Grady leaned over the backseat and handed Lucan a med-wand.
“Where? What body part makes a seizure?”
Grady shrugged. “Don’t know. The brain, maybe?”
Griffin had so many injuries, he wasn’t sure the wand would find the right one no matter where he put it. “Front or back?”
“Try the front.” Merrick sped up.
Lucan placed the wand to Griffin’s forehead and pressed the scan button. Blue light ran over Griffin’s wounds. Lucan put his head down next to the wand, listening for the beeps. As soon as the scan finished, he calibrated the wand per the instructions on the display and put it back to Griffin’s head.
The seizure still quaked through Griffin. “I don’t know if it took, maybe he’s shaking too much. Wait.” The violent tremors rolling through Griffin eased, then stopped. He went still. “Shit. Shit. Stop the car.” Oh, God, he lost him. He couldn’t feel a pulse.
They came to a halt and Lucan pressed his head to Griffin’s chest. There. His heartbeat was faint, but it was still there. Relief made him lightheaded. “We’re good.”
Merrick took off again.
Worn out form the emotional ups and downs of the day, Lucan settled in next to Griffin and laid his hand on his chest. That made three times now he thought he’d lost him. No more. Griffin would be grounded for a while until he healed, immobile and at their mercy. And whether he liked it or not, whether he thought he needed it or not, the son of a bitch would be having visits from Doc Lambert for PTSD treatment every day. He leaned over the backseat. “Do you think Doc Lambert would stay with him while we go back for Prudence?”
Merrick nodded. “Yeah. Grady, as soon as we get back why don’t you round up the others while Lucan and I drop him off at Lambert’s place.” Merrick met Lucan’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Everything’s going to be fine. We got him back like I promised. We’ll get Angel, too.”
Lucan nodded. He knew they would, but he needed Merrick’s reassurance. He settled back into the bed of the hover car and checked on Griffin. “Holy shit.”
He jumped back, staring down at his brother. A purple light glowed from somewhere under the sheet they’d covered him with. Lucan pulled back the sheet. A tattoo on Griffin’s stomach radiated light. And while he could see the radiance from the outside, the light itself seemed to shine on his inside, illuminating the network of veins under his skin until his whole body appeared to be entwined in an iridescent, lavender web.
Grady hung over the back seat, jaw agape.
“What’s that light?” Merrick asked. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. He’s lit up like a goddamned glow-worm.” Did they poison him? Was it some kind of radiation?
Grady pointed. “Look at his face.”
The swelling receded, the lumps and bruises shrinking as he watched. The gash on Griffin’s lip sealed up, scabbing and then healing within seconds.
A sense of wonder overwhelmed Lucan, making him grin. “He’s healing. He’s gonna be fine.” He got to his knees and met Merrick’s eyes in the rearview. “He’s gonna be all right.”
Merrick didn’t smile in return, but swore.
“What?”
“I have a bad feeling. All the sudden this whole scenario reminds me of Romeo and Juliet.” Merrick pulled the hover-car to a stop outside town. “Grady, run and get the boys. Hurry, now, we need to get back to the spaceport before Angelica does something stupid.”
*****
Protect. Provide. Cherish.
Griffin stood in the scene Lucan painted on the mural. Everything around him burned.
Even him.
As he walked through homes disintegrating around him, flames licked his skin, seeming to scorch him from the inside out. He wasn’t worried for himself, though. There was something he had to do. Something important. And while he couldn’t quite remember what it was, he forced himself to keep going, to keep moving.
The ground moved, the build-up of ash shifting into the shapes of men, women, and children. Their blackened, fisted hands reached out to him. His heart pounded faster, his gut twisted tighter. He could’ve done more, should’ve done more to help them. His quest urged him on.
He tried to slip his booted feet on the ground between the bodies, but they were pressed together, covering the ground and forcing him to walk over them to get where he needed to be.
Hesitation made him stumble and fall.
Those blackened fists reached for him. Brittle arms tangled with his and he struggled to get free. When he got to his feet, he ran, which fanned the flames engulfing him and made him burn all the faster.
At last, he broke free from the bodies, his boots connecting with solid ground, but he paused. In front of him, the citizens of Diamond Fjord stood united, blocking his path. Lucan, Merrick, and even Prudence were with them.
As one, they lifted their arms and pointed. They wanted him to go back.
Of course they did. They’d seen him stumbling over the corpses. They wanted him to be punished.
Shamed, he turned back to face his past.
The ashy corpses had gathered behind him, their brittle flesh peeling and sloughing away.
Griffin glanced back over his shoulder. The living closed in, herding him closer to the dead. With nowhere left to run, he stepped into the midst of his sins. The charred faces of the past closed around him, crowding in, their fists held up.
He expected them to drag him down, to beat him, to make him suffer. But they just watched, holding out their fists. Waiting. They must want him to show them he accepted responsibility. They wanted him to participate in accepting their wrath. Griffin opened his arms, holding his palms up outstretched in surrender. One of the dead opened her fist, dropping a tiny green plant into his palm. At first, he wasn’t sure what it was, a thick green stalk with two long, thin leaves growing from either side.
Then he remembered Prudence’s birthmark. He touched the place on his stomach where her mark claimed him as her mate. Tears in his eyes, he looked up into the ruined faces of his past. “Just like that?”
They all lifted their fists, showing the life they harbored. As they crumbled back into the Earth, their offerings grew from the ash into a lush garden around him and the citizens of Diamond Fjord.
He took a step closer to them, closer to Prudence, but she disappeared. All the others remained, Lucan, Merrick, Grady, and many he didn’t know. They stayed and they smiled, but Prudence faded from sight.
She was in trouble.
Protect. Provide. Cherish.
Griffin jolted awake, sucking in a deep breath as he sat straight up.
Like in his dream, Lucan and Merrick stared back at him, grinning. A bunch of men he didn’t know stood behind them. Unlike his dream they were in Diamond Fjord and it was dark.
He looked down at himself. He was naked but for a sheet pooled around his hips. Prudence’s mark glowed purple, the light fading until it once again appeared to be a simple birthmark.
“What is that?” Lucan asked. “The damned thing lit you up and all your wounds faded right before my eyes.”
“It’s Prudence’s mating gift.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “The night she gave me her mark, all I could think about was getting through my mission alive so I’d be here for her.” He drew in a shuddering breath.
It’s a gift. Not everyone needs the gift of persuasion to be happy, but everyone needs something.
He had needed a second chance.
“Where is she?”
Lucan exchanged a glance with Merrick. Their smiles faded.
The beginnings of panic crawled under Griffin’s skin. She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t, not when he’d been given a second chance. “Tell me she’s not dead.”
Lucan rushed to assure him. “She’s alive. Last we saw her.”
Griffin looked to Merrick, seeking a better answer.
“She went back in while we were loading you into the hover car. Said she wanted to finish it.”
Lucan opened his mouth, but Merrick held up his hand, staying him. “You’ll have all the help you want, providing one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Once we rescue Prudence, you go see Doc Lambert every day for a minimum of a month for PTSD therapy before you make any more decisions that affect your future.”
Griffin stared. What the fuck?
“I’m serious. Prudence is beautiful, inside and out, and all you can think about is how to go out in a blaze of glory. It’s fucked up. You need to quit punishing yourself. We can all see how much you love her. We can all see how much you want to have a normal life. All you need to do is work out the guilt and decide life is worth living. No decisions until you’ve completed one month of therapy.”
Well, shit. “I don’t need therapy. I need to find Prudence. We’re wasting time.”
“He’s right, Griffin.” Lucan cleared his throat. “I’ve never seen you like this. It’s like something’s eating at you from the inside out. It’s gutting me; I can’t imagine what mom and dad would say.”
Griffin spied a pile of clothes near his feet and started dressing. This was ridiculous. He was fine now. He figured everything out on his own, damn it. He’d apologize to Prudence and everything would be okay. “I don’t need to lay on a fucking couch and talk about my dreams.” He stood up and pulled up the cargos, bystanders be damned.
Merrick pushed him back down on his ass. “If there was still a Marine Corps, therapy would’ve been part of your exit screening. I’m not asking you to do anything Marines haven’t been mandated to do for decades. You have to deal with the past, but not by trying to get yourself killed. You need to face it, talk about it, and let that shit go.”
Everything became clear. He remembered lying on the table, knowing he was about to die and not wanting to. He recalled the dream; the dead weren’t telling him to choose Prudence exactly, they wanted him to choose to live. They wanted him to face the past and move on. To do good things with his life, and, yes, that included being with Prudence. It had to.
He was letting the guilt of war, the guilt of being a soldier eat him alive. Guilt for trusting those above him for killing, and maybe most of all for surviving. Part of him had been wanting to die ever since they fragged his base.
But now, people were depending on him. Now, he needed to put the past to rest so he could have a life. “That’s what’s tearing me up. The question of whether or not I deserve such a thing.”
“You do.” Lucan shrugged. “Everybody’s rooting for you. Everyone but you.”
“Christ. I’ve messed things up so many times since I met Prudence—”
“And you’ll fuck up again.” Merrick shrugged. “She will, too. But you love each other, you’ll work things out.”
Griffin nodded. “Therapy, then. All right. Now can we go fight the bad guys?”
Chapter 35
Did they plan to leave her in here all night?
Prudence’s eyes grew heavy and she forced herself to get up and pace the small area. It felt as though hours had passed since she’d locked herself in here. She’d counted the blood splatters on the wall. She’d rearranged the broken glass in the corner into a heart shape and stuck the biggest piece in her pocket for an extra weapon. She’d run through several scenarios of what might happen next.
But mostly, she worried about Griffin.
The one thing keeping her somewhat sane was the fact that she still had no mating marks. Griffin would possess the marks until he died, so she knew he lived. But in what condition? Would he have brain damage from oxygen deprivation? What kind of psychological scars would he come away from this with? Would he have physical limitations, now? Sexual limitations? They hadn’t spared a speck of his flesh from what she’d been able to see. She’d love him no matter what, but she feared he’d grow to resent her after this.
The lock rattled and Prudence tensed.
A Blue Helmet walked in. His doe-brown eyes scanned the room and his brows drew together. “Where’s the guy that was in here?”
She shrugged. “Two Blue Helmets came and got him about an hour ago.”
The door closed and locked.
Prudence let out a shaky breath. Now she’d have to wait and see if they bought her lie.
*****
Griffin and Lucan hid behind a cluster of shrubs, peeking out at the compound.
The back door was lit up brighter than Fort Bragg during a Fourth of July celebration. Two Blue Helmets stood guard at the door, but as many lights as they had directed at the spot, he didn’t doubt a sniper hid nearby.
“I suspect they figured out we used that door.”
Griffin shot his brother a droll stare. “Ya think?” He glanced over his shoulder at Grady and Merrick who had their heads together over a blueprint. “Is there another way in?”
“Yep.” Grady cleared his throat. “Front door.”
Griffin had the distinct urge to palm his face. “Give me the fucking thing.” He waved at the blueprint and the penlight. “Come on.”
Grady handed them over with an indignant sniff.
He studied the building. There were no windows on the first floor, and, as Grady said, there were two doors—front and back. Unfortunately, both would be covered by Blue Helmets after their earlier breach. Grady had been correct.
“I don’t suppose we have any more explosives?”
“Nope.” Grady sucked his teeth. “Used all Liam’s firecrackers earlier today. Would’ve bought some more from old Zeke had I known we’d be doing this twice.”
Griffin surprised even himself by chuckling. “Oh, God, we are fucked six ways to Sunday.”
Eleven men stared at him, waiting. Griffin sobered. Here they were ready to give up their freedom, maybe even their lives and he was taking a piss. “Sorry, just letting out the tension, boys.” Think, you son of a bitch. How do we get in there and get everyone, including Prudence, out alive? “What do we got? Eleven able-bodied men, eleven automatic Lockheed Martin light machine guns, one hover car—”
“Stolen from the Blue Helmets,” Lucan added.
“I got a grenade.” Grady held up the small explosive. It was a fucking antique. “Don’t know if it’s got any kick left.”
“Doubt it,” Griffin said. “Though I bet it’s still got some shock value.”
Grady grinned.
“All right, gather ‘round.”
Eleven men huddled closer, their intense faces locked onto Griffin.
“Here’s the plan. LMGs down your pants. I know it’s gonna be awkward as hell trying to walk with a machine gun in your pants, but as long as no one looks too close, we might get away with this.” He dragged his hand down his face. “Merrick and Lucan are in uniform. They’re gonna drive us up to the gate, saying they caught us joyriding in the stolen hover car.”
“All prisoners go in through the front,” Merrick said. “They’re taken to a holding cell on the ground floor a couple doors down from where you and Prudence were held. I pick them up on Wednesdays for trial and sentencing in Diamond Fjord. Since we’re going in the front door this time, we might be better off ditching the uniforms. They’re used to seeing me around here. They won’t question me bringing in people for holding, but they’ll question the uniform.”
Griffin nodded. “All right, good. Now, we’re gonna try to make it all the way down to here without drawing anyone’s notice.” Griffin pointed to the room where he and Prudence were held. “But if anyone looks suspicious, pull your weapons and fire at will.”
All the men nodded.
“You boys keep your heads. I don’t want any friendly fire due to itchy trigger fingers. You watch the man on either side of you and keep him safe, and trust them to
do the same for you. You all understand?”
“Yes, sir.” The response was weak. They were brave, they were all here of their own free will, but they were scared.
Griffin grabbed his weapon and stood. “Always hug the walls. Keep your body at an angle to make the smallest target possible.” He lifted his weapon to the ready position. “Keep the butt of your weapon tight to your shoulder, stay crouched and point the gun wherever you’re looking.” He demonstrated. “You want to look right, your weapon comes with you, look left, it comes with you. Understand?”
The men nodded.
“Now, before we go in there, I want to thank you all for helping out. I couldn’t have picked a better unit for this mission myself.”
That was what they needed to hear. Their intensity didn’t lessen, but now, pride and confidence showed in the straightening of their spines. Now they were ready.
Merrick reached over, plucked Grady’s hat from his head and tossed it to Griffin “Put that on, Chief, and pull the brim low so they don’t recognize you.”
“Thanks.” Griffin put on the hat and piled into the bed of the hover car with the others, ready to be a prisoner for the second time that night.
They approached the front gate of the compound five minutes later. The spaceport was like a beacon in the distance, bright spotlights shining up on a spacecraft that stood stories higher than any of the surrounding buildings.
Merrick pulled the hover car to a stop outside the gates to the compound and a Blue Helmet walked up to the driver’s side door. “What’s all this?”
“Found these boys having a drunken joyride outside Diamond Fjord. Heard you all had a hover car go missing earlier today. Thought I’d bring it back. We don’t have the capacity in town to hold these lot until court on Wednesday. You mind if I take them down to the brig?”
“Yeah, go on, Merrick.” The Blue Helmet stepped away from the hover car and signaled for the gate to be opened. “It’s Merrick. Let him in.”
The courtyard was lit up as bright as the backdoor. Patrols of Blue Helmets walked the perimeter and snipers held posts on raised platforms on the corners of the property. Griffin was sweating bullets. He had no idea how capable these men were. Merrick must be a good shot, he was Special Ops, but he couldn’t begin to guess about the others. Didn’t know if they’d be able to hit the broad side of a barn from the inside. He might have just signed all their death warrants.
The Last Marine Page 27