by May Dawson
I rested my hand on Ryker’s chest, sitting beside him on the edge of the bunk. “Come back to us, please.” My voice was so quiet I couldn’t even hear it, lower than the whisper I’d intended, and the sound made me feel even more panicked.
But I thought I heard the faintest shift in Ryker’s breathing.
“Ryker?” I asked, leaning over his body. In the dark, my other senses felt heightened; I felt the beat of his heart through the soft flannel of his shift, a low but steady beat, and I breathed in the scent of wood smoke and peaches. Overcome by a strange desire to be close to him, I rested my head on his chest, my ear finding the place where his heart beat. I had nothing to do but wait anyway, to watch over Ryker as Levi prepared to cut down anyone who dared enter the cell.
We had one wild boy with a sword against however many men with guns.
I’d still lay money on Levi.
There was a sudden hitch in Ryker’s breathing. I only knew it because I felt his chest swell harder, breaking the slow cadence of his breathing. I froze, feeling his body against mine, wondering if it was just my imagination.
“Levi,” I whispered. “I think Ryker is coming back.”
Down the hall, a bang, a long metallic rattle. They were breaking down the door.
“Kiss him,” Levi said, his voice urgent.
If I must.
“For the team.” I muttered.
He had the faintest beard-stubble growing across his jaw, and it was rough against my palm. I grazed his jaw with my lips, trying to find my way to his mouth without being able to see. My nose brushed against his. And then my lips met his, tentatively; his lips were still parted. I kissed him softly.
Ryker’s arm suddenly rose from the bed, tightening against my lower back. He held me close to him as his head rose from the bed, kissing me back hard. I felt my hand tighten on his jaw, holding him possessively in place, as our lips met over and over again, kissing frantically. It was as if our bodies called to each other.
My body blushed hot all over, and I threw my leg over his, feeling the hardness of his lean body between my thighs. I kissed him hungrily. Then I felt the moment that the heat changed; it began to flow from me to him. Ryker’s tongue swept against my teeth and slipped into my mouth, and my tongue danced with his. I could feel my power, my energy, slipping away, a steady arc to him, and yet I couldn’t stop kissing him. I couldn’t have broken my body away from his for anything.
“Ellis,” Levi said. “Ellis.”
I heard him distantly, and then I registered impatience in his voice. “Ryker, stop,” he said. “You’re taking too much from her.”
Suddenly Levi was there, wrenching me away from Ryker; I grabbed at Ryker’s flannel shirt, desperate to catch his body to mine again. As soon as cool air separated my body from his, I came back to my senses. I felt woozy on my feet as Levi held me up, my knees almost buckling, and I leaned into his broad chest and powerful arms. I was so dizzy that I thought I might be sick.
And then I felt humiliated by the way I’d just tongue-kissed his brother within the same hour I’d kissed Levi for the first time.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know—I don’t know what’s happening—”
It sounded ridiculous.
But Levi’s fingers were on my jaw, and he tilted my face up to his, and in the dark I felt his lips press against mine. His kiss was sweet, not hungry like Ryker’s, and with his arms wrapped around me, the world stopped spinning.
He paused, then kissed the corner of my mouth. “Better, pretty girl?” he murmured, his lips a breath away from mine.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“Don’t be,” he said. “Not with us.”
Ryker groaned, and even in the dark, I could hear him stumbling to his feet. “What the hell happened?”
“After they water-boarded you, they split us up. I don’t know what they did to you after that,” Levi said. “Parrish rescued me.”
“Rescued? That bitch probably put us in here in the first place.” Ryker’s hand settled on my shoulder; I would’ve known the flush of heat I felt from his touch anywhere. “Are you okay, Ellis?”
I thought of how he’d called his mother a trollop, and I shook my head; I couldn’t imagine what Ryker would think of me. But in the dark, he couldn’t see what Levi and I had just done. So I said, my voice low and rough, “I’ll be a lot better once we’ve burned this building down.”
“That’s my girl,” Ryker said, his sexy voice proud and satisfied. “Thanks for the save.”
Levi hushed us. Down the hall, I could hear the rumble of men’s voices, the sound of doors being kicked open. They were still far down the hall.
“We need to get to the roof,” Ryker said. “I was just talking to Jake. He’s on his way.”
“Keep Ellis safe,” Levi said, and I could feel him shift in the dark, putting himself between us and the door. Even in the near-complete darkness, I caught a glint of silver off the sword.
Ryker slipped his arm around me, drawing me into his body, drawing me back against the wall. I felt the sharp metal edge of the bunk as he hid me behind it, shielding me with his own body. Despite myself, despite where we were, I felt a raw thrill of longing with my body against his hard-angled, muscular frame and his arm wrapped around my waist.
He inclined his head, his mouth close to my ear, and whispered, “I’ve got you.”
The voices were loud now through the door, near us. The door flew open. The room was filled with light.
Levi was a blur, swinging the sword as the men piled in towards us. He cut down two of them faster than my brain could process what was happening. The men fell at his feet.
Behind the crowd, there was a pop as someone threw a can in. It rattled across the floor, beginning to spew a green gas, but Ryker was already scooping down and grabbing it, throwing it smoothly back through the door before they could swing it closed on us. The door hung up on a body anyway.
Levi barreled through the door, swinging out into the hall.
Ryker grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him. As Levi ran towards our enemies in the hallway—two shadowy figures—Ryker pulled me the other way, down the last of the cell hallway towards the next doorway. I heard a grunt behind us, just as we reached the end. Ryker threw the door open and shoved me through it.
I turned and saw Levi fall back against the wall, but he threw the sword, and it ran deep into the belly of the last man who was coming after us. The man fell at Levi’s feet in a crumpled ball.
Ryker ran forward, grabbing Levi under his arms—I could see now the dark stain of blood spreading across Levi’s shirt—and together the two of them limped quickly towards me. I held the door for them. The door at the far end of the hall, behind them, swung wide open. Levi’s face was a mask of set teeth and pain as the two of them rushed past me.
“Close the door,” Ryker said urgently, but I stepped forward into the gap as men with guns piled into the hall. I held my hand out towards them, remembering Ryker’s voice in my ear, telling me that I could dowse the flames.
But instead I held my hand low, imagining a ball of flame in my palm, and then I threw it up towards the ceiling. Like when I used to pitch in T-ball as a kid.
The men looked up as a wall of flames hit the ceiling and spread in wild orange crackles across the grimy white ceiling towards them. Then they turned and ran back through the door, shoving each other in their haste to escape the frames. I jerked back, surprised myself, and slammed the door between us.
I turned, breathing hard, and found Ryker and Levi staring at me. Then I registered the room that we were in. Twin tables for electric shocks stood along the wall, shackles and chains were strewn across the floor, and an enormous, new-looking metal frame in the center of the room. The frame was a hexagon, where a screaming gray flicker of a ghost was caught in the center. It writhed, screaming constantly, an unnatural, eerie sound.
“Burn this place down,” Ryker said to me. His eyes were troubled as they
turned back to the ghost-trap. “Even they don’t deserve this.”
“Doing my best,” I said. I slid my arm around Levi’s free side, hearing his quick intake of breath. “Can I help you?”
“We have to get to the roof,” Ryker said. “Hang in there, Levi.”
“Hanging in.” His voice was low, tight with pain.
Together, the three of us hobbled our way across the room to the last door.
And then we were in a concrete stairwell.
Together, we limped up the stairs. Ryker nodded at the chipped metal door at the top of the stairs. “I’ve got him. Can you see if that opens?”
“God, I hope so.” We were trapped between the roof and the building—on fire and full of enemies—if it didn’t. I slid out from under Levi’s arm and ran up the last few steps. For a second, I thought the hot metal knob wouldn’t turn under my hand, and then it did.
And we were out. On the rooftop. Fresh, cool green air brushed over my face. I held the door open for Ryker and Levi as they limped out too. Ryker helped Levi to the ground as Levi’s legs finally went out from underneath him. Levi lay back, exposing the bloody wound on his abdomen.
Ryker yanked his shirt off, the buttons popping off in his hurry. He stuffed the shirt against the wound, staunching the flow of blood.
“You’re going to be all right,” he said, his voice low and husky. “It’s not any worse than that time in Peru.”
“Peru was pretty fucking bad,” Levi said.
“You’re alive, aren’t you?” Ryker asked. “What more do you want?”
Then he looked across his brother’s broad chest at me. Ryker’s bright green eyes met mine.
“Are you going to help him or not?” Ryker asked, his voice rough. Then he looked back down at the wound, at Levi’s blood smeared across his hands, at the flannel. “I know we’re all depleted. But if you can just keep him going a little longer…”
“I knew it,” Levi said weakly. “It’s worse than Peru.”
So I leaned over and kissed Levi. I pressed my lips uncertainly to his cheek at first, and then I felt the magnetic pull between us. I braced myself over him, careful not to brush against his injured body, and pressed my lips to his.
His lips were narrower than Ryker’s, but soft and tender above the hardness of that big jaw. His eyes drifted shut as we kissed, his eyelashes resting on high-boned cheeks that were, I realized for the first time under the bright light of the sun, touched with light, faded freckles. He was gorgeous. I felt his broad shoulders under my hands as I kissed him, the warmth of his body even without touching him radiating through my clothes. As always, I felt a deep sense of peace come over me when I was so close to him.
I kissed the corner of his mouth again. “Not today, I don’t think. You didn’t have me in Peru.”
Levi sat up slightly, onto his elbows, still wincing.
“The blood’s not pumping out fast anymore,” Ryker said. “It’s still going to take some… healing.”
“I’ll do it the old-fashioned way,” Levi said firmly.
For the first time, I heard a low, strange chuck-chuck-chuck sound. I turned, trying to make sense of it, and saw a small black helicopter on the horizon. Headed right towards us. My heart stopped.
But Ryker and Levi didn’t seem worried. Levi just shook his head faintly before letting it slump back to the cement, still exhausted.
Ryker said, “I see we’re keeping a low profile today.”
Chapter 14
The helicopter blades turned in a deadly blur, the steady wind blowing my hair back; it felt like a storm had arrived as the helicopter touched down on the rooftop. Ryker grabbed my hand. He shouted over the roar of the helicopter, “Come on! Stay low—I’ll come back for Levi.”
I pulled my hand out of his. Hesitantly. “Just get Levi.” I shouted back. I was afraid to duck under the helicopter’s blades, afraid I’d cut my head off, but we needed to get aboard and out of here as fast as we could.
Levi leaned on Ryker, the two of them ducking low, and we made our way quickly to the helicopter. Once we were under the blades, I no longer felt the terrible wind; it was like entering the calm at the center of a storm. The door to the helicopter was thrown open.
The man who looked out at me from behind the controls of the helicopter was the storm. That was the thought that washed over me as I met angry golden eyes; he was gorgeous, his face so high-cheek-boned and angular and perfectly symmetrical that it hurt to look at him. Wild dark brown curls waved around that beautiful face. But I couldn’t make sense of the way he looked at me, like I had done something to get Levi hurt.
Ryker helped Levi up into the cab of the helicopter, and then hopped in himself, wrapping his arms just under Levi’s armpits to drag him in. Over the drone of the engine, I heard Levi say something, saw his eyes steady behind us, and I turned to see the door flying open to the rooftop. Two men raised guns at the helicopter.
The man at the controls was suddenly right there, at the door of the helicopter, and he fi raised a pistol over my head, firing off a few shots rapidly. Then he grabbed my hands impatiently, yanking me into the cab. I stumbled, landing awkwardly on one knee inside the helicopter. “Come on, princess. You feel like dying here today?”
His voice, no matter how angry, carried a distinct posh British accent. I stared up at him for a second, perplexed, but I also began scrambling into the cab. He slammed the door shut behind me just as gunshots pinged against the metal door.
“And I think you outstayed your welcome,” he said. “Once again. You have the worst manners, Ryker.”
He was already back behind the controls. Ryker leaned over Levi, protecting him from the gunfire with his body. Ryker looked up at me, gesturing me close to him, and I also pressed myself to the floor of the helicopter. Just in time, because the helicopter lurched up from the ground and took to the air at a steep angle. I felt my stomach shift.
And then we were away, into the deep wild blue sky. I glimpsed the mental hospital behind us for a second, and then all I could see was the blue of the sky and the occasional stringy white cloud outside.
Once we were well aloft, a few minutes into the ride, Ryker whispered to Levi, making sure he was okay. Then he got up and stepped carefully over Levi, settling into the leather co-pilot seat next to the other man.
The third man was Jacob, probably? We still hadn’t been introduced. Not that I could’ve heard anything over the racket of the engine and my own rapid-beating heart anyway.
I hoped it wasn’t Jake. Cold dread settled into my stomach, thinking about the way he had looked at me. He didn’t even know me. I was really tired of people despising me, from my own mother to the staff at the mutant reform school.
I lay down on the floor next to Levi, my head alongside his. Together we looked up at the white plastic ceiling of the helicopter. My fingers brushed against his, tentatively, and then he took my hand in his. I felt his fingers knit around mine, holding our hands between our hips.
“What did you mean,” I said, “You’d heal the old-fashioned way?”
“There’s no rush, Ellis,” he said. He turned his head, and his voice seemed intimate. “You know we can heal each other. But we also can heal the old-fashioned way, cell-by-cell. And that’s what I plan on doing this time around.”
“But if you needed me to, I could…”
His breath softly moved the hair around my ear. “You could. But you don’t need to.”
Even though the thought of healing Levi sent a tingle of desire and curiosity through my body, I also felt a keen sense of relief. I squeezed his hand in mine. “It’s been a weird few days.”
He squeezed back. “Life is certainly more interesting with you in it.”
Ryker made his way back to us. I froze, not sure if I should pull my hand away from Levi’s, not wanting to hurt his feelings. Ryker’s eyes fell on our hands and then he looked up at us, nonplussed. He knelt next to us, bracing his hand on Jacob’s seatback, as I quickly sat up.
“We’re landing,” Ryker said. “Hold on. We need to ditch the helicopter and get a car.”
“And then what?”
“We’re taking you to our hunters’ lodge.”
“A hunting lodge?” I quirked an eyebrow. Visions of taxidermied animals and mounted deer-heads and exposed log beams popped into my mind.
“No, a hunters’ lodge. Someplace our family’s come back to for hundreds of years of dealing with the shadows.” Ryker said.
“If that makes what we do sound impressive at all,” Levi said, “Just bear in mind that the next thing we’re going to do is steal a car.”
Suddenly my stomach rose as if we were going down fast on an elevator. Ryker grabbed my arm to steady me. When his fingers curled around my bicep, I felt the usual spark of lust and heat that I felt whenever his body was near mine. I met his gaze, feeling my eyes widen with the intensity of those strange feelings.
“Setting down,” Jacob called curtly over his shoulder.
“Yeah, no kidding,” Ryker muttered. When the helicopter bumped to the ground, Ryker swayed towards me. Suddenly I was against his hard pecs, his arm folded around my shoulders. He pulled away from me quickly. “You okay?”
I nodded. God, this whole thing couldn’t get more awkward.
The noise of the engine abruptly cut out.
Jacob turned in the pilot’s seat, casting a critical eye over the three of us. “This is it?” he asked. “This is the girl we’ve been waiting for?”
Okay, things could always get more awkward.
“Watch it,” Ryker said. “I know you pride yourself on finding new and creative ways to be an asshole, but it’s been a long day.”