Worth Dying For

by Luxie Ryder

  Had Bane been watching her all this time? Yet again, he seemed poised to fight over her and she still didn’t know why.

  Milo smiled in her direction, as if indulging her attempt to get away then lifted a hand to his face to examine a broken nail as he sighed. “Bane, this is tiresome. I plan to claim the reward, and I will kill you in order to do so.”

  Bane laughed. “Shall we begin then?”

  Amber reached the bushes at the edge of the lawn and crawled into them, ignoring the sharp thorns tearing at her arms and clothing. She scrambled to her feet and started to run, until the loud, savage growling at her back stopped her short. Spinning around to look into the clearing, she saw the men drop into an attack position like the one she had witnessed in David’s apartment. Milo moved first, launching forwards so fast, Amber barely followed the movement. Bane leapt upwards in response, soaring over the other man’s head and spinning catlike in mid air, to land on his feet behind his opponent.

  Amber gasped. Bane must have jumped at least ten feet high. How the fuck…? She had no time to think about it as Milo crawled up the wall and a new question replaced the last. He scurried sideways, like a spider, moving backwards and forwards as he hung over Bane, as if looking for the best angle for another attack. Then Bane’s opponent gave a terrifying hiss and threw himself from the wall, his bared teeth glistening in the artificial light illuminating the yard.

  A scream ripped out of her and she clamped her hands over her mouth to suppress it as her knees gave way. Bane sidestepped Milo, turning quickly and grabbing him as he passed before slamming him to the dirt. Pressing a knee into his back to hold him down, Bane reached into a pocket and pulled out a canister, placing it on the grass by his side.

  “Run, Amber,” he said without turning towards her, but she couldn’t. Her feet pushed ineffectually against the ground but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the carnage in front of her. Bane leant over the man, locking one arm around his chin and the other over his head while Milo spat and strained against him, his hands scratching at Bane’s arms.

  Bane grunted as he shifted a little, took a deep breath…and tore Milo’s head off.

  Amber vomited into the grass, fighting to keep her head up to watch the horror unfolded before her, too scared to look away in case Bane came for her next.

  The body underneath Bane continued to fight and struggle, its hands no longer locked onto Bane’s arms. Now, they seemed desperate to grab onto something else. Amber knew what he wanted—Bane held Milo’s head by the hair, just out of Milo’s grasp. The lips were pulled back in a snarl, exposing his teeth and she could see and hear them snapping, as if trying still to bite their enemy. She couldn’t see the expression in his eyes in the darkness and she was grateful that she could not see him in even more gory detail.

  Bane picked up the canister, pulling the lid off with his mouth and pouring its contents over Milo’s head. He threw the still snarling mass a few feet away before reaching into another pocket and pulling out a lighter. The body beneath him began to buck and kick harder as Bane flicked a flame to life and tossed the lighter at Milo’s face. A bright flash illuminated the side of the building and the hissing and spitting head went up in flames. Milo’s body tried to crawl towards the burning mass but Bane kept him pinned to ground, riding out the struggle until the flailing finally stopped.

  Amber shook with a new fear. She shouldn’t have seen what she just had—shouldn’t be fucking sitting here waiting for the same to happen to her. Her legs listened to her brain and she staggered to her feet, stumbling through the trees in the dark to she didn’t know where. Trying to get away from Bane and what she had just seen was a waste of time and, even as she ran, she knew she would never be safe again.

  A blur at the edge of her vision gave her a split second’s warning that she wasn’t alone. She stopped, unsure which direction the danger would come from but certain she was running towards rather than away from it. Leaves and twigs crunched a few feet away at her side and she turned to find Bane closer than she feared, his massive frame casting an ominous silhouette against the grey backdrop of mist and trees.

  His hands were raised, as if to show her he meant her no harm. “Don’t panic, please.”

  Backing up as he approached, Amber kept her eyes forwards and her gaze fixed on him. Her heart crawled up into her throat and her stomach gave a violent lurch and she knew she would die.

  If she screamed, nobody would hear her in time anyway. The armed police just yards away inside the station house would not be able to save her. She’d seen Bane in action before—she would be dead before she could take another breath.

  “I’m not going to hurt you. You’ve got to stop running away from me. You need my help.”

  Confusion mingled with the fear clouding her thoughts. “Help?”

  He sighed. “I told you last night. You are in danger and I’m your only hope of survival.”

  “Why? What danger?”

  “Leave with me now and I promise I will explain everything.”

  His eyes held a plea, as if he wanted her to go with him through choice. As crazy as it sounded, Amber could see Bane hoped she would trust him. The image of the dead man and the horrific way he met his end flashed through her mind and she took another step away from Bane.

  “Why did you do that to him?”

  “It’s the only way to stop them.”

  “Them? You mean there’s more?” He nodded. “Who are they and why are they trying to kill me?”

  Bane’s head snapped around. His vision locked on to something in the trees and he sniffed the air.

  “Levi,” he growled.

  Before she knew it, Amber was off the ground and in his arms. She pushed at his shoulders and tried to wriggle free but he began to run, so fast that the trees became a blur and the breath caught in her throat.

  “No more time for talking. You’re gonna have to trust me.”

  “No. I don’t want to go with you. Put me down.” Amber heard the panic in her voice and, as scared as she was of making him angry enough to kill her, she couldn’t help but scream when he just ignored her.

  Bane stopped running. Amber pushed against him but he didn’t relax his grip. Would he hurt her now?

  “Amber?”

  She looked up at him, surprised to find his black eyes glowing with gentle warmth that chased away her fear. Amber’s eyelids began to droop and she let her head fall against his shoulder, even as her brain warned her that she should be fighting.

  He must have drugged me, Amber decided a few minutes later as she wrapped an arm around Bane’s huge neck when the insane running had started again. Fuck it. She didn’t care anymore. She felt safe and warm for the first time in what seemed like ages and she curled into the sensation. But then the nice, fuzzy feelings went away and she found herself standing alone and cold as she rocked on unsteady feet.

  “Are you awake?” Bane asked, his rough grasp on her chin forcing her to look up at him.

  “I wasn’t asleep,” she said, stepping out of his reach. She couldn’t have fallen asleep in the arms of someone who terrified her…could she? Amber didn’t recognise the area they were in nor did she remember getting there. Hadn’t she just been screaming into his face? Maybe she’d blacked out. She held her breath, waiting for the fear to return. But it didn’t.

  He’d fought to protect her twice and as scary as he seemed to be, Amber began to know at some instinctive level that he wouldn’t hurt her. Still, she had to get away from him as soon as she could and figure out what the hell was happening.

  He gave her shoulders a shake that he might have intended to be gentle, but still set her teeth rattling in her head. “Amber, I need you to think. We need a car. Where do you live?”

  “In Augusta,” she said automatically.

  “We are in Augusta. Where exactly do you live?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “We need your car.” Bane raised a hand to stop her asking the obvious. “We
need to get away from here as quickly as possible. I could do it on foot but, if anything were to happen to me, a car would be your only chance of escaping.”

  “Escaping who? Or should I say what?” A muscle flexed in his jaw and she gave up hope of getting any more out of him for now.

  “I promise I will explain everything in time…including how I got you into this predicament.” He raised a hand as if to brush back a strand of her hair but she flinched away from him, the memory of what he could do with those hands still too fresh in her memory. “Now I really need you to show me where you live.”

  Five minutes later, after another dash through the dark streets in Bane’s arms, she found herself in a doorway facing her apartment building.

  “But why can’t I come with you?” she protested when he attempted to leave her in the street.

  “You are a suspect in a murder. Where do you think the authorities are going to look for you?”

  Okay, so he had a point.

  “What about you? Why aren’t you a suspect? I told them all about you.”

  His smirk pissed her off. “And did they believe you?”

  “Well, no, but I am sure that if a guy your size suddenly turns up in my apartment, it will add some credibility to my story.”

  Bane seemed to think about what she said then scowled as if annoyed he’d wasted his time. “They won’t see me anyway. Now where are your car keys and which car is yours?”

  She told him which apartment she lived in and where he would find the key fob. He darted across the street so fast she lost sight of him for a second. The street door of the townhouse opened with brute force alone and she held her breath until he disappeared inside.

  Amber’s heart lodged in her throat. Her only chance to get away had just presented itself.

  She took a casual step backwards, and stopped to see what the consequences would be before she tried again. When nothing happened she took two more steps, then three, then more. Her legs moved slowly at first as if not quite convinced what she was doing was a good idea. Finally she hit a comfortable stride and put her head down, intent on putting as much distance between herself and Bane as she could.

  What was he exactly? Her brain raced as she ran, considering and dismissing ideas. What had David seen that he shouldn’t? Maybe some kind of Government experiment creating superhuman soldiers or bionic men, or a drug test that got out of control? Very little of what she had seen in the previous two days made any sense to her at all but the one thing she knew for sure was that neither Bane nor the man who had attacked her at the police station were normal human beings.

  A rush of wind at her side and a blur streaking across the edge of her vision gave Amber a moment’s warning that her escape attempt was about to fail. Bane appeared in front of her out of nowhere, blocking her path with his huge body. Strong hands grabbed her arms, stopping her just short of barrelling into him. A deep rumble erupted from his chest and she looked up to find him glaring at her, his eyes black with fury.

  “Do you see how easily I caught you? Well, do you?” he growled into her face, shaking her as he lifted her from the sidewalk by her upper arms. Amber nodded, terror taking her voice. “Then listen to me. Those I am trying to protect you from are as fast and as strong as I am. The only real difference between us is that if one of them had been chasing you, you would be dead by now.”

  He let her go and turned away as if fighting for self control then grabbed her arm and dragged her back towards the apartment.

  Bane unlocked the car on the driver’s side, then handed her the keys. He sighed at her hesitation and pushed her into the seat. “You will have to drive. I don’t know how.”

  Chapter Six

  Bane decided Amber must have finally given up the fight when she hit the coast road without further protest half an hour later.

  He cast a quick glance over in her direction from his position in the back seat. She looked tired and near collapse but she would be okay for a little longer. Forcing her to sleep in his arms earlier had been necessary and he would do it again if the need arose. Amber’s life was easier to save when she shut the hell up and stopped fighting him.

  Even after he’d ripped the front passenger seat out of her compact car, there still wasn’t really enough room for his legs. But he would suffer the discomfort for as long as he needed to if it would make her safe again. And it seemed being in control of something made her feel a little more amenable. Some of her tension had eased and her heart had stopped its frantic pounding. He listened to it now in the dark interior of the car and heard it skip a beat when she took a longer than usual breath. He guessed the questions were about to start.

  “What are you?” she whispered, her eyes staring straight ahead, attention fixed on the road.

  Bane grimaced, knowing the truth now would end any hopes he had of making her come with him to the island. “Someone who is trying to protect you.”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Her flash of anger didn’t surprise him. Her fiery red hair gave a clue to her tempestuous nature and she was no exception to the rule. “Stop fucking me around and tell me the truth.”

  “Then ask me a civil question I am prepared to answer,” he said, no longer amused. Modern women cussed like sailors.

  Amber twisted in her seat to fix him with an inquisitive glare. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To safety.”

  Another curse fell from her delicate lips at his non-answer, then Amber sighed and tried a different approach. “Maybe it’s just better if you tell me as much as you can.”

  “How much of what happened on the island do you remember?”

  “Bane, I need answers not more questions.”

  “There is a lot you don’t remember and some of what I need to tell you won’t make sense until you do.”

  “Remember what exactly?”

  He hesitated. “Me.”

  The car screeched to a halt without warning. Bane braced his arms against the dash but couldn’t stop his head smashing into the windscreen hard enough to shatter it. Only his sheer size stopped him being thrown from the vehicle when his knees had wedged into the foot well.

  “Damn it, woman!” he growled, anger making him forget his vow to hide what he was around her. The roar echoed around the interior of the car and she clamped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes tight shut. Bane put a hand on her shoulder to check she hadn’t hurt herself but she flinched away from him again.

  Checking the dark fields surrounding them, he saw nothing to cause concern but he couldn’t afford to waste too much time waiting for her to get over her nerves. Bane knew how frightening he could be, but surely by now she knew he would not harm her? Wracking his brain for a way to get her to relax again and start driving, he realised the best thing to do was to talk. Amber was desperate for information.

  “How’s your head? You hit it pretty hard on a rock back on the island,” he said, pretending he didn’t know the real reason she still had her hands over her ears. He saw her fingers part a little as if to let his words in. “Lucky for you I managed to stop the bleeding.”

  Amber dropped her hands but kept her eyes on her lap. “David said you saved me.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Not by name of course just that some giant guy swooped down out of nowhere.”

  “That’s pretty much it.” Bane struggled for patience—now would not be a good time to lose control again. “Amber, we’ve got to keep moving. You drive and I’ll talk?”

  She didn’t speak but complied with his request, turning his way once the car was in motion again, impatient that he didn’t instantly pick up where he left off. Tempted to ask her what she wanted to know, he bit his tongue. He would have to refuse to answer the question he knew she would ask, so Bane simply explained how she’d got her injury—leaving out the part about how he caused the whole damned mess to happen in the first place.

  “You must have been buried with me,” she said after thinking about his stor
y. “The last thing I remember is the sky going black and a loud rumbling sound.”

  “We were lucky,” he said, playing it down so he wouldn’t have to explain how he got them both out of it. “The trees on the hillside stopped most of it hitting us.”

  Amber frowned. “David said we were buried.”

  “It might have looked that way from the bottom of the hill. He was too far away to be able to tell.”

  “But I heard him shout for me to run. He couldn’t have been that far away.” Bane kept silent, allowing her to remember what she could at her own pace. “So what happened after you got me out? David said you leapt about twenty feet into the air and grabbed onto a tree. I didn’t believe him until I saw you jump almost that high with my own eyes back there.”

  Bane knew she would push him again if he allowed her train of thought to continue. “Do you remember anything else about the island?” he said, changing the subject.

  “Not really. I’ve barely had time to think about any of it.” She brushed the topic away, keen to get back to the awkward questions, it seemed. “So how did you come to be there in order to save me? From what we were told, the island was deserted.”

  “I live there.”

  “Permanently?”

  “Yes, except when I come to the mainland on…business.”

  The coast wasn’t far away now, Bane could smell it, but they couldn’t get there quick enough for his liking. Amber would keep pushing until she got the answers she wanted. He needed to make sure he had her somewhere she wouldn’t be able to run away from him when he told her the truth.

  An all-night gas station loomed in the darkness, reminding him that she would need food. “Pull in.”

  “The tank is half full.”

  “You…I mean, we need supplies.”

  “Can’t we get them from wherever the hell it is you are taking me?”

  “No. Here, take some money,” he said, pulling a thick roll of notes out of his pocket and tossing it in her lap.