Vivid Avowed (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 3)

by Kaydence Snow

“Yes, he does.” Josh didn’t argue. “But you’re no good to him dead on your feet. You can’t pour from an empty cup.”

  As if to illustrate his point, I swayed and caught myself on the doorway. In two long strides, Ethan reached me and swept me effortlessly into his arms.

  “Sleep for a few hours, and then we’ll go straight back,” Ethan said close to my ear. “The doctors said they were keeping him under for most of today anyway.” He didn’t give me a chance to argue before he lowered me to the bed and pulled off my pants.

  I didn’t have any more energy to object. The pillow was really soft, and my limbs felt heavy. My guys climbed in on either side of me, cocooning me with warm, hard bodies and gentle, tender caresses.

  Fourteen

  Alec had a private room at the hospital, but even Lucian’s money couldn’t buy more space, and it was crowded with all of us in there.

  I sat in a chair, holding his hand in both of mine and trying to stay calm. It really wouldn’t help if I started crying again. I’d been doing it on and off all morning—when Lucian called to tell us they were going to wake Alec up, as we hurriedly dressed, when we made a quick pit stop for pastries and coffee. I was so over it; I felt as if I had no control over my own tear ducts.

  Lucian looked like I felt. He was in the corner by the door, disheveled, his head drooping. He looked as if he might pass out at any moment but was refusing to leave until Alec woke up. If he woke up . . .

  The doctors had kept Alec in an induced coma overnight. They’d already given him the medication that would wake him up, and we’d spent the past twenty minutes holding our collective breath.

  He had to be OK. I needed him to wake up and scowl at something, or I was going to lose my mind.

  Tyler was asleep by the window, in the only other chair. His head rested against the back, and his legs were splayed out in front of him. It didn’t look comfortable at all, but he’d been up all night. Soft snoring sounds drifted from his slightly open mouth.

  Ethan and Josh leaned on the wall behind me, too on edge to sit down.

  No one spoke. We just breathed and waited.

  Dot, Charlie, Olivia, and Henry were in the waiting room just outside. So were Kyo, Marcus, and Jamie, still in their Melior Group uniforms. Dana was there too, along with a handful of other agents I hadn’t met. For someone who pushed people away so expertly, Alec sure had a solid group of people who genuinely cared for him. Loved him, even.

  There was that word again—love.

  I could see it in his eyes every time we had sex, every time we shared a moment of tenderness, a deepening of our fraught bond. I’d said it to Ethan and Josh easily. I was so sure of my feelings for them. They were my world, my home. They all were.

  I was waiting for the right time to tell Tyler, but when it came to Alec . . .

  Did I love him?

  I raised my head to look at him. My eyes landed on his strong, stubbled jaw first, then his nose with the slight kink in it. His eyebrows were relaxed as he slept. His beautiful ice-blue eyes—the eyes that had haunted me for a year, watched me with derision, studied me with abandon, then stared directly into my soul with love—were closed. And I was terrified they would never open again, never watch me tell him I loved him. Because I did.

  I loved Alec. It was time to let go of the last scrap of a barrier between us. I was barely holding it up as it was, exhausted by the vain attempt to protect myself from further emotional pain.

  He loved me. He was committed. Everything he’d done since he’d said those words had only put them into action.

  I propped my elbows on the edge of the bed and pressed his limp hand to my forehead, willing him to wake up, to come back to me.

  The big hand in my grip twitched. I whipped my head up. Alec lay still, his face blank, his breathing even. I focused on his hand, inches away from my face.

  This time, I saw his fingers move, his hand just barely closing around mine. I gasped and sat forward in the chair, my heart hammering in my chest.

  The movement caught everyone’s attention. Ethan and Josh were by my side in a heartbeat. Lucian wheeled himself forward, his questioning eyes hopeful.

  Kyo appeared in the doorway the same moment I said, “His hand twitched,” as if it was the greatest thing to have ever happened.

  “I’ll get someone.” Kyo rushed away without waiting for a response, but his loud voice finally woke Tyler. He sprang to his feet and pulled his gun out, his eyes searching for the threat before they were even fully open.

  “Chill, bro.” Ethan tried to keep his booming voice low. “There’s no one to shoot. We think he might be waking up.”

  Tyler took another second to survey the room, then put the gun away. Yawning, he leaned one hand on the foot of the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with the other.

  Kyo came back with a nurse and doctor in tow, but fitting everyone inside the room was impossible. The medical professionals needed to be there, I refused to leave Alec’s side, and the guys refused to leave mine, so Kyo and Lucian were promptly kicked out. The nurse started fiddling with the machines attached to Alec, intermittently jotting things down on a clipboard, while the doctor checked his vital signs.

  She turned to me and looked over the rim of her bright orange glasses. “You said he twitched?”

  I nodded. “His hand. Twice.”

  “OK. According to his vitals, he’s not showing any signs of coming out of it just yet. Which is fine, it’ll happen any moment now. The twitching is perfectly normal. Sometimes—”

  Whatever she was about to say was cut off by a grimace of pain. Her mouth opened on a silent scream, and she doubled over, clutching her head. Behind her, the nurse did the same—moaning as she collapsed against the wall and started to slide to the ground.

  The smile that pulled at my lips as I took in the all-too-familiar pain was almost manic. A surprised, delighted laugh burst out of me as my wide eyes darted between the people writhing in pain and Alec’s face.

  Tyler and Josh rushed to the women and tried to keep them upright.

  “I’ll get Uncle Luce. Maybe he can shield them.” Ethan rushed toward the door, but halfway there, the pained groans stopped.

  Alec squeezed my hand.

  Everyone paused. Tyler and Josh helped the panting, shaking women into chairs while I kept my full focus on my Master of Pain. His fingers were still wrapped loosely around mine, and his brows furrowed, making that scar pucker.

  “How is he scowling while passed out?” Josh shook his head. He came to stand next to me and Tyler, and Ethan took up the other side of the bed.

  “Not out, dickhead,” Alec croaked, slowly opening his eyes. It looked as if it took quite a bit of effort.

  We all breathed a massive sigh of relief. Ethan’s eyes were definitely misty as he took his cousin’s other hand. Tyler leaned on the bed, his head drooping.

  I just kept staring into Alec’s beautiful, drawn face as he worked to open his eyes fully. As soon as he managed it, he looked directly at me.

  A barely there smirk pulled at his lips. “Did I just hear you laughing at someone’s pain?”

  I shook my head, trying to hold back more tears. I couldn’t speak around the lump in my throat.

  He squeezed my hand again, and his smirk grew. “My little fucking sadist.”

  I laughed, throwing my head back as the lump in my throat began to ease. My hand stayed tightly wrapped around his as I leaned in close. “Thank fuck you’re OK.”

  I kissed him, softly brushing my lips against his and nuzzling his nose.

  Pulling back, I stared into those ice-blue eyes, the ones I’d worried about never seeing again. And again, all I saw there was devotion and love. He looked at me as if I was the only person in the room.

  I stroked the side of his head, his cheek. The words were on the tip of my tongue—I felt it, and I’d resolved to tell him—but my stupid brain decided to throw up a roadblock.

  I didn’t want him to think I was only saying i
t because he’d nearly died—that it was some knee-jerk reaction to fear. I wanted him to know it was genuine and heartfelt.

  So instead I held his gaze. Every other time he’d looked at me like that—with love practically bursting out of his pores—I’d turned away, unable to handle the intensity, the pressure. This time, I returned the look. I thought about how much I loved this impossible, frustrating, broken man, and I let it all show on my face.

  His smile widened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but the doctor interjected.

  “Excuse me. Make room, please. I do need to examine him.” She nudged her way past Ethan’s bulk and made him and Tyler step back. The nurse joined her and got back to recording things on her clipboard. I had to hand it to them, they were handling the whole “struck down by excruciating pain” thing like champs.

  I held on to Alec’s hand as the doctor poked and prodded him, asked him a bunch of questions, checked the bullet wound before the nurse changed the dressing.

  At the end of it all, she said she was very pleased with how he was doing. The bullet had managed to avoid major organs, so the worst damage was the blood loss and the injury to his muscles. He needed rest and another blood transfusion, but he would be fine. “I’d like to keep an eye on you a little longer, so you’re staying for another night, but if all goes well, I should be able to discharge you tomorrow.”

  She gave him an encouraging smile.

  Alec frowned. I could tell he was about to argue, demand to be released immediately, but before I had a chance to chastise him, Tyler beat me to it.

  “Wipe that look off your face.” Tyler wagged a finger at Alec. “You were fucking shot. You’re staying here until the medical professionals say you can leave.”

  “What he said.” I had to add my agreement. Ethan stepped up next to Tyler and crossed his arms, adding his support firmly but silently. Josh chuckled, endlessly amused by our dynamics, as usual.

  Alec may’ve been stubborn, but he knew when he was outnumbered. Plus, no one argued with Tyler when he put his authoritative voice on.

  “Fine,” Alec grumbled. “I could use another nap anyway.” He ended on a yawn.

  The nurse cleaned up and left the room, but the doctor paused in the doorway. “Honestly, you’re lucky I’m letting you go tomorrow.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked at Alec reproachfully. “You had open surgery. If you were human, you’d be here for at least a week, and you’d be on bed rest for another month after that. We normally keep Variants in the hospital for three to four days, but since you have a Vital, your body has all the extra Light it needs to accelerate healing. So behave for another day, and thank your lucky stars you have her.” She pointed at me, flashed him another challenging look, and left the room.

  He turned back to me and didn’t even hesitate. “Thank you.”

  I looked down and cleared my throat. “I just happen to be a Vital. Your Vital. I didn’t do anything.”

  “Just accept the thanks, Evie.” His voice held a hint of teasing, and I rolled my eyes. We really didn’t have a good track record with thank yous.

  Tyler interjected before I could answer with another smartass comment. “What do you mean you didn’t do anything?”

  He stepped over to my side of the bed and turned me by the shoulders to face him, frustration evident on his face.

  “You literally saved his life. Several others. You transferred Light to every single Variant on our side, and then when we crushed those bastards in a matter of seconds, you immediately made sure the woman with the freezing ability went to Alec. You bought him valuable time. You’re fucking incredible, and I’m proud to be in your Bond.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me, hard. Alec caressed the back of my hand with his thumb as Tyler sighed against my lips.

  “All right, what the fuck happened last night?” Ethan looked between the three of us, his hands on his hips.

  Josh lowered himself into Tyler’s vacated chair. “Yeah, we still don’t have the full story. We got a call in the middle of the night and rushed to the hospital. All Kyo told us was that there was an attack on the event? How did anyone even know about it?”

  Someone knocked on the door. Dot stood just outside, Charlie behind her with his hands on her shoulders. Olivia and Henry craned their necks to see in.

  “They said you were awake . . .” Dot sounded uncertain.

  “I’m still getting reports from operatives in the field and the police. Let’s talk about it later,” Tyler answered Josh, then stepped out of my embrace.

  Alec waved to Dot. “Hey, pipsqueak. What’s up?”

  Dot took that as an invitation and walked into the room, Charlie hot on her heels. “Don’t ‘pipsqueak’ me. And would you all stop nearly dying and shit? You’re making me age faster. I’m going to have to start getting Botox!”

  “Glad you’re OK, man.” Charlie stuffed his hands in his pockets—it couldn’t have been easy for him to be in a hospital again—but the look he gave his cousin was genuine and warm.

  “Are you comfortable, sweetie?” Olivia went into mom mode, fluffing Alec’s pillow and pulling the thin blanket up to cover his shoulders. Of course, that made his bare feet poke out. She huffed. “This is ridiculous! There must be more than one measly blanket in this whole hospital. I can’t believe . . .” She muttered and fussed, found a spare blanket, and made sure Alec was tucked in as tight as a cinnamon roll. He grumbled and rolled his eyes, but I think he secretly liked the motherly affection.

  When Henry came back, wheeling Lucian in front of him, the guys and I left the room. There just wasn’t space for everyone, and I knew his work friends would want to see him.

  In the hallway, I leaned my forehead on Ethan’s chest. He rocked us lightly back and forth as I listened to his steady breathing, his strong heartbeat. After a few minutes, I turned and rested my cheek on him instead.

  Farther down the hall, Dana was chatting with another black-clad woman and man as they waited their turn to see Alec. She glanced over, and our eyes met.

  Her questioning look held a hint of concern. Are you OK?

  I gave her a tight smile and shrugged. Not really. Could be worse.

  She inclined her head, gesturing to Alec’s room with another question in her eyes. And him?

  This time, my smile was more genuine. I nodded and breathed a deep sigh. He’s going to pull through.

  She smiled back, then said something to her companions. As she passed us on the way to Alec’s room, she squeezed my shoulder briefly but didn’t say anything.

  I lifted my head off Ethan’s chest and blinked. Did I just have a silent conversation with Dana? Did she let her humanity show by giving me a gesture of comfort? This had to be some kind of dream.

  Josh’s amused chuckle brought me out of my stare, and I craned my neck to look at him.

  “I can hardly believe it myself.” He shrugged, but his grin was full of mischief.

  I rolled my eyes at him as Ethan looked between us. “Can’t believe what?”

  My big guy hated being out of the loop, but before I could explain, we were interrupted once more.

  “Excuse me.” A polite accented voice drew our attention to the older Japanese man standing a respectful distance away. It was the same man I’d met the night before, the one with the shield ability who’d refused to leave my side.

  I stepped out of Ethan’s embrace, but he stayed close. Josh took my other hand, and Tyler boxed me in from behind. Their protective instincts were in overdrive.

  “My deepest apologies for interrupting.” The distinguished man bowed low. “I am happy to hear your Bondmate is well and will recover.”

  “Thank you.” Tyler spoke for all of us, but his voice was cautious. “And thank you for your assistance last night, Mr. Takata. Has anyone from Melior Group spoken with you?”

  “Oh, yes. I have given my statement to the authorities, and your people have debriefed me. I am hoping to speak with you about the . . . Light.” He seemed
uncertain about the last word.

  “Yes?” Tyler prompted him as I frowned.

  “My apologies. I am very tired, and my English suffers for it. Uh . . . kagayaku.” He said the word in Japanese, and by some miracle, my addled brain remembered its meaning.

  “Glow?” I supplied, and his face lit up.

  “Hai.” He inclined his head. All three of my Bondmates stiffened. I didn’t see anything threatening about him, and my Light-driven instincts had put him squarely on our side of the fight last night, so his intentions were pure, or at least they had been then. Still, their hesitancy put me on edge. Now that I thought about it, he had used the term Bondmates—not Bonded Variants or Bond members as most Variants did. Was that just a cultural thing—a quirk of translation? I’d only ever heard one other person use the term—Nina, the Lighthunter. And why did he want to speak to us about my glowing?

  “I am honored to meet one such as yourself. I have known only one other with a glow such as yours, and she was extraordinary also.”

  He smiled as my eyes widened in shock. Did he know what it was? Why I glowed? Was I finally about to get some answers?

  Within minutes, Tyler had commandeered a small meeting room at the other end of the corridor and stationed two guards in front of the closed door.

  We settled around the small table. Tyler looked downright exhausted as he collapsed into a chair and leaned forward on his elbows. I took his hand and pushed a little Light to him, hoping it would be both a pleasant sensation and a boost to his ability for the conversation we were about to have.

  “Thank you for understanding our need to be cautious.” I smiled at the man across from me. The guys were still throwing him worried, suspicious glances. If Alec had been here, he probably wouldn’t have even let this conversation happen.

  I understood their suspicion, but I was more excited than anything. Trying to find any information on this had been one dead end after another.

  “Of course.” He nodded.

  “Please tell me about . . . uh . . .” The Vital? The other glowing chick? What was the correct terminology?