Born to Love (The Vampire Reborn Series) (Entangled Ignite)

by Caridad Piñeiro

  Eaten? The thought had barely entered Maggie’s head when a loud noise from the underbrush snared her attention.

  Whirling, she laid down her kit and slowly reached for the Smith & Wesson holstered at the small of her back. From the corner of her eye, she caught Diana’s movement as she also pulled her weapon from its shoulder holster.

  Hunkering into a protective crouch, Maggie peered into the tangle of high grasses, saplings, and brush all around her, hoping the bright moonlight would illuminate whatever had made the sound.

  Another rustle came. Stronger. Closer.

  She whipped around just as something large and furry came hurtling straight toward her. She fired off a shot at the animal, and Diana did the same, but the creature kept charging ahead.

  She raised an arm to block the animal’s attack, but the massive beast didn’t change direction, and barreled right at her.

  Diana shot the animal again, but even after being hit twice, the dog-like creature lunged and bit down on Maggie’s arm. She cried out, and a flood of pain exploded through her.

  Diana raced closer and leveled her weapon directly at the animal’s thickly muscled body. She opened fire and round after round made meaty thunks as the bullets tore into the animal’s bulk.

  With a whimper of pain, it finally released Maggie and loped off into the underbrush. Diana fired one last shot after it, and hurried toward her.

  Beyond the ringing in Maggie’s ears came the sound of feet thundering up the incline. She was surprised to realize she was still standing, gun gripped in her hand.

  Easing an arm around her, Diana helped her over to a large boulder where she could sit, and they both finally looked down at where the animal had bitten her.

  Her suit jacket sleeve was ripped to shreds, revealing deep puncture wounds and gashes. Her wrist and hand were at a funny angle to the rest of her arm. Oh, my God.

  She shook her head, struggling to concentrate. “I think he broke my arm,” she said as CSU Evans ran over the edge of the embankment, Detective Daly and a half-dozen uniforms trailing behind him, guns drawn.

  “You’re going to be okay, Mags. Help is on the way,” Diana said. “Daly is radioing for an ambulance.”

  In a distant, slurry voice, Maggie said, “You better call animal control…and tell them to bring the elephant gun.”

  Then she passed out in Diana’s arms.

  Chapter Two

  The familiar touch of Diana’s hand passing across her temple slowly roused Maggie to wakefulness.

  She opened her eyes and saw her friend sitting by her bedside. “A fine mess,” Maggie said in tones barely above a whisper.

  Diana smiled and leaned forward. “A fine mess indeed, Ollie. How are you feeling?”

  Truthfully, Maggie didn’t know. It took her a moment to take stock of where she was—in the hospital—and that her mind and body were in that hazy, semi-numb state that screamed “medicated.”

  “Sore,” she replied, and winced as she tried to move her left arm. Pain buffeted her despite the medications, but she managed to raise her hand and wiggle her fingers. An air cast immobilized the arm from just above her elbow down to wrap around her hand and wrist.

  “Paramedics thought it was broken and splinted it. But the ER docs said the breaks were already healing. The bite wound wasn’t as bad as they originally thought either,” Diana said, a hint of disbelief in her words.

  “Thank you, Dr. Reyes,” Maggie teased, but something niggled at the edges of her consciousness. Memories of her arm dangling oddly. Of some really deep lacerations where the animal had bitten through her clothing.

  “Are you sure about the doctor’s injury report?” Maggie asked, trying to focus.

  Diana nodded, but obviously didn’t agree with their observations. “Not sure at all. We both saw your arm at the scene. The injuries seemed pretty bad to me. What do you remember?”

  “Besides the bite wounds, I was certain both bones were broken. But then again, everything was a little blurry by that point.”

  Diana dragged her fingers through her hair and shook her head. “I spoke to the doctors right after they finished patching you up, and they were sure about what they saw, too. Something’s definitely hinky.”

  Maggie couldn’t disagree. “We’ll figure it out,” she said, confident that together they would find an explanation.

  Diana squeezed her good hand, the action both reassuring and hesitant. Maggie was quick to pick up on it.

  “Is there something else?”

  Diana jerked her head in the direction of the hallway. “David’s been here for hours, but making himself scarce because I’m in here with you.”

  She met Diana’s troubled gaze. She knew how concerned her friend was about the relationship with her former partner—who just happened to be Maggie’s ex-lover. Nearly two months earlier, David had walked out of Maggie’s life. Or maybe rolled away would have been a better term. David had suffered crippling injuries the night of that fateful FBI raid when Diana had been contaminated with Ryder’s blood. Maggie had stuck by his side, and had intended to remain that way until he came out of the bitter, solitary shell into which he had withdrawn. But he’d had other ideas—and he still hadn’t come out of it. Maybe he never would, she acknowledged painfully.

  Maggie sighed. “I’m sorry. I know he’s being irrational—”

  “No, he’s not. He’s entitled to his anger. Though I thought he’d started getting over it. But what’s numero uno right now is you,” Diana said.

  Maggie gestured to the remote for the bed, which unfortunately was on her bad arm’s side. “Think you can help me sit a little higher?”

  Diana raised the head of the hospital bed, giving Maggie a view unobstructed by the bed rail. Her friend looked a bit paler than she had earlier that evening, and there were dark circles beneath her eyes.

  “You look worn out, Di. You should go get some rest,” she said, concern for her pregnant friend overriding everything else.

  Diana squeezed her hand and offered a tired smile. “This from the person who’s laid up in the hospital?”

  She grinned. “Even with one arm broken, I could still kick your ass, Reyes, and you know it. So what happened at the crime scene after I got bit?”

  “CSU Evans was all freaked about some huge wild animal that had to be found and put down. He thinks that’s what killed the jogger and attacked you.” Diana reached into her jacket pocket to extract her notes. She quickly ran through the statements of those at the scene, both before and after the first attack on the jogger.

  When she was done, she put the pad back and scooted to the edge of the metal chair. “I hate to say it, Mags, but Evans may be right. I don’t know what that was, but I had to almost empty my gun into it before it let go of you.”

  Maggie agreed. “I think it was too big to be a dog, although it appeared canine. As for whether it killed the jogger, it’s tough to say. Could be the jogger was already dead when the animal scavenged it.”

  The squeak of a wheel outside alerted her to David’s presence. Diana also looked up. He waited by the door in his wheelchair.

  A pained look painted Diana’s features, then she wiped her face clean of any emotion. Standing, she squeezed Maggie’s good hand again, and said, “I’m going to visit the ME and see what he has to say about time of death. Whether all that damage to the jogger was post-mortem.”

  Maggie nodded. “We’ll talk in the morning?”

  “Count on it.” With a wave, her friend left the room and bid David good-bye with an abrupt nod.

  At her departure, David finally entered the room and rolled to her side. Taking her right hand in his, he said, “How are you feeling?”

  “Pleasantly numb, but I suspect that once the medication wears off—”

  “It’ll hurt like a bitch. Doc wants to keep you overnight, but will likely release you in the morning. He’s already begun the treatment for rabies,” David said, and gently ran his thumb over the bruised and scraped knuckles
of her hand. “Did this happen at the scene?”

  She shot a quick look at the injuries and shrugged. Everything that happened was such a blur, but scattered bits of memory were slowing returning. “I don’t know. I think so. The animal tried to knock my hand aside as I was firing at it.”

  David raised a sandy-blond brow. “You’re making it sound like the animal knew what it was doing.”

  Her fear from earlier that night returned and awoke a vague sense of disquiet. “Something was weird about the scene. CSU Evans said he had the willies, and I feel like the animal was watching us. Waiting to attack.”

  “Animals do that when they’re cornered.”

  “It wasn’t cornered. It could have turned and gone in the opposite direction from us, but it came right at me, even when we opened fire. Almost like it wasn’t afraid.”

  She shook her head, wishing that the pieces of memory about what had occurred last night would fall into place. But it remained fragmented. Unclear. What she did know was that her recollections seemed illogical in light of what reason told her must have happened.

  “Mags? You okay?” he asked, and again ran his thumb over a bruise on her hand.

  “Now that you’re here, I am.” As long as she had David and Diana by her side, she knew she would be fine. “And with Diana on the case—”

  “Do you think that’s wise?” he jumped in, the worried look on his face deepening with displeasure at the mention of his partner.

  Ex-partner.

  “She’s the best field agent there is,” Maggie reminded him. “Especially for a case like this.”

  “You need someone you can count on.”

  Maggie knew that David still felt let down by Diana about the night of the failed raid, when he’d been injured. Diana had confessed to Maggie what transpired that night. How her life had been drastically changed, as well. But she still hadn’t told David, although she’d promised Maggie she would when the time was right.

  “I get that you’re angry with her, but we both know—”

  “That Diana’s managed to worm her way back into the ADIC’s good graces despite the review board’s punishment,” David replied, and pulled his hand from hers. “She’s responsible for what happened that night. For the way I am.”

  “You didn’t think that on the night of the raid.” Maggie shot back the words so strongly, David flinched.

  …

  No, David hadn’t thought that on the night of the raid. If anything, from the moment those two creatures had hauled his semi-conscious ass out of the room, all he could think about was whether Diana had survived.

  Even after, as they wheeled him in and out of surgery, fear for her had filled him. Fear and guilt that he’d failed to watch her back. Failed to protect her.

  “David?”

  “Things change,” he ground out. “People change.” His voice sounded dead, even to him.

  “No one can change that much,” she said, reaching for his hand again, but he gripped his tightly together in his lap.

  She was wrong. He’d changed that much.

  But he didn’t say it. He didn’t have to. What she was thinking was obvious in her beautifully expressive face. Her emerald eyes, always so alive, deepened almost to black with concern.

  “Will you be here when they release me?” she asked. Implicit in that question were others: How long can this last? How long will we be so uncomfortable around each other?

  He hadn’t realized before now, just how fine an edge they walked—or rather, she walked and he rolled… Even though he had moved out of their shared apartment and ended their romantic involvement, there was something still connecting them.

  But he sensed the precariousness of it. How they both seemed to be waiting for one of them to slip and send whatever remained of their emotions—of their love—crashing down.

  He wanted to tell her he didn’t know how long the awkwardness would last. How long they could handle living on such an edge, always waiting for the fall. Instead, he said, “Of course, Maggie. I’ll be here when they release you. I’ll take you back to your apartment. In the meantime, I’ll go and get you some clean clothes.”

  She braved a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. So he forced one himself. But she caught its falseness and frowned, but thankfully said nothing else.

  “Good night, Mags.” He rolled to her bed as close as he could, stretched as far as his mobility would permit, and cradled her cheek.

  “Good night,” she replied, turned her face, and kissed the palm of his hand.

  He wanted to say he loved her. Wanted to tell her how much he missed her beside him every night and every morning. But the words remained paralyzed in his heart, as dysfunctional as his legs.

  She deserved more than the man he had become. But he didn’t have the strength to tell her that. He knew it would just cause another argument.

  Pulling his hand away, he murmured another good night. She motioned to her purse, which was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. “My keys are in there,” she said.

  “I’ll be back in the morning with your things,” he said. He grabbed her keys and left her room, his arms working the wheels of his chair vigorously in his haste to escape, even though he knew there was no getting away from what he was feeling.

  He hadn’t expected to run into Diana in the hallway, but there she was, waiting in a chair.

  As the door to Maggie’s room closed behind him, Diana’s head snapped up and she met his gaze. Hers was filled with so much pain, so much distress, that he curbed his inclination to take the long way around to the elevator. Instead, he propelled himself in her direction.

  Fighting to keep his voice as neutral as possible, he asked, “What are you still doing here?”

  Diana shrugged and the action shifted the jacket to reveal her very noticeable baby bump. He’d caught sight of it from a distance, but now there was no avoiding it. No ignoring all that it represented in his ex-partner’s life.

  Her gaze tracked down to where his was fixated. She put her hand over the swell, almost as if to hide it from him, and straightened. “I’m here working a case, and making sure my best friend is okay.”

  “You’re not doing a very good job of watching her back,” he said, each word abrupt and spiked with anger.

  …

  Diana knew that David’s comment was about more than what had happened to Maggie tonight. He was still trapped in the events surrounding their failed raid nearly three years earlier. “If I could change anything about that night—”

  “You can start by telling me the truth. That would be a nice start,” he shot back.

  She had promised Maggie she would tell him, but now was not the right time. Now she had to focus on her friend, and this case.

  At her prolonged silence, David waved her off and grumbled, “Fuck it. Save your breath, Reyes.”

  He grasped the wheels of his chair and shoved off, but she slipped a foot under one wheel, trapping him in place. “You can’t keep this up, David. Not now. Maggie needs her friends, and she needs—”

  “A real man,” he bit out. “One who can give her all she deserves. Thanks to you, I’m not that man anymore.”

  Shock seized his expression and he grimaced at the admission. She realized he’d never voiced that fear before, but there it was, out in the open for her to consider. Impossible to take back.

  She rose from the chair and shoved her hands in her pockets. She leaned toward him until her nose almost brushed his. “Maggie loves you for the man you are inside. That’s why she’s always loved you. Don’t throw that gift away with your mulish male pride.”

  His face paled and his clear blue eyes clouded over with pain. “Pride? Maybe if you hadn’t been all caught up in your problems with Ryder, your head would have been screwed on straight that night. Maybe things would have turned out different.”

  A long silence filled the space after those words—a silence broken only by her tired and frustrated sigh as she scraped back stra
nds of her hair. David was so wrong about where her head had been that night. Every second, every breath—hell, even every heartbeat had been directed to their mission.

  “I know that’s the way it might seem to you,” she said, “but my focus has always been on the job. All I can say is—I’m sorry.”

  He clearly wanted to respond, but wrestled back the urge. It made her hopeful there was still a possibility of peace between them. After all, he hadn’t just been her partner. He had been her friend, too. Probably her best friend besides Maggie.

  As she waited to see what he would do next, his eyes shifted in the direction of the elevators. As she followed his gaze, she realized Ryder was headed their way, his long strides eating up the distance.

  “Your ‘focus’ is here and he doesn’t look very happy,” David said, but didn’t wait for her reply, or for Ryder to reach them.

  With a powerful push of his arms, David wheeled ahead, nodding curtly to Ryder as he passed. Inside, Diana’s gut tightened with pain at the continued distance with David. She missed him as both a partner and friend. He had always been her sounding board, the one who stabilized her at work.

  Just as Ryder was the one who stabilized her personal life. And upset it…

  As Ryder marched toward her, his lips a tight slash against the paleness of his skin, she had a feeling that right now was going to be about upset.

  Chapter Three

  “What are you doing here?” Diana asked Ryder as he approached.

  “I might ask the same, darlin’. It’s well past midnight,” he replied, but tempered the sting of his words with a gentle brush of the back of his hand along her cheek.

  She glanced toward the door of Maggie’s room. “I had to make sure she’s okay.”

  His irritation was barely mollified. “I understand about the bonds of friendship, but things are different now.” Surely, she had to see that.

  “Different?” She jerked her thumb in David’s direction, where he still sat waiting for an elevator. “That’s the excuse he’s using to run away from Maggie.”