She laughed as he grabbed the keys and his bag. He took out one knife and pushed it up the sleeve of his jacket, then tucked his gun into the back of his waistband.
He opened the door, and she stepped out. They climbed the stairs together, and he decided they’d stop by Foster’s really quick just to check in as he hadn’t heard from the male.
When they reached the top of the stairs, he glanced around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The streets remained fairly empty and quiet. He guessed part of that was from the curfew set by the cops, the other because people didn’t quite trust the news that it was okay for them to venture outside. No faces showed in the window of the apartment building across the street, but he did hear what he assumed could be televisions playing through open panes. The fall sun warmed his face as he strode over to the SUV, Eden right behind him.
She screamed just as the sound of a gun going off registered and a sharp, horrific pain blasted through his torso.
Fuck. That wasn’t any flesh wound. He could practically feel the lead bouncing off his kidney, liver, and ribs.
He dropped his bag and turned. That piece of crap Judas walked toward them, gun drawn and a satisfied smirk on his ugly, deformed mug. Now up close, he studied the male. He pegged him about thirty, thin, yet muscular, greasy brown hair, his dark eyes shining with a special kind of crazy … and those horns. The dude had had horns surgically implanted into his forehead. This guy had to be a Colonist offspring—he’d bet both his nuts on it. As he stared at the golden ring through his nose, Axel wanted to rip the damn thing off and stuff it up his ass.
Axel stepped in front of Eden, his big body completely blocking her from his view.
“I knew you’d show yourself sooner or later,” Judas said when he stopped about five feet from them.
The gun went off again, this time hitting Axel in the left shoulder, making his firing hand completely useless. He grimaced as the knife slid from his jacket sleeve where he palmed the hilt. He longed to rush the douchebag and gut him from his throat to his dick, but he couldn’t let Eden become exposed. As he dropped the car keys, he hoped that she had enough wherewithal to pick them up and get in the car, but based on the way she sobbed and trembled as she held on to his jacket, he doubted it.
“I followed you after you pulled that stunt in the church yesterday morning. You disappeared somewhere on this street. I’ve been waiting to kill you, and I’ve decided that I’ll use the girl behind you as my sacrifice to the Countess.”
He’d have to be dead in order for that to happen.
Axel flung the knife, hitting Judas squarely in the heart. Unfortunately, Judas also got off another shot, which landed in his gut. He hissed as he doubled over, then pain so intense flared, he began to see spots on the sidewalk in front of him and sway in his boots.
With a curse, he straightened up and held on to his belly. Warm stickiness covered his hands in seconds. Judas stumbled toward him, the knife still embedded in his sternum.
“I’ll kill you,” he whispered as he lurched toward Axel.
The way he saw it, they were both going to die right here on this sidewalk, but he wouldn’t be going first. His vision blurred as he prepared to fight. If he could yank out the knife and then use it again, Judas would be dead long before him.
Sirens sounded in the near distance, but Judas made no effort to run. The cops would come, and he couldn’t have Eden near here.
“Eden, get out of here,” he growled.
“No.”
Dammit.
Just as Judas was almost on top of him, he took a swing with his right hand. An intense burning sensation ripped through his abdomen as his fist connected with Judas’ jaw. The male stumbled backwards, and as he was about to grab the knife, a loud boom echoed through the street.
Judas crumpled to the ground, a large bloodstain immediately forming on his back.
Axel looked up to see Foster walking toward him carrying Betsy over his shoulder.
“You’re looking a little worse for wear, Axel,” he called.
He slumped to his knees as Eden’s cries registered. Damn. He was dying. He could feel death’s cold claws ripping apart his insides and caressing his skin. He’d just found a good thing, and now he’d lose it. Eden knelt down in front of him, her face a mask of horror and panic as she placed her hands on his cheeks, then frantically felt his torso.
“Axel! I don’t know what to do! Tell me what to do!”
“Take off his jacket,” Foster instructed, and Eden pulled it off his shoulders and down his arms, then removed his gun from his waistband.
Foster had taken charge. “Lie him down.”
Eden eased him back from behind, her tears dripping on his face. Although he knew the sidewalk should be hard and most likely a little cool, he felt nothing except death.
“Give me the jacket.”
Eden handed it to him, and Foster removed a knife from his coat pocket, then began to rip the sleeve from the body.
“Press this to his shoulder wound.”
Axel met Eden’s gaze as she balled up the leather and put it on his shoulder. There should be pain from the pressure, but he felt none. In fact, the agony seemed to be leaving his whole body.
Glancing over at Foster, he could see the worry in the male’s face, but the guy remained calm as he worked.
Eden took his hand and squeezed as she rocked back and forth on her knees. “Don’t leave me, Axel. I just found you. Please, don’t leave me.”
He didn’t want to. For the first time in his life, he’d found happiness and someone who understood him. Yet, the blackness seemed to be pulling him under at such a fast rate, he couldn’t fight it.
“I love you, Eden,” he whispered, then he closed his eyes.
Eden felt as if she’d lose her mind. No, Axel couldn’t die.
“Do something!” she screamed at the man who helped Axel.
“I am,” he said, his voice calm and crisp. “We need to get him into the SUV. I’ll ride in back, then you drive to the hospital.”
Her mind raced. She couldn’t take him to a hospital because his blood work would come back as not human. The only other option would be to take him to the silo, and this man certainly couldn’t go there.
“I’m Foster, by the way.”
A bit of relief swept through her. Axel had trusted him and called him a friend. Perhaps that meant she could, as well.
“I can’t take him to the hospital, and I can’t take you to our home,” she whispered.
Foster stared at her a beat, then shook his head. His aura crackled with irritation. “Fine. He needs to have pressure on these two wounds. You can do that while you drive.”
She didn’t know how to drive, and her heart thundered with panic as she stared at Axel. His skin had paled, and she knew she was losing him. Cold fear gripped her.
If Foster accompanied her to the silo, Axel would have a chance. If he didn’t, she didn’t have a prayer of saving him.
“Fine,” she snapped, getting to her feet and wiping Axel’s blood from her hands onto her jeans. “You’ll come with us, but I can’t tell you what your fate will be when we get there.”
Foster laughed as she picked up the keys and opened the back hatch.
“You shouldn’t laugh. You have no idea what you’re walking into.”
A stranger in the silo wouldn’t go over well, and she imagined weapons would be drawn and the testosterone would flow like a raging river. If Foster would risk his life to save Axel, then she certainly wouldn’t be the one to stop him.
They bent down and lifted Axel into the back, her panic giving her a huge shot of adrenaline and most likely making her stronger than she should be. She heard sirens in the distance and knew they had to leave immediately, or the police would be here to question them.
Foster glared at her with a small smile on his face. She quickly studied his aura, and saw nothing but dependability, honesty, and masculinity. He didn’t have any ulterior motives.
“Get in. I’ll drive,” he said.
Since she had no idea how to operate a vehicle, she placed the keys in his hand. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that Axel trusted Foster, and therefore, she could, as well.
As she folded herself into the back, Foster leaned in.
“You want to press here, and here,” he said, his hands colored crimson, but he didn’t seem to even notice. “And don’t let up on the pressure, but don’t fucking kill him, either.”
She sighed and glared at him. “What does that mean?”
He took his hands in hers and showed her. “Just like that. Get it, now?”
“Yes.”
Foster slammed the back door, then slid into the driver’s seat. He met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “You okay, Eden?”
She nodded, worried about Axel and the sound of the sirens coming closer, and also wondering how he knew her name. “Yes. Please, let’s just leave.”
He started the car and pulled away from the curb. She glanced back as they rounded a corner to see a police cruiser pulling up to Judas’ body. With a sigh of relief, she knew she now only had to worry about Axel … and the fact she was bringing a stranger … a human to the silo.
“Where are we going?” Foster asked.
“We need to go on the I-10 West,” she said, her voice shaky.
But, good Lord, she had to calm the panic that had her hands trembling and her heart beating as though it would flop out the front of her chest. She had to stop crying and concentrate, and not worry about what would happen to Foster, or how fast he drove … none of it mattered.
You can do this. You can save him, just as he did for you.
As she focused on Axel, he seemed to be paling before her eyes. Based on how much blood covered her hands, she wondered if he had anymore left flowing through his veins.
I love you, Eden.
He’d said it right before he’d passed out. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fought back more tears. He’d been able to say the words, and she wanted to hear them a million more times.
That also must have been how Foster knew her name.
“I realized from the first time I met him that he was different,” Foster said, keeping his gaze on the road.
You have no idea.
If he thought Axel was unique with his calm, quiet demeanor, his lack of social skills, and his hard façade, what would he think of her ability to read auras?
“I felt a connection to him right away. Nothing sexual, just like he was one of my kind.”
She shut her eyes again, having no idea how to respond.
They rode in silence for a few moments as she stared at Axel and willed him to live. The hum of the engine seemed to lull everyone, and as she pressed against Axel’s shoulder, she could still feel his heart beating. She considered it a good sign, but the blood seemed to seep from his wounds at an alarming rate.
Glancing up, she realized they needed to exit the freeway in about a mile. “Please get off at the next ramp, then go right.”
He did as he was told.
“Why can’t we take him to a hospital, Eden? Where are we going?”
She really didn’t want to get into this with him. She just needed to get back to the silo where Axel could be tended to. “We’re going somewhere where he’ll be safe.”
“And he wouldn’t be safe at a hospital?”
She didn’t answer. The steady thrum of Axel’s heartbeat beneath her fingers was the only thing that prevented her from losing her mind and crawling over the seat to punch Foster in the face with a bloody fist.
After a few miles, she looked up again. “Take the next right down the dirt road.”
“Is he doing okay?”
“His heart’s beating, so I’m considering it a good thing.”
“It is.”
As they slowed down to make the turn, Axel’s heartbeat began to slow, and panic once again gripped her.
“No,” she whispered, then looked up to Foster’s glare in the mirror. “Go! His heartbeat is slowing! We don’t have time for a nice ride!”
Thankfully, Foster gripped the steering wheel and punched the gas. They flew down the dirt road for a couple of miles, then Foster came to a screeching halt.
His voice was tight when he spoke, as if he could sense her panic. “Not really sure what to do with these gates, Eden.”
She crawled over the seat and opened the door. Pure terror raced through her at the thought of losing Axel as she stared up at the camera. After a moment, the gates didn’t open.
“Open the fucking gate!” she screamed, holding her blood-soaked hands up in front of her. “If you don’t, I will never forgive you!”
She actually had no idea who stared down at her from the lens, but it didn’t matter. Her message had been directed to everyone in the silo.
A second later, the gate slid open, and she jumped back into the SUV and hopped back to Axel.
The second gate opened, too, before they’d even made it, and when they pulled up in front of the silo, Foster quickly moved from the driver’s seat and ran back to open the hatch. As Eden crawled out, Hudson, Beverly, and Macy emerged from the silo.
Hudson ran to the back of the car with his gun pointed at Foster. “Who’s this, Eden? Whose blood is all over you?”
A flood of emotion threated to spill, but she had to keep the tears at bay to show that she was an adult. If she could prove that she could remain calm as her lover lay in the back of an SUV near death, it would only show Hudson that she was ready to be Axel’s mate.
However, she could hear the panic in her voice when she spoke. “It’s Axel! He needs help! He’s dying!”
But then again, if she didn’t feel panicked, that wouldn’t be normal. Beverly walked over and placed her fingers at Axel’s throat.
Hudson’s glare went from her to Foster.
“Let’s get Axel inside, Hudson,” Beverly said, her voice calm as she glanced over at Foster. “You – what’s your name?”
“Foster.”
“Macy, run in and get a stretcher. Foster, you look pretty strong, so you’re going to help. Hudson, get over here now.”
Relief swept through Eden as everyone snapped to attention at Beverly’s orders. They had Axel inside in less than thirty seconds, and Macy met them with the stretcher. As they filed into the elevator, she gripped Axel’s hand, his chilly fingertips worrying her further. She imagined they felt like the hands of a dead man. They rode in silence as Beverly ripped open the front of his shirt, her face pinched with concentration as she and Macy spoke in low tones.
When they hit the bottom floor, the panels split, and they pushed Axel through the double doors into the gym. As they rolled him over to Beverly’s makeshift doctor’s corner, Eden squeezed Axel’s arm and a surge of hope went through her when his hand tensed for a brief second around hers.
“He just gripped my hand!”
Beverly and Macy paid her no attention, Hudson remained quiet, but Foster grinned.
“He’s a tough son of a bitch. I have a feeling he’s going to be just fine, Eden.”
“Okay, we need you three to back up,” Beverly ordered. “Give Macy and me space to move around and get a handle on what’s happened.”
“He took a couple of slugs,” Foster said, stepping away from the gurney.
“And he was stabbed,” Eden added.
As she backed up, she kept her gaze on Axel. It was then she realized no one else had come to help him, and it showed exactly how everyone in the silo felt. Anger rushed through her, and she turned to Hudson.
“No one else could be bothered when one of their own kind could die?”
He shook his head. “No one else is here, except the kids and the rest of the females. Beverly told them to stay put so she and Macy could work.”
Her brow furrowed. “Where are Noah and the others?”
“They went downtown to take a look around and see what they could do to help the police.”
“Why aren
’t you with them?”
He didn’t answer for a moment as he stared at the floor. Finally, he cleared his throat and met her gaze. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, and she could see the worry for her safety in his eyes.
“I knew I couldn’t be effective unless I knew you were home safe.”
She sighed, imagining that staying in the silo had been a difficult choice for Hudson. He was a warrior to his very core.
He then turned to Foster. “Do you know what you’ve walked into?”
Foster crossed his arms over his chest, looked around the expansive gym, and grinned. “Nope, but I’m intrigued.”
Hudson shook his head. “Don’t be, man. The less you know, the better. In fact, just go sit down in that corner and don’t move.”
How odd. She had imagined Hudson all over Foster, probably threatening to take him outside and kill him.
“Don’t argue with me, Foster. I’m too tired for any crap right now.”
Without another word, Foster walked over to the corner and stretched out on the mats, seeming perfectly at home.
Hudson approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “What happened, doha?”
Tears stung her eyes as she stared into her father’s caring gaze. She couldn’t let them fall.
“He was bringing me home and we were attacked.” Her voice broke, but she inhaled deeply to keep from completely breaking down. “He pushed me behind him and took the bullets to protect me.”
Hudson pursed his lips together.
“He saved me not once, but twice.”
She couldn’t look at him any longer, and concentrated her stare on Axel. Macy bent over him with her eyes closed while Beverly took his blood pressure, and she wished could do something to assist Beverly instead of standing here feeling useless.
Hudson gently touched her arm. “Can I help you get cleaned up?”
As she looked down at her hands, her body began to tremble again and the tears finally fell. Covered in Axel’s blood, she was almost afraid to wash up. Right now, it felt as if it was all she had left of him.
However, logic dictated that wouldn’t be a good idea to walk around looking like she’d just survived a horror movie.
Axel Page 17