by Grady, D. R.
Their would-be attacker showed he wasn’t brainless. He halted his advance when he met her war face. He must have read her intent because he remained where he was, still and watchful.
Beside her, Maria turned and tossed some of the bottle contents on the man sneaking up behind them. The neck of this bottle was small, because the bottle contained a harmful acid. She did manage to hurtle some of the caustic liquid on the man and it burned through his clothes in an impressive manner.
She kept her attention on the man in front of her, and back to back with Maria, they stood their ground. Their only weapon a bit primitive, but effective.
“We just have to hold the line until help arrives,” Maria whispered.
“It can come any time now.”
As though their words conjured up that very thing, the man in front of her jerked and then crumpled to the floor. A pool of red collected beneath him. The one in front of Maria collapsed in the same manner and was still. A red puddle also formed under him. Instinct sent her and Maria to a crouching stance.
Eyes wide, she goggled the room, trying to identify their protector, but there was no one there. She was certain she hadn’t done this with sheer mind power, despite her new resolve. Still, she wielded her syringe, and noticed Maria kept a tight grip on her bottle of acid.
They remained back to back, but hunkered, staring at the chaos around them. The two men in the lead were still on fire, with several of the men working to beat out the flames. Their screams seemed far off. They yelled something while the aflame leader gesticulated toward them. She narrowed her eyes and showed off her syringe. Maria let them see she was also suitably armed.
By the time they finished brandishing their makeshift weapons, Vlad and several other men erupted on the hazy, smoky scene and dropped every single fatigue clothed male in the room. And they did so in a matter of seconds.
With her heart lodged in her throat, she noted various thuds and grunts as she and Maria slowly stood. The men worked as a team, there were four of them. A fifth man joined the fighters but he veered off to head toward her and Maria. He didn’t stop until he grabbed Maria and squeezed her tight. With his other arm he wrapped her close too.
She finally identified him as Graham, although with that helmet, vest, and huge gun, it took a few terrifying moments. It was daunting to realize again how big he was and she was grateful when he released them to shove them behind him as more men poured into the lab. Graham raised his impressive weapon.
None of the new men wore the terrorist fatigues so he soon lowered the massive gun. She didn’t argue when he stayed planted in front of them nonetheless. The men spread out and bound the living terrorists. Those with the blood pooling beneath them they ignored. She tried not to think about them.
Vlad seemed to be everywhere, binding the living, kicking over the dead to collect identification and hidden weapons, talking to the other men. He was fast and utterly capable. Confidence didn’t ooze out of him, it just was. Clearly in his element, he rapped out orders, assisted the others, and piled lethal looking items she wouldn’t have recognized as weaponry. He was at ease with himself and the situation; there was no hesitation as he moved from one group to the next.
Even the way he treated the grenades he removed from pockets, and after being called over to consult on what appeared to be a bomb, there was no fear in Vlad. He was a man confident in his abilities and skills. All those years of training had shaped and molded the man into a superhero.
His friends, also obviously in their element and also superheros, stayed busy assisting him. Someone must have called in the authorities because the police arrived and soon there were as many people in the lab as there had been when they gave away that equipment. The main differences were there wasn’t a lab coat in sight, but quite a lot of weapons.
“I prefer the lab coats,” she said out loud.
Maria sent her a speaking look. “Me too.” When she gaped, Maria smiled. “I was thinking the same thing. It was much less scary with the scientists than all these soldiers.”
She nodded, and then swallowed. Watching Vlad in action showed all too plainly there was no way she could compete with this. The adrenaline high, the utter danger, him saving the day. That all had to be addicting.
She could never come close to competing with it. A superhero would find her incredibly boring. Compared to this she found herself incredibly boring.
It wasn’t right to leash a man with Vlad’s capabilities. It was okay before, because her knowledge of what he did was vague at best. Now she knew. Seeing him in his element like this… Tears welled and she ruthlessly blinked them away. She would not think of this.
She would not.
The unhappy thought that she might have been better off dying was unwelcome. Yet it echoed with truth.
At least her heart wouldn’t be breaking like it was now. She couldn’t hope to hold Vlad, there was no way. The tears surged again, and when Vlad finally grabbed his mother in a quick hug and then her for a much, much longer one and a thorough examination, she couldn’t stop them.
This was an acceptable time to cry. Now, while she still held him in her arms.
Later, there would too many questions. For all her new bravado, she still lacked bravery. She didn’t have the guts to try to hold onto this man. Not when she was now absolutely certain where the relationship was headed. She wondered if this was why he was hesitant to discuss their future.
Holding onto Vlad was like holding water. Maybe she could contain him for a time, but eventually that precious element would trickle away and leave her with nothing. Nothing but a broken heart.
The police moved toward her and for the second time in as many days she gave them a statement.
It helped her to not think.
Chapter 36
They were nearly finished, finally. The police were wrapping up their questions and all the tangos here were gone, even the dead ones. He stepped into the passage and helped as the last of those men were hauled off. All of these were alive, but still out from the gas bomb. It would make them really sick once they came to. Hopefully sick enough to confess everything his side needed to know.
They had discovered a dead Rurikstani woman in the tunnels. She had obviously let the terrorists in as she was part of the housekeeping staff, and from the state of her body, had suffered greatly at their hands. From something Helena and his mother mentioned, she might be Barstow’s aunt. They had to look further into that situation.
The first man with the huge gun had not made it either. Whether the tangos or his side had done the deed he didn’t know, but there was no doubt the terrorist was dead by the time they arrived. He was still impressed with his mother and Helena for using available resources to defend themselves. If he had been in their shoes, he wasn’t certain he would have thought to set the enemy on fire.
The second man, the leader, was badly burned, but he lived. For now. He would likely die of his wounds, so he had taken some time with the man before the police arrived to question him.
Due to his questioning, they had a lot more information than before. He sent military teams across the city and they countered the planned attacks on some of the government buildings with only the loss of two tangos. It was a huge victory for Rurikstan.
It wasn’t the only victory he expected today. He turned and scanned the lab before his eyes settled on Helena. Her gorgeous green eyes were huge in her pale face, and the resultant violence had left her shaky. Yet this amazing woman kept it together in the face of danger, and used her brain to save herself. And his mother.
There was no doubt but that he had chosen well.
Since the only place he wanted to be was by her side, he loped across the lab to her. It was like a magnet that tugged him relentlessly, and he gave in to that subtle, but powerful pull.
When he reached her, he maneuvered her to a secluded area of the lab, and then into the storage closet. He deserved a kiss and bent his head to take her lips in one that hopefully express
ed his feelings. Like how much he wanted her and how proud of her he was.
It took several long moments before he realized she wasn’t clinging to him. Instead he could taste the saltiness of tears. Rearing back, he stared down at her with what was probably a gaping mouth and disbelieving eyes.
“What’s wrong Helena?”
Was she sick? Had she been hurt? He had examined her, quickly, but also thoroughly. None of the men had touched her or his mother.
Helena’s eyes made his heart falter, skip, and then plummet. Never in all his years, even facing his toughest assignment, had he ever tasted fear like this.
The sickening taste made his stomach lurch and he couldn’t even frame the question. It was like his brain stalled. His heart debated whether it should start beating again or not.
“I’m sorry Vlad,” she said in a tear-husky voice. “I’m so sorry.”
His heart beat too fast now. “Sorry for what?”
“We can’t be together.” Those big green eyes shimmered with unshed tears. They also pleaded with him to understand, but there was no way that was possible.
Not when his head spun and it hurt to take a breath.
“Why not?” At least he managed that, albeit in a raw voice.
“I can’t even begin to compete with what you do.” Her eyes were two huge pools of despair. “You’re a superhero.”
His heart twisted and hurt like it never had before. He breathed deeply, trying to quell his instincts so he could think.
But coherent thought resisted his efforts. “I’m not following what you’re saying.” He couldn’t have followed turn-by-turn directions from Shively.
Tears trembled in her eyes, in sync with her quivering lips. Helena looked like she was barely holding on. With a ragged sob which she swallowed, she stared at him. Under the despair was the light of awe. Yet unhappiness poured off her and he couldn’t figure out why she was ending their relationship. He at least comprehended that much. She intended to end what they had.
“You don’t want to be with me?” Denial twisted his guts as wave after wave crashed through him. She couldn’t fake how she felt about him. Just like he couldn’t fake how he felt about her. He didn’t want to. He wanted her.
She jerkily shook her head. “It’s more of a case that I’ll just be a weight around your neck.”
“How will you be a weight?” That made no sense.
Beaumont leaned around the door. “Welly, we go wheels up at nineteen hundred hours. Hurry.”
That gave him ten minutes. He explained this to Helena. “The leader gave us information we needed. I have to go.” He couldn’t leave right now.
“We’re over, Vlad. Just understand that. You have to go,” she said with calm acceptance. But waves of heartbreak undulated from her and it broke his heart. Shattered all the hopes he had for their future.
His throat was raw and thick and he couldn’t speak. There was twenty hours worth of prep to do and he only had ten minutes. Now nine minutes and thirty-eight seconds.
The only thing he could do was lean down, kiss her possessively to let her know this wasn’t over and then he ran. He shoved this unsettling conversation with Helena away to focus on what he had to do.
The only thing he was sure of was this wasn’t over. So long as he could convince her. The memory of her face cut through his hope though. She had looked very much as though her decision was final.
***
Helena watched him leave through numbed eyes, numbed brain, but with a heart that shouldn’t have shattered any more, because the pieces were already tiny. Perhaps this was the final step, crushing them into dust so there was no way she could recover the pieces.
It was better that he had to leave.
Perhaps not seeing him for a few days or weeks or months would help maintain her sanity. She couldn’t believe she had broken up with the only man she loved, had ever been interested in, right here in the middle of the lab. There was still blood on the floor.
Ashes from the clothing of the two men she and Maria had set on fire still littered the floor. Maria—Vlad’s mother. Could she work with his mother? A constant reminder of what she had given up. After seeing what it might have been between them, it was so much harder to think about life without him.
No mere woman of science could hold on to a man like Vlad though. He was like the wind. Blowing wherever he was needed. Subtle at times, and then a force of nature such that it could destroy with one solid gust. She couldn’t begin to be what Vlad needed and she loved him too much to see him start to resent her.
Either way, she was going to lose him. It might as well be now rather than later.
Before she could contemplate her barren existence, Beau breezed in. He nodded to a few of the remaining police officers as he forged a straight path to her. When he opened his arms she leapt into them. She fought valiantly against the impending tears but lost the battle. Beau correctly read the signs and hauled her off to a small room nearby.
In privacy she sobbed against him, aware of and thankful for his patience.
When she finally gained control of herself he loosened his hold. “Vlad should be the one holding you.”
“We broke up.” She moved further away from him and shoved at the hair clinging to her wet cheeks as she slumped into a chair.
Beau gaped at her as he slid onto a nearby settee.
“What?” He stared at her for long moments before his eyes narrowed and he nodded to himself. “What did you do?”
She sent him a glare. “Why does it have to be me who decided?”
“Because he knows a good thing when he finds it.”
That made no sense.
She angrily wiped more tears away. “So do I.” But her voice was weak and both of them heard it.
“No you don’t or you wouldn’t have ended the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“I had to.” Her voice was small.
“Why?” His was hard.
She stared at the silk rug under their feet. “Because he’s a superman and I’m just normal. He’d grow bored with me eventually.”
“Are you certain you won’t get bored with him? That when you see past the superhero you won’t like the man underneath?” There was an edge to his voice that made her pause.
That edge made her wonder if there was something eating at him. Like he was worried about this happening to him. Molly was a bit in awe of him.
Even as she pondered his love life rather than her own, he changed the subject. “You set a man on fire?”
“No,” she denied. “We set two men on fire.”
His smile was slow in coming but it did appear. “Good girl.”
She swallowed, hard, and then cleared her throat. “We had to do something. The first man was scary.” She paused as she remembered all too well that hideous moment. “He kept stroking his gun.”
Beau nodded. “His dying was no loss.”
Her head jerked up. “He died?”
“Absolutely.” Beau’s tone indicated he knew what he was talking about.
She had obviously missed something. “How do you know all this?”
“I was in the control room.”
“What’s that? Where is it? How did you know to be there?” The questions spilled from her in random order.
“I have been expecting this attack, just like Vlad and the SEALs. All of us with military experience were on alert. We responded the second the signal came through.”
Her mouth opened, closed, opened again, and then she realized she wasn’t going to be able to speak.
“Since I’m still not one hundred percent, I chose to make myself useful in the control room. I’m good with all that equipment.”
She shook her head, uncertain what to ask. Even more uncertain about what to think.
“It gave me a birds-eye view of every part of the palace and the targeted government buildings. We quelled all tango efforts.”
“I see,” she finally managed, but she still didn
’t quite understand.
“You probably don’t, but be aware that I did miss you set fire to those men and I’m a little peeved about it.”
A shaky smile probably wasn’t what he wanted, but it was all she could offer. “Maybe we can reenact it for you someday.”
He didn’t respond but sat staring at her instead.
Normally she’d have bristled and confronted him, but a strange sense of numbness that had been creeping over her now settled in. She didn’t care.
In fact, she found she didn’t much care about anything.
“Let’s go home.” He stood and nodded toward the door.
Rising, she trailed him out of the small lounge and into the room where she kept her belongings. They encountered Maria and Graham and she and Maria embraced long and hard.
“Aleksi told us not to come in tomorrow.” Maria looked pale and shaky.
She nodded. Then she glanced at Graham. “I’m not returning to the hospital.”
He smiled. “You finished up there yesterday. So you’re now officially a member of the palace lab staff, not of the hospital.”
That was good. Because she’d quit if she had to return to the hospital. If she quit maybe she could go somewhere else.
Like America. Glancing at Beau and Maria, and thinking of Tia, maybe she would go to America.
She’d always wanted to see that country. And right now it was far, far away from Vlad.
Chapter 37
When Tia called her that evening, she was happy to hear from her. Happy if that word could be used when one’s feelings were frozen under solid ice. She should be happy to hear from her friend. There were a lot of things she should be happy about, but she wasn’t.
It was like her entire being had been slowly icing up ever since she told Vlad they were over.
“Helena, Aleksi told me what happened and I can’t believe all that went down in our lab.” Tia didn’t sound excited or jealous - she sounded horrified.
She could relate. “It wasn’t fun.” Even her voice sounded dull.