Desires' Guardian

by Tempeste O'Riley

  “Sick, filth!” a voice screamed above him. “Have to exorcise you! Remove your stain from my life so I can be clean again,” the voice continued.

  Unable to move away from the blows, Chase screamed as the pain increased in his side, ribs, and head, until the world went blank, and even the pain could no longer reach him.

  WHEN CHASE fought his way back to consciousness, he regretted having done so immediately. He was still on his side, bound as before, but the gag was rancid. It was painfully obvious to him he’d lost at least part of his lunch during the attack earlier, and he was thankful he hadn’t had much before this insanity began. Sadly, he was still in complete darkness, so he had no clue how long he’d been there. Hours, days—time had no meaning right then.

  He tried to shift so his casted wrist wasn’t pinned under him, but the only movement he managed caused the pain to spike sharply and the world to spin until inner darkness swallowed him again.

  RHYS PACED inside Chase’s apartment, cell clutched in his fist, and tried not to panic. When he’d arrived that evening, he had expected Chase to be there. Chase’s bike was there, but his car was missing, and he hadn’t answered the door. He also hadn’t answered his phone any of the dozen times Rhys had called. And while he’d been able to convince the super to let him into Chase’s apartment, there was no sign he had been there in days.

  He froze at the loud ringing. He almost dropped the phone in his haste to answer the call. “Chase?”

  “No, Rhys. I did find his car, though,” Mark said.

  “What? Where?” Where the hell was he!

  “At one of the little delis he likes to hit for lunch, but that’s the only thing that’s normal here. The manager said he argued with some big guy, and they left together before Chase finished his food.”

  “Big guy? So he left with a friend?” Please be a friend. “Something wrong with his car?”

  “The manager said the guy with Chase practically had to carry him out.”

  “But Chase was….”

  “Rhys,” Mark countered. “I’ve never known you to be blind to reality, man.”

  He nodded as fear gripped him, sealing his breath. “We need to call his friends.”

  Twenty minutes later, Mark, Grayson, and Dal stood in Chase’s living room.

  “What do we know, Rhys?” Dal asked.

  “Not much, unfortunately. They refused to let Mark see the security footage, and no one will let me go over there.”

  “That’s because you getting arrested for attempted murder won’t help find Chase, Rhys,” Grayson countered.

  “Whatever. We need to see if they got who this guy was on the tape or maybe even footage from the parking area. I want Chase back, now!”

  “Focus, Rhys,” Mark interrupted Rhys’s fit. “Dal can try to find a way to get us those tapes. Right, Dal?”

  Dal stopped pacing and looked at Mark. “He’s an adult, Mark. Until he’s been officially missing for twenty-four hours….”

  “Fuck that,” Rhys roared. “You know something’s wrong! We can’t wait that long. He could be—” He broke off, unable to allow his thoughts to go there. “It has to be now!”

  “I know he….” Dal faced Rhys and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. “You’re right. Of course. I’ll see what I can do, but when I get fired for this, you’re going to have a new business partner,” he grumbled.

  Rhys knew Dal hated going against protocol, but Chase’s life was worth more to him than his brother’s damn job. He knew Dal would expect the same from him. “Good. Now, did anyone get hold of his mom…?”

  The three men discussed strategy while Dal took off to see what he could manage to get from the deli. Less than an hour later, they knew who had Chase and a rough idea of where Chase most likely was, thanks to Grayson’s computer skills. Rhys made a mental note never to tease the man for his geek tendencies again.

  CHASE STARTLED awake when he heard shouting. The noise was far away and no one was kicking or hitting him. It took a little while to clear his head enough to make out the sounds, but when he did, they made no sense to him. It seemed as if someone had the TV turned way up and a cop show was on. There was screaming about putting hands up and weapons down. There was also shouting about having to find someone, but he couldn’t focus enough to keep up with all the yelling.

  He hurt so bad he shook, and his head felt as if it were two sizes too small for his skull. After a few more moments, he realized it wasn’t a show, it was people outside the area he was trapped in. In desperation, he started screaming around the gag still in his mouth. His voice was muffled, but he still gave it his all, hoping it would be enough to bring someone to him.

  He froze midyell when he heard loud popping sounds nearby. He assumed it was a gun. The thought made him silent, though. What if it wasn’t someone come to rescue him? What if the crazy person he was being held by shot whoever had just broken in and then shot him?

  Shaking so hard he could barely drag in air, Chase decided to stay quiet, hoping whoever was outside were the good guys or the cops and not worse than his current warden.

  The silence after the second set of shots was deafening and only served to make him panic worse. When he heard someone screaming again, he was confused. It sounded like Rhys yelling at Dal. That couldn’t be right. Why would Rhys be mad at Dal, and how would either of them know where to find him? He didn’t even know where he was.

  Chase guessed he must have passed out again, because when he came to, the lights were on and painfully bright after all the darkness. There were people all around him, talking and shouting. “Hold him still so I can get this crap off him,” a gruff voice ordered. It took a moment before he realized it was Mark speaking.

  “I’m trying! He won’t hold still, and he’s a lot stronger than he looks.” That was Grayson.

  “Chase, man, hold still,” Mark said. “I don’t want to hurt you worse than you already are. Okay?”

  He calmed, hoping this was real and not that his mind had snapped. Someone moved him onto his back carefully. It hurt like hell, but at least no one hit him again.

  “Here,” a different voice said, and the gag was removed. The sudden object over his face that followed had him flailing. He didn’t want anything binding him again.

  “Chase,” Mark yelled. “It’s just oxygen. The paramedic is a nice guy and is trying to help you. Understand?”

  Paramedic? Help? Those at least made sense. He stilled again, desperate to hold on long enough to find Rhys. They moved him onto a board and then onto something that rolled, one of those gurneys, he assumed.

  “Rhys?” he finally managed to ask, sounding slurred enough he worried they might not understand him. He tried again anyway. “Where’s Rhys?”

  “Don’t worry, he’s here. He’s with Dal in the other room.”

  It didn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t he be here with him instead of Mark and Grayson? “Is he hurt?” he gasped out, shaking hard again. No, please no! Rhys has to be okay! I didn’t get to tell him I love him yet. He can’t be hurt!

  “Breathe, Chase. Rhys is fine. He’s fine. Not a mark on him, I swear,” Mark said, strained and rushed.

  Chase tried to focus, but breathing hurt, and being moved only made it worse. “Please. I need. See. Rhys,” he panted, struggling to stay awake and focused.

  “I’ll try to get him,” Grayson said before disappearing from Chase’s narrow view. Mark stayed next to him even as the paramedics rolled him out into the night air and to the waiting ambulance.

  He was confused when Mark disappeared but then elated when Rhys appeared beside him, until he noticed the red stuff all over Rhys’s hands. “You’re hurt!”

  “Chase, sweetheart. Don’t try to talk. Just rest now.” Rhys’s face was tearstained as he stared down at Chase.

  “Blood,” Chase managed to force out.

  “I’m fine. It’s not mine. Now rest, please.” Rhys brushed his cheek, but with such a featherlight touch, Chase could barely feel
it. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, certain Rhys would protect him.

  He felt the banging when they closed the doors and the vehicle started to move, but he lost his tentative hold on the waking world. His last thought was that Rhys’s touch was the best thing he’d ever felt, and he would do anything to keep him.

  Chapter 22

  “HOW COULD you not tell me what was going on until afterward?” James yelled, his voice high and angry in a way Chase had never heard before.

  “I didn’t want you to worry,” Rhys rumbled. “Seriously, you just got married and all. He wouldn’t want to take away from your happy.”

  “Great, so my best friend ends up kidnapped and hurt, but what everyone’s worried about is me? Am I the only one who thinks that’s nuts?”

  Chase listened to the two most important men in his life argue, unable to get his mouth to work.

  “It’s not like I knew this would happen. I wouldn’t have let him out of my sight otherwise! I have never been so afraid.”

  “I know, Rhys.” James’s voice dropped to the soothing, “it will all be okay” tone Chase knew well. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. This isn’t your fault, it’s his crazy ex’s.”

  Chase was finally able to make his mouth work, though it felt like the Sahara had moved in while he was out. “Rhys? James?” God! Could he sound any worse?

  Twin gasps from across the room sounded before both men were at his side. When he forced his eyes to focus, he took in James’s pained face and Rhys’s ashen one. Both looked like nervous wrecks.

  “Water?”

  “Right here,” Rhys said, holding a straw to his lips. When his throat felt a little more usable, he murmured, “I’m sorry.”

  Rhys took his free hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. “Cariadon?”

  He smiled at Rhys, loving that he was precious enough to Rhys for such a special pet name. “Don’t fight.” He shifted his head enough to meet James’s eyes and added, “Please.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart,” Rhys said at the same time James said, “Sorry, Chase.”

  “What happened?” The two men shared a look that screamed worry as far as Chase could tell. “Tell me.”

  “What do you remember?” Rhys asked as James moved around him to sit in the chair pulled close to the bed.

  Chase searched his memories, fuzzy things that they were. “I hung out with Si, then left to go to your place. I had something to talk to you about.” He paused, hoping his head would stop hurting so much. “But, uh, I stopped to eat and ran into Jonathan. Uh….” He couldn’t come up with how he’d ended up in that horrible place or who would want to hurt him like that. “Then being somewhere dark and someone kicking me. Then nothing until you all showed up to get me.” A flash of Rhys in the ambulance made him flinch. “Wait, you had blood on you. Who’s blood, Rhys?”

  “Jonathan took you to a warehouse he owns and had you bound in one of the back rooms.”

  “He’s the one who….” Why would he do that? “He wanted to protect his secrets so badly, why risk something so insane?”

  “He’s on a different floor from you. I’ve not been allowed near him again to find out the why of it,” Rhys growled. “I failed to protect you,” he added, looking down and away from Chase.

  “This isn’t your fault, Rhys,” James said softly. “Until we know why he did this, we have no way to know what triggered this attack.”

  “When he broke Chase’s wrist, I should have known the man wouldn’t quit so easily.”

  “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” James countered. “You can’t play these what-if and shoulda-woulda-coulda games.”

  “Listen to James, please. This isn’t anyone’s fault but the person who did this.” Chase thought through what they’d said so far and realized neither man had explained the blood yet. He clutched Rhys’s hand tighter. “And the blood?”

  “That ass opened fire on Dal and hit his shoulder. We’re waiting to hear how bad the damage is, but he’ll be fine,” Rhys said, still not meeting his eyes.

  “Oh God! Dal?”

  “Hey, hey, Chase,” James said, shaking him gently. “Calm down. He’s out of surgery, and the doctor is in with Rhys and Dal’s parents. We are waiting to hear more.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “He is,” said a new voice from the doorway. There was a stocky, older black man standing there. Chase recognized him right away as Dal’s boss. “Hello, son,” he said, nodding to Rhys.

  “Sir? Do you know any more?” Rhys asked.

  “Yes and no. I don’t know what the doctors say about Dal’s shoulder yet, but I’m rather impressed with his aim if he really did shoot that ass upstairs after he was shot,” the captain said, heavy brows raised in question.

  “Ballistics will verify whose gun did what, so there’s no reason for the questions.”

  “True, but I’m still surprised he went along with your little rescue plan instead of calling it in. Once you had the tape, it was no longer a question of willful disappearance.”

  “Couldn’t afford to take the time, sir. Is he in trouble?”

  Chase watched and listened, but the idea Dal would be punished for helping rescue him was beyond his ability to keep quiet. “You can’t go after Dal for doing what’s right!”

  The captain looked from Rhys to Chase, a small sad smile on his face. “Son, it’s not up to me what does or doesn’t happen. It’s a matter for IA and the lawyers to work out. He was off duty and chose his path on this one. He knew what he risked by doing things Rhys’s way instead of by the book. But,” he said, holding his hand up to hush Chase’s protests. “I will fight tooth and nail to protect him.”

  There was a long pause as everyone digested the facts presented. Finally, Chase looked up and asked the question he most wanted to know since he’d woken up in the dark. “Why’d he do that to me?”

  “It wasn’t just you he hurt,” the older man explained. “We found evidence that ties him to all but one of the killings your partner’s been investigating.”

  “But why?”

  “Something about purging the past so he can be clean. It’s all he’s said so far. We don’t know anything else yet. I’m sorry. The only other thing I can tell you is you’re safe now. There were no signs he was working with anyone, so you have no need to fear him any longer.”

  Chase didn’t understand what that meant any more than the screaming before had made any sense to him. What he did know was he would be eternally thankful to Rhys and Dal for getting him out of that horrible place.

  After that, things were hectic for a while as nurses and doctors came in and poked, prodded, and fussed both at and over him. He dozed off and on as well. The next time he came fully awake, instead of James in the chair, his mom was there. While happy to see her, he was a bit confused and hurt that Rhys and James weren’t still with him.

  “Morning, sweetie,” his mom said, her smoky voice strained as if she’d been crying.

  “Mom?”

  “That nice young man of yours is just outside, arguing with his folks about not leaving you, and James is in with Dal right now. No one will let either of you be alone,” she added, her lips curving in a slight smile.

  “You met Rhys?”

  “Yes, and he’s simply lovely. Or, I guess handsome would be better, considering how rugged he seems.”

  He sighed, thankful she liked Rhys, especially given the circumstances. “I’m glad. This wasn’t how I wanted you two to meet.”

  “Didn’t think it was. Now, I wanted to let you know why your dad isn’t here. He is trying to get back, but planes being what they are, he has been delayed a little. He will be here as soon as he can, though, so don’t think ill of him.”

  “Mom! I have never thought badly of Dad. Well, no more than any normal kid does some days. He’s the best, just like you were the most wonderful mom ever.”

  Her smile was real and full this time, tears leaking down her cheeks. “This is twice now I’ve thought we w
ere going to lose you. You have to be more careful, sweetheart. My poor heart can’t take all this. Neither can your body,” she added pointedly.

  Yeah, he was a mess, though luckily it was mostly just severe bruising, not all broken and punctured like he’d feared. Still, they’d told him he had a concussion, and he’d be sore for ages and look wonderful at the same time. “I know. But this wasn’t my fault.”

  “I know it wasn’t. Your boyfriend said you had been helping with the investigation until recently.”

  “He’s more than that to me, Mom.”

  “In what way?”

  “In the ‘I’m going to ask him to move in with me’ way, or if I can move in with him since he has a house, I guess.”

  She gasped, but a much deeper one from across the room drowned out the sound. Rhys and his father were standing there. Rhys’s mouth hung open, but Bryn’s face was downright gleeful.

  “H-hi, Rhys.”

  “Really, cariadon?”

  “Yeah,” he sighed, nervous but determined. “That’s what I’d wanted to talk to you about that night. Last night, I guess, or was it the one before.” He still didn’t know what day it was. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about making our living together a permanent thing.”

  “I’d lo—like that. You’ll need the help for a bit anyway.”

  Chase frowned, not liking the implication Rhys would have him stay out of duty or some such nonsense. “That’s not why, Rhys.”

  Rhys moved over to his side and carefully wrapped him in his arms. “I didn’t mean it that way, sweetheart. I would love for you to live with me. I can get movers to get your things before I bring you home,” he continued. He looked over at Bryn and asked, “Dad? You have people you trust I could hire, right?”

  “I’ll make some calls if that’s all right with your partner.”