He started to move away and she knew he felt a rush of some sort. But she reached for his arm, needing his touch for some reason she didn’t quite process. It simply was what it was. Real and urgent. When she should be smacking his face for tying her up, she was compelled to connect with him. She hated her own lack of reason. And touching him seemed to connect her to what he was feeling. The mental path they shared expanded. And with that one contact, she confirmed what she already knew… “It’s bad, isn’t it?”
Averting his gaze, he seemed to want to shield her from the truth. But she already knew. “It’s not good.” He pushed to his feet and offered her his hand. There was urgency to his actions. “Hold the door and I’ll bring him in. I need to get him out of sight fast.”
She swallowed and slid her hand in his. Pushing to her feet. The minute she was steady, he moved towards the door. Not giving herself time to stretch her stiff limbs, she pressed forward and reached for the door. She’d barely pulled it open when Diego stepped through the doorway. He had David in his arms and rushed passed her. And to her surprise, so did another man. Big, with long raven hair, the stranger followed Diego to the bed.
Marcella shut the door and locked it. Something about securing them inside felt necessary. Whoever this newcomer was, he was a friend to Diego. She wasn’t sure what that made him to her. Everything was too crazy. Too out of control. She really wanted to understand what was happening to her. To step back and analyze and meditate. But there was no time.
Diego was already leaning over David and she needed to focus on what was needed of her as a healer. She went to the opposite side of the bed and glanced at the stranger. He handed Diego several towels and then fixed Marcella in a look. “Micah, ma’am,” he said, answering her unasked question. “And I know when to stand back and let the experts do their thing.” With that said he stepped away.
Whoever he was he seemed to respect how odd his presence was to her. And he seemed to know she needed to feel some semblance of comfort to heal. He knew of her powers. How she didn’t know but he knew. She watched him take a position in the far corner near a window. He turned to face them. She stood watching for an instant and then turned her attention to David. With a little more of a comfort level for the people in the room, she could now focus.
“His pulse is low,” Diego said, pressing a towel to the wound that ran from one side of his chest to the other. He’d ripped the front of David’s shirt at some point, clearing the injury for examination. All Marcella could see was blood and tissue. It was a deep, dangerous wound.
She could heal, but from the inside out. She couldn’t stop bleeding. What she did was different than what David needed at this very moment. “He has to go to a hospital.”
Diego shook his head. “We can’t do that. We have limited time. More Arions will come for him…” Their eyes locked. “And us.”
“He’s bleeding way too much though.” She felt David’s weakness. He wasn’t in good shape. He played on her mind in a low hum rather than the loud rumble of his usual presence.
Diego lifted the towel and studied the cut. Marcella stared at the deep tear in the flesh. “What did they cut him with?”
For a moment, Diego looked as if he didn’t want to answer. His gaze focused on David and the wound. “Arions have razor extensions from their wrists. Like fish fins but a hundred times sharper.” He glanced at her and she knew her face registered her shock. Did Diego, the man she had been intimate with, also have these…things in his body? What were these men?
“I could stitch him,” Diego said, but his voice held doubt.
“But?” she asked, sensing his hesitation, trying to forget about the implications of what she had just learned.
David murmured and tossed his head. Diego frowned. “That is exactly my concern. He’s too alert. I have nothing for pain. I don’t know the extent of his internal injuries but I expect they are quite severe. The pain could send him into cardiac arrest. I think we need to clean him up and bandage him.”
“Won’t he need antibiotics?” Micah asked from across the room. “Seth’s on his way. Is there somewhere he can pick some up?”
“Yes,” Diego said, but he didn’t look at David. “I know someone.”
Diego was staring at the wound. And Marcella could see the debate in his eyes. His eyes lifted to Marcella’s. “Let’s start with taping him up nice and tight. In the closet there’s a small black suitcase. You should find bandages and some antiseptic.”
She nodded, more than eager to help in any way possible. It didn’t surprise her he didn’t ask if she could heal David. Diego seemed to know her in ways that still surprised her. She retrieved the items he requested and then watched as he poured the medicine on David’s chest. Then she stepped backwards to allow Micah to assist. The two men lifted David and wrapped him tight before taping him.
Once the task was complete, Diego made several phone calls. “The antibiotics will be here in a couple of hours. Now all we can do is wait.” He paused. “Unless there is something you can do for him.”
She bit her bottom lip. Healing more than one person in a small window of time wasn’t something she had ever done. Just healing one person drained her completely. If Diego managed to control the bleeding, David would still need help. If she helped him, the little girl might suffer.
Marcella felt the weight of Diego’s eyes. “What is it, Marcella?”
She looked up at him. “I fear I have to choose David’s life or the little girl’s.”
Chapter Eight
Diego wanted to help Marcella through the obvious distress she felt. He closed the distance between them and pulled her close, hating the news he had to deliver. She could heal David but not the child. “Mi amor, we cannot stay until morning. It is too dangerous.”
She stiffened. “What?” The words came out choked. “I have to stay. That little girl needs me.”
“He is right,” Micah said. “It is far too dangerous.”
“No.” It was an immediate, sharp response. “I have to be here for this family. I promised.” She tried to pull away from Diego, but he held her. “Let go.” She spoke through clenched teeth. “You can’t make me leave. You keep trying to make me do things I don’t want to. This is my life. My way. Everything is out of control and I’m not taking it anymore. Stop doing this to me!”
“I’m not doing this, Marcella. Not to you. Not to David. And not to that little girl.” He paused long enough to let his words sink in. “They are. The Arions have motives we can’t control. If you die what good will it serve? Think how many children might not be helped. Think how many children might lose their parents to these monsters.”
Her breathing was heavy now. “How do I know you aren’t one of those monsters?”
It hurt to have her question him, but he knew she was confused. He stroked her hair, relieved when she didn’t fight him. She was his mate, and his touch would offer comfort even if she didn’t understand her reaction. Slowly, she eased into him. His heart twisted with emotion. “I wish this wasn’t as it is. I wish I could change how we met.”
She grabbed the front of his shirt, clutching at him as if she needed support. And he felt her mind peak with a rush of wild thoughts. Fears. Pain. “I can’t leave that little girl to die.”
“There simply is no option,” Micah said firmly, drawing both their attention. “Marcella,” he explained, “those Arions that damaged David came for you. He was punished because he refused to betray you.”
She sucked in a breath and Diego ran his hands up and down her arms. Micah meant well. He was giving her a needed jolt of reality but it didn’t ease the heaviness of the words. “I know,” she whispered. Then in a louder voice, “I could feel his resistance. I knew he was protecting me.”
Micah looked at her with his hard, emotionless eyes. The ones he used in times of war. But they weren’t an indication of who he was. Diego knew the honor and the heart that was Micah.
“I know this is hard,” Micah said, “
but we must change hotels. The Marquee has basement-level rooms.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Marcella said, confusion in her voice. Her tone lifted slightly, almost insistently. “The girl is coming here.”
Diego looked her with a direct stare. When he told her things he knew sounded hard to swallow, he wanted to her to see the truth in either his eyes or his mind. “Underground the Arions can’t track us. Just as you can sense things in people, they can as well. If they get a read on you, they can find you. It’s like a dog getting a scent. We aren’t safe here.”
“Even a hotel move is risky,” Micah said. “We need to leave the minute our backup gets here.”
Diego didn’t look at Micah because he knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “We move and then tomorrow morning we can bring the girl to you.” He paused, feeling the disapproval of Micah like a charge across the room. “And then we leave.”
She swallowed. “I don’t understand any of this. And…so we can stay for the child?”
“It’s foolish,” Micah said.
Diego hesitated. Micah was his superior. If he insisted on leaving he’d have to agree. But Micah said no more. Diego owed him a thank you. One thing was certain, Micah believed GTECHS were better off with mates. He believed it tamed them and kept them from their more animalistic impulses. If Micah felt leaving without taking care of the child would injure his bond with Marcella, he would give it consideration. Even more so, Micah knew Marcella might help their cause. To have her loyalty was important.
Finally Diego said, “We have to stay.”
Marcella’s hand went to his face. A silent thanks. “I still have to choose between the child and David. And I don’t want to leave.”
Micah started for the door. “I’ll step out of the room and arrange the other hotel.” His tone was clipped and tight with irritation. He might support Diego’s decision but he was going to give him hell about it.
The minute they were alone, he bent at the knees to look her in the eyes. “We have to get out of here. It’s a must. The sooner the better.”
She shook her head, rejecting his words. “We can’t move David. He won’t make it and if I heal him I’m not sure I can heal the girl. If he can make it until I heal her then—”
He cut her off. “There are options,” he said. “The problem is, I don’t know our full power together, but I’m certain we have abilities we didn’t before. You saw how you stopped David with your mind.”
Her eyes lit a bit. “You mean we could combine our power and save David and the girl?”
“I can’t promise.”
A look of disappointment crossed her face. “We can’t risk it then.” She glanced at David. “Can he make it until tomorrow night? If I have several hours to rest after the girl I think it will be enough.”
“There are things I can do to lessen his pain with my mind and keep him relaxed. This will help him heal.”
She gave him a frustrated look. “You didn’t answer my question.”
He wanted to protect her but he also had to be honest. “I can only try my best.”
A long moment passed. Her eyes probed his face, studying him with intense eyes. “Who are you, Diego?”
She’d asked this question the first time they’d met. He knew she was trying to understand their connection. “I am your mate. The man who will do anything to please you. The man who will protect you with my life. But you must trust me.”
“You tied me up.”
“I won’t allow you to make decisions that will jeopardize your life.”
“You don’t own me.”
She didn’t understand. He knew it was hard. They had so little time and he needed her to accept. “You belong to me, Marcella.”
Her chin lifted with defiance. “No one owns me.”
Her rebellion was strong. This was not going to be easy. This wasn’t about ownership. “I belong to you as well.” He let his emotions flow in the words and reached for her mind without being invasive. Just mentally pressing the truth of what he felt out there where she could reach for it if she so desired.
She didn’t respond immediately but her expression registered surprise at his words. Her voice softened. “What if I don’t want you to?”
He stepped closer and slid his fingers into her hair. “Oh, but you do.” His voice was hoarse because her nearness evoked such a rush of heat. She was like a drug he craved. Yearning burned deep in his soul. His cock was hard and his heart open. There were no words adequate enough to explain what he felt. He lowered his head and used touch to speak, brushing his lips against hers in a soft, sensual caress. She shivered in his arms, and he knew she was as lost as he was. Only she didn’t accept. Not yet. “In time you will embrace what we are together.”
She was leaning into him, and with each moment she seemed to sink closer. Melting into his body. “I…I don’t understand any of this.”
Diego felt her confusion and wished he could erase it. All he wanted to do was make love to her. And show her how powerful their joining truly was. But she needed rest and there was much to be dealt with. “It is a lot to absorb,” he said gently. He used his finger to trace her bottom lip. “And one day you will. Just not this one. Soon you will see my home and my people. They are your people too now. You will be lifted into an amazing world of passion and bravery. This is bigger than you or me. This is about the world.”
And she was his life. A part of his very soul.
* * * * *
Less than an hour later Marcella stood at her aunt’s door with Diego by her side. She knocked because somewhere in all the craziness she’d lost her key. The door flew open, and her aunt’s eyes went wide. She wore a gown of pale blue and a robe that matched. Her grayish black hair was pinned in a bun, the top was wild with stray hairs. As if she’d been fretting and touching it with nervous hands.
She grabbed Marcella and hugged her. “I’ve been so worried.”
Marcella felt the warmth of her hands touch with a sense of the familiar. “I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her back to offer comfort.
Catherine pulled back and looked at Diego. Her eyes narrowed with a question. And perhaps a hint of suspicion. “So you’re the young man who has influenced my niece to run wild?”
Diego smiled. “She has done the same to me, I assure you.” He motioned to the door. “Can we go inside? We really must talk and quickly.”
Despite the urgency of his tone, Marcella was pleased with Diego’s response to her aunt. He liked her. She felt it. They entered the room and Diego shut the door and locked it. Catherine placed her hands on her full hips and stared at him, her probing gaze reflecting her intellect. “Who exactly are you?”
“I am the man who is going to save your niece’s life.”
* * * * *
The wind lifted with a flutter of limbs on the trees. Three Arions appeared in the shadows. They stood there in complete, utter stillness, the wind gone as if it never existed. They watched the Knights escort the humans to a car.
One of them spoke to the leader. “Should we take them now?”
“No,” Damion said. “The woman is the Healer’s mate. She could bring him back to our side. We will wait until the opportune moment and take them prisoner.”
The third Arion interjected. “Why not now?”
Damion turned to him, a hiss to his voice. His razor extended from his left hand, driven by anger. Stupidity never set well. “Do not question me. We wait.”
Fool. If he let them rush the Knights without a plan, it would be suicide. That would leave him with no prize to take to his King. He knew the men with the Healer. Micah, Seth and another called Marcus. Micah had once been the right-hand man for their King. These were some of the best men the Knights had in their army.
Damion was ready for his place in power. He would not act rashly and fail. He had a prize to take home. One he would be rewarded for. “Follow them.”
* * * * *
Marcella was al
one in a dark room in a different hotel. This whole underground thing bothered her. When Diego had explained the Arions’ ability to track people, she had been dumbfounded. The implications were clear. Now she not only had to live her life in hiding but below the surface of the earth. No sunlight. No real world experiences.
Maybe if she just found a far-off city in some off-the-wall location she would be okay. Clearly, she couldn’t stay in Mexico, and that saddened her. She’d become used to it here. It felt like home.
Or as close to it as someone on the run all the time could get.
Diego, Micah and her aunt were in the adjoining room looking out for David. They all wanted her to rest. And to properly heal the child she needed to. But she lay in the king-size bed feeling restless and out of sorts despite her exhaustion. And she found herself longing for Diego in a way she had never longed for another. She so needed the comfort he offered. Though she feared the things around her, she had the courage to face what was to come. Still, her whole world felt foreign to her. Life as she had known it would never be the same. Though she led a rather secluded life, moving from small town to small town, she had learned to enjoy the safe zone she called her world.
Underground Guardians BOX SET: Includes 'Protector' and 'Healer' Page 39