Fractured Refuge

by Annabelle McInnes

  Nick sniffed before he cleared his throat. His reply was measured, it held a resigned edge. ‘And elsewhere?’

  Soft fingers and strong arms began to re-bandage his shoulder. He was deadweight under her care, no energy to assist her ministrations. The effort to remain awake was significant enough. She made a quelling noise when Nick took a step closer. His booted feet were heavy on the carpet. She continued. ‘Second-degree burns on both the inner and outer arch, as well as the heel of both feet. The forefoot and toes sustained only first-degree burns. Ligament damage to his left knee, both the fifth and the six ribs are likely fractured. Penetration trauma to his right shoulder, specifically damaging the muscles in the rotator cuff. Multiple contusions and puncture wounds. Concussion,’ she paused. ‘Need more?’

  Euan’s cheek pressed into the pillow. He inhaled. The arid scent of disinfectant dominated the subtler scent of Kira’s lavender. Euan summoned just enough energy to crack open his eye. He looked through his lashes to see Nick standing in the doorway. Feet braced apart, both hands were fisted in his limp hair. His face was a haggard portrayal of the human condition. Gaunt cheeks, dark circles, pale skin. He looked up to where Lily sat, clinching Euan’s bandages tight; his questioning glance sliced Euan’s heart open.

  Through his harrowing gaze, Nick was demanding an answer to the ultimate question. A question so fundamental that words were not required.

  Lily’s voice softened. ‘He’ll live, and will likely walk again. He’s beaten the worst of infection. Now it’s just a matter of taking time to heal.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ The desperation was audible.

  No verbal answer was given. Euan’s focus remained locked on Nick. Whatever gesture she gave him seemed to sooth an internal demon, at least for this moment. Nick nodded. ‘Okay.’

  The weight by his side lifted. The clinking of stainless steel tools surrounded him as Lily began to pack up the medical supplies that were scattered over the bedding. ‘Do you want me to get Kira?’ she asked.

  At the mention of Kira’s name, Euan’s hands fisted beneath the sheets. Nick’s body sagged against the doorframe. His shoulders slumped. He shook his head as his eyes remained downcast. He raked his fingers through his hair before he answered. ‘No, she’s sleeping. She needs the rest. I’ll get her when I’m done.’

  Lily left without another word. Her bare were feet silent as she disappeared into the shadowy void. Euan closed his eye. Impressions of Kira were fleeting. Her scent, the delicate brush of her fingertips, the pressure of her small body up against his as he drifted in and out of fever-induced dreams. She was a constant companion. Euan was glad she now rested, but Nick’s slouch indicated the battle for her reprieve was hard won.

  There was silence for a long time. So long that Euan assumed Nick had left. He drifted, but did not fully fall into sleep; only horrors awaited him there.

  If he had the fortitude for it, he might have flinched in surprise when a familiar scent washed over him. A warmth pressed against his good arm as a body reclined beside him.

  ‘Hey there, big man.’ Nick’s palm was damp as he smoothed it over Euan’s cheek. His fingers were feather-light where the tips drifted down over his cleanly shaven chin, the stiches in his jaw, his lip his brow. Nick started when he saw Euan’s eye open.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Euan rasped. It was all he could think to say. It was all he wanted to say. That and tell Nick that he loved him. But this was more important. Right now.

  Nick’s lips firmed even as his eyes softened. There was a permanent crease between his brows that hadn’t been there previously. ‘They didn’t leave much for me to beat on,’ he said. ‘Otherwise I would have bent you over my knee for this.’

  He coughed in an attempt to laugh, only to shudder through the pain that caused. The skin of his lips was tight. ‘Soon... Then you can do whatever you want.’

  Nick placed a single finger over the undamaged side of Euan’s lips. ‘I will,’ he said. ‘You can bet on that.’

  Euan closed his eye. The exhaustion was closing in. There was no morphine, no intravenous fluids, electrolytes or vitamins. His survival was hooked to expired antibiotics and pain medication ground up into his broth and administered orally. He was light-headed, a little nauseous, the hurt a constant confidante that whispered torments in his ears.

  He ignored the murmurs. ‘I look … forward to it.’

  When Nick said nothing, Euan forced that eye open. The gaze that caught his was tormented. ‘They did too a job on you.’

  ‘Bad?’ he croaked, even as he knew the answer. Nick’s face said the unspoken words. Every line, crease, both new and old, told him the truth about his condition. But Nick lied anyway. ‘Not really, I think the loss of the eye will be an improvement. I always had a thing for a man in an eye patch.’

  Euan huffed, the closest he could achieve to a laugh. Pain lanced through his chest, his ribs protested. ‘Happy to oblige.’ Then he sobered, licked his dry lips, winced at the sting when his thick tongue touched the stiches. ‘How?’

  In his more lucid moments, other than Nick and Kira’s safety, it was the single biggest unanswered question. The timing, the escape, the rescue. The impossibility of it all. Miraculous. In Euan’s mind, Nick’s presence in that moment had be the single biggest miracle since the dawn of time.

  Nick’s features fell, hardened. The reminder, including Euan’s betrayal, was significant. The rage was there. The frustration and hurt. It bloomed between them. But it did not take shape. It did not touch the tenderness that came with relief at Euan’s survival. Gratitude was still the dominant sentiment between them. They still glowed in the aftermath of success. There was time for the hurt later. Now that later was a possibility.

  Euan tongued the gaps in his teeth. He held Nick’s shuttered gaze. ‘Please.’

  Nick touched the stubble at Euan’s hairline. ‘You won’t like it.’

  Euan answered as quickly as he could. ‘You’re safe, Kira’s safe?’

  The odd smile that quirked Nick’s lips gave Euan an uneasy feeling. When he answered, his eyes followed the bandages around Euan’s head. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Tell me,’ he croaked. Exhaustion crawled over him. His eye was heavy. But he wanted, needed to know.

  ‘I found Mickey-O.’

  The surge of adrenaline was instant. His chest was upright before he realised his body still had that capacity. His hands were in fists. His feet were tangled in the bedsheets. Shards of pain sliced up and down his spine, through his nervous system. It dissipated the painkillers and sharpened his senses. He thought of nothing but of Kira’s whereabouts, and how long it would take to get to her. Of the weapons in the room, how long he had before his body gave out from exhaustion and pain.

  Thankfully for Nick, he was sluggish. The agony snagged him, and even in Nick’s own state of exhaustion, he still held significantly more strength and fortitude than Euan’s ailing body. He was detained with little effort despite his best intentions.

  ‘Easy,’ Nick admonished. One hand was at Euan’s good shoulder, the other cupped around his nape. It was a quelling gesture that Euan often used. He found no comfort in the familiarity. ‘We’re okay. More than okay. He saved us. He knew exactly where you were. He has a fucking army and a fortified eco hotel in the mountains. None of them are the scum that we saw in Nirvana. These men military trained, respectful of women. Respectful of you. Christ, you’re like a god to them.’

  He was so fucking useless. He was half a man because of his torture. He shook his head to try and dispel the cotton wool. Christ that hurt. His muscles screamed, cried, demanded that he relax. His vision was fuzzy, dotted with pinpricks of light. Was he even upright?

  Nick’s hands moved until they cupped his jaw. They were warm. The soft sheets were at his back. His neck was weak. He could only move his eye. The steel trusses were above him. He found relief in that. ‘I don’t …’ he panted. ‘Understand.’

  Nick bent and pressed his forehead to Euan’s. The bandag
es hindered skin-to-skin contact but the closeness eased the racing of his heart. Nick’s voice lessened the pounding in his ears. ‘They want the same thing as we do.’

  Euan swallowed, his throat dry. He drew strength from Nick’s contact. ‘And what’s that?’

  ‘Safety, sanctuary and shelter.’

  His consciousness fought for survival. The concepts Nick was attempting to communicate were impossible. It was jarring. The shock in some ways more violent than the taser. His words were slurred. He needed water. But he needed this more. ‘Why would we believe them?’

  Above him, Nick’s eyes burned with righteous fire. But his fingers were tender. He cradled Euan’s head, held him close. Nick’s heart beat aggressively against his own where their chests pressed together. His breath was warm against Euan’s dry lips. ‘I’ve seen it,’ he whispered. ‘Otherwise I never would have let him near you, near Kira. Euan, he’s the one who has been keeping us safe. He’s the one who has kept this bunker concealed.’

  Euan blinked. His shock was audible. ‘What?’

  Nick’s grip at his jaw tightened. ‘You know it’s true. You suspected it before I did. He’s the reason why no one has breached the sanctity of this place in the three years since the plague. Why all the other houses along the highway were destroyed and ransacked, while this one remained intact. Why the wires were cut to our surveillance system. Why we always felt as though we were being watched.’

  In his thundering heart, Euan knew Nick spoke the truth. But he whispered the word of disbelief anyway. ‘No...’

  Nick’s tone was resolute. He’d lived and breathed this reality while Euan had been confined. ‘He needs our help, and we need his. It’s the only way we’re going to survive.’

  Euan thought of Kira. He thought of Nirvana, and the men that prowled that cesspool. He thought of Lily and her silence. He thought of Smith, no, Ben …

  His voice was no more than a mutter, uttered through pain and fatigue. He was slipping, drowning in his own exhaustion. ‘It’s too dangerous …’

  Nick features softened. ‘I killed Rodgers. But there is still a long way to go. Parker has many followers, and their intent is to destroy everything. Every scrap of goodness in this world, including anything feminine. For the sake of Kira and Lily. For every other woman out there. For the one we buried by that river. We have to do this.’

  Euan considered the insurmountable odds. The impossibilities. The risk was too great no matter what Nick said, what he believed. Euan held Nick’s gaze and said the painful words. ‘We can’t. This house can’t be adequately defended.’

  Out of the gloom of the doorway, a man stepped forth. His shoulders were broad, his leather cut, faded and torn. The goatee and barrel chest were gone. His smile was a shadow of the one that Euan had witnessed all those months ago. But the gold tooth still glinted when thin lips stretched into a humourless grin.

  ‘It’s not,’ Mickey-O stated. ‘That’s why you’re coming with me. I have somewhere that is sustainable and defensible. That is where will rebuild the world.’

  Thanks for reading Fractured Refuge, book two of the Refuge Trilogy. I hope you enjoyed it.

  If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage www.annabellemcinnes.com, follow me on twitter @akmcinnes, Instagram @annabellemcinnes or like my Facebook page @authorannabllemcinnes.

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  Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.

  You’ve just read the second book in the Refuge Trilogy. The other book in this series is True Refuge, the first book in the Refuge Trilogy.

  This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.

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  ISBN: 9781489251640

  Title: Fractured Refuge

  Copyright © 2017 by Annabelle McInnes

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 13/201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000.