by Cynthia Eden
Or he would have been lost.
The motorcycle turned, hitting the main road and leaving the abandoned hospital behind. He could have stopped her. He was that fast. He could have launched his body at the motorcycle and tackled her.
If he’d done that, though, Luna would have been hurt. He didn’t want her hurt. That had never been his goal.
Maddox pulled out his phone. Swiped his finger over the screen and placed his call. “Found her,” he announced. “But she’s running. Heading for town. If you see her before I get there, don’t move in, do you understand? Keep a visual on her. Make sure that no one hurts her.”
Laughter was his answer. “Shouldn’t I be worried she’ll hurt the humans?”
He didn’t answer. Maddox shoved his phone back into his pocket. He started walking fast, and then…running. He wouldn’t get winded, wouldn’t get tired. But he would get to the small town that waited up ahead. Bitter, Colorado. A place that the ski lovers never bothered to visit. Too quiet. Too far off the beaten path. So far off that the town’s only hospital had closed long ago.
Who the hell brought Luna to this place? He’d find out. It was just a matter of time.
Soon, he’d have Luna. And when he did, he’d make sure she never escaped again. Even if he had to damn well handcuff her to his side.
Chapter Two
She stopped at the gas station, mostly because the motorcycle was about to run out of gas. The gas station sat on the edge of a small town, a sleepy little place that had just appeared, seemingly from nowhere. She braked the bike near a pump and then realized…
No money.
Her hands shoved into the coat pockets that Luna still wore. His coat. And then she almost sobbed in relief because her fingers came out grasping a wad of cash. She hurried toward the little service store, shoving open the front door. A bell jingled above her head, and an elderly man behind the counter turned toward her with a smile.
The smile froze on his face. “Miss, are you okay?”
She was barefoot, her hair had to be sticking out like she’d just been in a wind tunnel, and she was wearing a hospital gown. Oh, crap. Luna stumbled forward. She dropped the cash on the counter. “Gas.” Her voice was too sharp. “And…clothes?” The last was more of a desperate question.
His brown eyes were wide as he looked at the money, then her. “Got some t-shirts and jogging pants in the back over there. No shoes, though. Sorry.”
A shirt and jogging pants would help enormously. She headed toward the items he’d indicated.
The guy cleared his throat. “Miss, do you need help?”
She could use some help, yes. Luna paused. Nibbling on her lower lip, she considered things. “The cops.” A person went to the cops for help, right? Luna glanced over her shoulder and caught the man’s gaze. “I-I think I need you to contact the cops.”
“Yeah.” He gave a quick nod. “That might be a good idea.”
Without waiting to see if he made the call, Luna scurried toward the t-shirts. She found one that seemed roughly the right size—it had a picture of a mountain range across the front. She snagged the smallest jogging pants she could find and rushed into the bathroom with her prizes. The store manager called out to her, but she didn’t stop. She slammed the bathroom door shut and sucked in some desperate, ragged gulps of air.
The bathroom was small, more like a closet than anything else, and a big mirror hung right over the sink. She turned her head, gazing into the mirror, feeling absolutely like she was looking at a stranger.
The woman before her had wild, dark brown hair. Definitely hair that was sticking up in every direction. She tried to smooth it down, but her efforts didn’t help much. Her hair was a heavy, tangled mass that tumbled over her shoulders. Shadows lined her eyes—dark eyes. A rich brown color that didn’t seem familiar at all to her.
She dropped the stolen coat. Yanked off the hospital gown and tossed it into the garbage can. Her naked reflection loomed back at her in the mirror.
He said it was my blood. All of the blood in that terrible hospital—Maddox had said it was hers.
Outside, she heard the jingle of the gas station’s front bell. She ignored the sound as she leaned closer to the mirror. There were no cuts on her body. No bruises. There was no way that had been her blood.
She jerked on the jogging pants, pausing only long enough to rip off the tag on them. Luna put the tag on the edge of the sink. The pants were soft against her skin, and sure, they were too long, but she just rolled them up. Then she pulled on the t-shirt, again just tugging off the tag and putting it on the sink. Because the gas station hadn’t been selling a bra, her nipples shoved right against the front of the shirt. She fixed that problem, though, by putting back on his coat.
And she could have sworn the thing still held his heat.
Her fingers slid over the sink, grabbing the tags, right before she bounded out of the bathroom. “I have the tags!” Luna called out as she hurried down the aisle. She turned the corner, the cash register coming into view. “You can take them and ring me—”
Luna stopped.
The elderly man at the cash register wasn’t alone. She’d heard the jingle of the front bell, but she’d been so intent on dressing that she hadn’t stopped to think…
The sound meant a new customer had entered the store. Only she wasn’t looking at just any customer.
He’s here. Already. He’d found her already.
Maddox Kane stood near the check-out counter. His hands were on his hips. His jaw was locked, and his green eyes gleamed.
Oh, shit. Her toes curled against the floor. “Did you call the cops?” Luna asked the attendant, voice hopeful.
“He is the cops,” the gas station attendant told her.
What? No, that wasn’t possible—
Maddox reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flashed it at her. “FBI.”
Her temples pounded.
“I’ll take care of her,” Maddox murmured, nodding to the attendant who watched them with an avid stare. “Sorry for the trouble. She’s been off her meds, and her family is mighty worried about her.”
Off her—
Luna surged forward, but Maddox moved faster. He grabbed her arm and then he locked something cold and hard around her wrist.
A handcuff. He’d just handcuffed her.
The attendant whistled. “Man, you sure are fast.”
Maddox’s body pressed against Luna’s. His gaze didn’t leave her face. “You have no idea.” Then he locked the other handcuff around his own wrist. “You’re not going to get away again, Luna.”
She yanked at the cuff, twisting her wrist, fighting the hold with desperate rage.
“It’s Lazarus-proof, Luna.” Now his voice was low, barely a breath, for her ears alone. “You won’t break loose.”
Lazarus-proof. Was that supposed to mean something to her?
“Time to go.” Now he was being loud again. He nodded to the attendant. “Appreciate the help. Always good to count on a responsible citizen.”
This wasn’t happening. Her frantic gaze flew to the older man. “Don’t let him take me!” she begged. She wasn’t above begging. “I don’t know what’s happening. Just call the local cops. Real cops and—”
“Stop it, Luna. Don’t say another word. I don’t want to have to hurt him.”
It was Maddox’s voice. Clear and strong. And…
In her head?
Her knees trembled. She almost fell, but he was there, of course. Maddox led her toward the door, their hands cuffed together. He shoved open the door, and the bell jingled. A happy, ridiculous sound that didn’t fit with her current circumstances.
Her gaze flew toward the motorcycle, only it wasn’t there. “What—”
“I hid the bike. I’ll have it picked up later. We’re in the SUV.”
A big, black SUV waited to the right. A solidly built guy—wearing all black, with perfectly straight, black hair and coal eyes—stood by the driver�
�s side. His stare was focused on her.
Or rather, on her toes.
“Why doesn’t she have on shoes?” The guy wanted to know as Maddox dragged her closer to the SUV. He opened the back door for them.
Maddox went in first, pulling her after him. The handcuff tugged on her wrist. The cuff was right above the hospital bracelet that she still wore. A hospital bracelet…from an abandoned hospital. What was going on?
“At least she’s wearing clothes,” Maddox tossed back to the new fellow. “When I first saw her, Luna’s ass was bare.”
Red stained her cheeks. So the hospital gown had gaped. Hardly her fault.
The other guy didn’t respond. He slammed the door shut after her, then jumped in the front seat a few moments later. He cranked the vehicle, and a blast of hot air slid out of the vents as the vehicle hurried away from the station.
She shuddered when the air hit her.
Maddox immediately hauled her closer to him. “You always feel the cold worse than the rest of us.”
He’d tracked her. Cuffed her. Tears stung her eyes. “You aren’t FBI.”
“No.” He didn’t even pretend to lie.
Her head turned toward him. “Why are you doing this to me?”
His eyes widened. “You’re crying?’
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“Stop it!” Maddox demanded.
“You shouldn’t have cuffed her,” came the mumble from the front seat. “It sent her over the edge, don’t you see that?”
She wanted the cuffs off. If he took the handcuff off, then she could just jump out of the vehicle while it was moving. Sure, the impact might hurt, but she’d take being hurt to being this guy’s prisoner any day.
Maddox’s gaze hardened. “If the cuffs come off, she’s going to jump out of the car.”
Her lips parted. “Did you just read my mind?”
His stare held hers.
“You were in my head when we were in that gas station.” Her voice was shaking and husky. “I heard you talking to me, even though your lips didn’t move.”
Maddox didn’t speak.
The man in the front seat cleared his throat. “That’s just a Lazarus thing, baby.”
Had he called her baby?
Maddox growled. “Don’t. Just shut the hell up for now, Jett.”
“I don’t want to be here!” Luna yelled as her control seem to shatter. The scenery was passing too fast. They’d left the little town. These two men were taking her somewhere. Where? Why? “You’re kidnapping me!” She yanked on the handcuff. Nothing happened. “Let me go!” Her voice grew even louder. Wilder.
“I am not going to hurt you.” Maddox’s voice stayed low. Soothing? “I swear it.”
“I’m supposed to believe you?” Luna shrieked back. “You have a handcuff around my wrist! You just lied to that man back there about being a cop!” She moved as far away from him as she could get—which wasn’t very far because he was so freaking big, and they were handcuffed. “I think you’re the one who put me in that freaky hospital!”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. I was hunting you.”
That didn’t sound better. “I don’t believe you. I don’t know you.”
“Oh, shit,” the one he’d called Jett exclaimed. “Her memory is gone again? Did she die?”
This was madness. She had to get away. She—
Maddox touched her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
For cuffing her? For terrifying her? For—
“Go to sleep, Luna.”
The hell she would.
His jaw tightened. “Go to sleep.” And this time, his words were out loud and in her head. They seemed to sink through her very bones, and she didn’t want to sleep. She wanted to run. She wanted to escape, but…
Her body slumped against the seat.
And she slept.
***
The SUV slammed to a halt. “You just knocked out Luna!”
Maddox cradled Luna in his arms. If he hadn’t been holding her, the sudden stop would have sent her flying into the front seat. She hadn’t put on a seatbelt.
“You knocked out our Luna,” Jett groused. “What in the hell, man?” He’d turned around in the seat, and he glared at Maddox. “She’s one of us. We don’t use our powers against one of our own. You don’t turn on the team.”
Maddox met Jett’s glare. “She doesn’t remember us. I found her in that old hospital, wearing a paper gown, absolutely terrified. There was an exam room in the basement. Her blood was everywhere.”
Jett’s face went hard and mean. “What in the hell?”
“Someone had been working on Luna. One of our tranqs was down there.” A very special tranq because it took one hell of a lot to knock out Lazarus subjects.
And that was what they all were. Test subjects. Government experiments. Super fucking soldiers.
He was the team leader. Jett was his right-hand man. And Luna…
Luna is the one who went missing.
“She was about to try jumping out of the car.” Even still cuffed to him. She’d been that desperate to escape.
“You were in her head.” Again, anger hummed in Jett’s voice. “You aren’t supposed to go in without permission.”
Maddox locked his jaw. “I did what had to be done.”
Jett’s stare didn’t leave his face. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that shit.”
“Get the vehicle moving,” Maddox snapped at him. “I could only pick up Luna’s scent at the hospital. No one else’s. Those bastards who took her could be close by. I don’t want an ambush, not until I can get her someplace more secure.” Getting her to safety was priority one. Once she was safe, then he could explain things to her.
As he’d explained to her before…over and over. Because this wasn’t the first time Luna had woken with no memory.
But it was the first time she’d woken without him at her side. They’d been paired together by the Lazarus doctors. He’d been given the job of her anchor once they all realized how different she was.
I wasn’t there this time.
Jett resumed driving. But his angry gaze cut to the rear-view mirror. “We need to call this in. Let the lab coats know we’ve got her.”
Maddox eased Luna back against the seat. He fastened the seat belt around her. Her hair had fallen forward, and he tucked a heavy lock behind her ear. “That would be one option.”
Silence.
He looked up. Jett was still watching him in the rear-view mirror. “You should keep your eyes on the road,” Maddox advised.
“No one else is freaking here.” Jett’s voice had turned rough. “What other option do we have?”
Maddox tried to figure out how much he could trust Jett.
“It’s me,” Jett snapped at him. “How many times have we saved each other?”
Because the three of them were a team. Maddox, Jett, and Luna. They’d been brought into the Lazarus program together. They’d all woken up in the lab together for the first time. And none of them had known jackshit about what was happening.
“They were going to terminate her.” Maddox glanced down at his knuckles. He’d broken them to hell and back when he’d busted out of his room at the facility. He’d been so desperate to get to her. “But then the facility was breeched. She vanished. No one knew where the hell she’d gone…” His words trailed away. He’d tried to reach Luna on the mental link they’d shared, but he’d only touched darkness.
For a while there, he’d feared she might be dead.
For a while there, I went fucking insane.
Only one thing had brought him back.
Luna. The doctors—their “handlers” had told him she still lived. That he had to find her. Hunt her.
He’d agreed. Acted like the good soldier he’d once been. He’d nodded. He’d even let them put a tracker under his skin so they could keep tabs on him during the hunt.
He’d cut that tracker out two days before. He’d made sure Jett had done the same. The
guy had agreed, not even questioning him.
Jett had questions now. “They were going to kill Luna? I mean, permanently? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“So…if we follow orders and take her back…”
“They want her back so that they can terminate her. When she was loose, when she was somewhere out in the world, she was a threat to them.” Them…the federal government. The doctors in their lab coats weren’t the bosses of the operation. The bosses were the pricks in suits who came in to observe and to whisper their instructions. Didn’t the dumbasses get it? Lazarus subjects could hear whispers from a mile away, if they just focused hard enough.
Maddox focused plenty hard.
“You always follow orders.” Jett wasn’t looking at him in the mirror any longer. His gaze was focused straight ahead.
Maddox found himself looking at Luna again. “They don’t know we have her. Not yet.”
“So…what is it that you want me to do?”
A weary sigh escaped Maddox. “Keep driving.” Because they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. “Just get us to the safe house, okay? Then we’ll make plans.”
Jett drove.
And Maddox found himself sliding closer to Luna. Take her back so that the docs could kill her? So that she’d never rise and open those deep, chocolate eyes of hers? Never stare at him as a slow smile curved her lips?
Hell, the fuck, no. He’d destroy everyone in that lab before he’d let them kill her. Dr. Henry Danwith’s worst mistake had been sending Maddox after Luna.
Because now that he had her back, Maddox was never going to let her go.
Chapter Three
“Come back to me.”
Luna’s eyes opened as awareness flooded back to her in a quick rush. She let out a quick gasp when she realized she was in a bed, and she sat up, jerking the covers with her—
“It’s okay.” Maddox stood at the foot of the bed. His hands were held up in front of him. “You’re safe.”
The hell she was. “What did you do to me?” Anger seethed in her voice. “Did you drug me?”