heart squeezed, emotion clogging my throat. Malik was dead. Truly dead. The monster was gone.
“I wanted to kill him myself,” I admitted. “I tried to kill him, but I just couldn’t seem to do it. He was too big, too strong. Sometimes I hate being so small.”
“Shh.” Logan tightened his arms around me. “He’s gone now, Nishi. And you’re perfect just the way you are. I was happy to kill him for you.”
I swallowed hard and buried into his solid strength. Logan leaned back in the bed and drew me against him. I don’t know how long we sat there with him cuddling me close and me snuggling against him, trying to absorb his strength. It could have been minutes. Or it could have been hours. I must have dozed off, because I woke sometime later to find myself alone in the bed.
I quickly got up and went to search for Logan. I found him in the gym with the other dregs working out.
Ryan played referee while Noah and Luke sparred in the ring. Logan was in the far corner, shirtless, his chest and arm muscles heaving as he lifted heavy barbells. I approached him, amazed that he was already working out after having two bullets wounds recently. Dregs truly must heal really fast.
Logan set the weights down and stepped toward me. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I lowered my gaze, trying not to stare at all those gorgeous muscles. “I was wondering if I could bury Mama now.”
“Of course.” Logan took my arm and gently led me across the room. He motioned to the others, who all came forward. “Nishi’s ready to bury her mother now.”
Logan and the other dregs had apparently cleaned up most of the debris from the exploded tunnel. Only one section had collapsed, but that had apparently been their plan. Several of Malik’s men had died beneath the concrete, and the dregs had r
emoved the bodies after cleaning up the mess.
A half hour later, we had a quiet ceremony and buried Mama in the woods. I think she would have liked to be buried here in the peacefulness of the forest. The dregs had apparently already “taken care of” Malik’s body and the bodies of all his thugs. I didn’t ask what “taken care of” meant. I was just glad I didn’t have to see any bodies anywhere. I quietly told them how Malik had found their hideout. They’d all listened in silence, nodding in understanding.
I said a few words for Mama, my heart pinching as Logan tossed the first shovelful of dirt over her. I stood aside, waiting as they all took turns, until finally, Mama disappeared into the earth.
She was truly gone. Oh Mama. I’m going to miss you so much.
But my father was still out there. This was his fault. He was responsible for my mother’s death.
He would pay for this.
With Malik dead, there would no longer be an alliance between the Black Dragons and the Rapsters. The Black Dragons would have to find another means to strengthen their gang.
I vowed to make sure that didn’t happen.
My goal now was to take my father down.
And I would let nothing get in my way.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Logan
Nishi withdrew into herself after we buried her mother. I wanted to do something to help her deal with her pain, but the only way I knew was the dreg way. As we all headed back to our living quarters underground, I gently hedged, “If you want to spar, Nishi, I would be happy to join you in the ring. It’s how we deal. We discovered it’s great therapy.”
She paused, her gaze locking on mine. “I would like to spar, but not with you. With someone I’m not close to. With someone who I can hit and not feel guilty about it.”
“I’m game,” Luke offered. “You can beat on me all you want, little Nishi.”
She pulled her gaze to Luke. “I like you better now than I did in the beginning, but you’re not Logan, so I think I can fight without mercy.”
Luke’s lips twitched. “Good. You’ve probably got a lot of pent-up emotions you need to release. Go ahead and lay it all on me. I can take it.”
Ryan snickered. “I don’t know, man. She’s a tough little thing. She might kick your ass.” Ryan’s elbow joint hadn’t been as badly damaged as we had originally thought. The joint had been swollen at first, but now the swelling was going down, and the elbow still worked, so Ryan wouldn’t need surgery to repair it. It seemed the prosthetic had taken the brunt of the weight and had kept his elbow joint from being shattered. Like me, Ryan seemed to be healing fast, and he didn’t appear to be in much pain. He planned to be fitted for a new prosthetic once his arm healed.
Luke shrugged. “She’s more than welcome to kick my ass. I’d be happy to help her deal with all the shit she’s had to go through recently.”
Ryan smiled at Nishi. “Go at him like he’s your worst enemy.”
She glanced questioningly at me. I gave her a nod of encouragement. “I’ll referee if you want.”
Nishi reached over to grab my hand. Warmth filled my chest. I loved that she trusted me. I wanted so badly to help take away her pain. If the sparring didn’t help, I would try another way. I would take her into my arms and hold her as long as she needed. And later, when she was ready, I would make love to her. Slowly. Gently. Thoroughly. I would do everything in my power to help erase her pain. And to let her know she wasn’t alone. That I would be here for her. Always.
“I’ve got to go rewire the system,” Noah announced. “It will take me several hours to get new cameras installed and the system up and running again.” He glanced at Ryan. “I could use some help if you’re game.”
Ryan nodded. “Sure thing.”
When we reached the corridor lined with our apartments, Noah and Ryan headed off into Noah’s tech room, while Luke, Nishi, and I all entered the gym.
Luke and Nishi wrapped their hands, then stepped into the ring. I leaned against the ropes to watch.
At first, they just danced around each other, circling, neither trying to land any blows. Then Luke stopped and eyed her. “You sure you want to do this? We can wait until later, if you want.” Luke might be a hard ass, but he was still human underneath, and though he didn’t show it often, I was glad to see him exhibiting some compassion toward Nishi.
She shook her head. “I’m just trying to picture you as my father so I can feel all the rage that I need to feel before I attack.”
In Luke’s typical smartass way, he dropped to his knees and smirked up at her. “There. Now I’m about the same height as your father. Does this make it easier?”
Nishi choked out a startled laugh. “My father is not shorter than me, and you look nothing like him, even on your knees.” Her eyes twinkled with humor. “You’re kind of funny when you want to be.” Then, without warning, she attacked.
Luke was ready, and blocked her blows. But he was gentle about it, knowing she needed to feel powerful, that she needed to release her demons. He stayed on his knees and let her continue her assault. At last, she stepped back, breathing heavily.
She waved at him. “Get up. No more gentleness. I need you to be a real opponent now.”
Luke rose to his feet.
And for the next ten minutes, they fought across the ring, Nishi landing blow after blow, and Luke barely hitting back.
Then they paused for a break.
“I want you to teach me some of those moves.” Luke eyed her. “We’ve all been trained in different types of martial arts, but some of your moves are different. I want to learn them.”
Nishi glanced over at me. “I can teach you stick and staff fighting too, if you have some sticks to use as practice. And later, if you want, chain and sickle weapon fighting.”
Luke nodded. “Yeah, that would be cool.”
“Want to learn too, Logan?”
“Sure.” I entered the ring and went to stand next to her. A change had come over her the past few minutes. She was releasing some of her pain, dealing with her loss. This had been a good idea. Nishi would heal, in time. Losing her mother was going to take some time for her deal with, and I planned to be here for her every step of the way.
For the next hour, Nishi taught us some different moves that we hadn’t yet known. We’d grabbed some sticks from the forest to use for practice, and Nishi taught us some stick fighting techniques. Then Luke and I practiced the moves on each other while Nishi watched and called out pointers. Finally, we all left the ring.
Luke held out his hand for Nishi to fist bump him. She did, chuckling softly. “You’re not so bad, after all, Luke. As long as you don’t interrogate me again.”
Luke snickered. “Don’t give me a reason to interrogate you, and you won’t have to worry about it.”
We reached the door to the gym and paused. “Remember that night when you and Ryan saved me from Malik’s thugs and we were driving home?” Nishi asked quietly.
Luke nodded. “Yeah.”
“You said something about Ryan’s dreg talent while I was sitting in his lap, and he got upset and said that wasn’t the best time to talk about it.”
Luke glanced at me and cleared his throat. “Uh…”
Wait a minute. Why had Nishi been sitting in Ryan’s lap? An unexpected wave of jealousy washed over me. I narrowed my eyes at Luke, who now avoided my gaze. If Ryan had released that damn pheromone on her, I was going to kill him.
“So,” Nishi went on. “Can you tell me about yours and Ryan’s dreg talents now?”
Luke took a step toward the door. “I’m The Enforcer. I enforce punishment when necessary, and I’m an excellent interrogator. I can tell when someone is lying, not only by observing body language, but I also have the ability to delve into a person’s mind to determine whether or not they are telling the truth. A wee bit of mind control.”
Nishi’s eyes widened. “You got inside my head? How come I didn’t feel you?”
Luke shook his head no. “
I didn’t get inside your mind. I didn’t need to. You were telling the truth.” He pulled the door open. “Why don’t you ask Logan to tell you about Ryan’s dreg talent?” Then, before I could grab him, he dashed out.
Though I trusted both Luke and Ryan implicitly, his reaction made me wonder what the hell had happened that night.
Nishi turned to me with a frown. “Why did he run off so quickly?”
I snorted. “Because he’s afraid I’ll kick his ass.” I looked into Nishi’s eyes. “Did Ryan or Luke do anything inappropriate that night?”
Her eyes widened. Color rushed into her cheeks. “No. Of course not. They were both perfect gentlemen. But I had to sit in Ryan’s lap because the back seat was full of guns and things. Later, they pulled over and made room for me in the back.”
Relief swept through me. Of course. My worry and my jealousy was for nothing. “So why don’t you tell me about what happened that night that made Luke run off without explaining?”
Nishi shrugged. “I’m not really sure what happened. We were driving home and I was shivering from the cold since I didn’t have any clothes—”
“Wait, what?” I interrupted. Why hadn’t she been wearing any clothes?
Her blush deepened. “I never got a chance to tell you about that night. Malik was going to rape me no matter what I did, so I pretended to go along so I could get him at a weak point. I was totally naked when I stabbed him with the safety pin. Anyway, I had no clothes as I fled down the street, and Ryan was kind enough to give me his jacket when he and Luke rescued me. He let me sit in his lap and said I could use his body heat to get warm. It was totally innocent,” she added hurriedly. “He didn’t do anything wrong. I asked him why he was called The Extractor, and Luke made some smart ass comment, and Ryan said now wasn’t the best time to be talking about that, or something like that, since I was sitting in his lap.”
Ahhh. Everything made sense to me now. But still, Nishi had been naked in Ryan’s lap? That pissed me off. Ryan better have kept his hands to himself.
“You didn’t feel a sudden desire to get closer to Ryan in any way, did you? An urge to kiss him or touch or anything?”
Nishi made a horrified face. “No! Certainly not! I mean, he’s not bad looking, but he’s not you, Logan.”
The Trainer (military romantic suspense) (The Dregs Book 5) Page 21