“No, Trap, there’s no fixing this in an operating room. Amaryllis can watch for it. Examine him every night and any time it starts, the three of us can take care of the problem, but that’s not a permanent solution. You and Wyatt are going to have to figure out why this is happening,” Rubin said. “I can have him build strength in the leg and we can work on it consistently, but we still need you to figure it out.”
“You obviously have a conclusion,” Malichai challenged Trap. “Say it. What’s causing this, and is there some way to stop it?”
“You know I don’t like to speculate . . .” Trap started.
“I don’t give a damn,” Malichai snapped. “I’m asking you friend to friend, what the fuck is happening to me?”
Trap sighed and ran his fingers several times through his hair in obvious agitation. “If I had to speculate. Just guess—which I don’t like to do—I’d say that would be the diameter of the second-generation Zenith patches you used to stop the bleeding and push adrenaline into your body. You used them on the five worst wounds. The ones that could have killed you. That’s why each of the circles are exact in diameter, but not in relationship to the wound. You were slapping them on fast, hardly looking at what you were doing. This is some reaction to the Zenith. Wyatt?”
“I came to the same conclusion, but like Trap, I’m not one hundred percent certain.”
There was a small silence. Joe and Amaryllis pulled their hands away, immediately taking the heat and light from him. Malichai couldn’t have found words if he wanted to. He had slapped those patches on all five of the worst wounds to stop the bleeding in the hopes that he could make it to the helicopter.
“Lily worked on Zenith, to make it safe for us to use. The FDA doesn’t even know about this drug. It’s not like it can be tested on humans,” Trap said. “Wyatt and I took it apart in our lab at Lily’s request, although I would have done so anyway. The Zenith should be safe for all of us, but as with any medication, there can be anomalies. You could be allergic. We all have DNA that was placed in us. We don’t know, with all of us being different now, what any medication will do to us. Zenith was tested on each individual.”
“I used Lily’s second-generation Zenith before,” Malichai pointed out. “Same leg. I was shot not that long ago, remember? That’s why I went with you to your home, Wyatt, to recover from that injury. I used the patch on that injury.”
“So, it was the second time on the same leg,” Trap mused. “You are most likely—and again, this is a guess off what little data I have—you’re most likely having an adverse reaction to the drug.”
“An adverse reaction is a rash and swelling,” Ezekiel snapped, “not eating away at the bone.”
“Actually, Zeke,” Trap said, “an adverse reaction is any unintended but harmful effect—”
“Trap.” Malichai had to stop him before that darkness welling up in his brother could be let loose. Trap would make a great target, and none of this was his fault.
Trap stopped talking abruptly. Malichai couldn’t feel any difference in the buildup of violent energy in his brother, but at least Ezekiel began deep breathing to try to dissipate it on his own without slamming his fists into someone.
Joe stepped between the two men. “We’ll start working on the leg and continue twice a day until we figure this out. Trap, can you contact Lily? Wyatt, you’ve got everything?”
“I’m already sending Trap the files he’s going to need,” Wyatt said. The audio was so good it sounded as if Wyatt was in the room with them. “Malichai, you’ve been wounded several times. Since you reported the abuses and discrepancies by Peter Whitney to higher command, you’ve been targeted by his supporters. You’ve been sent on missions basically to get rid of you. I know you’ve been shot several times prior to those two incidents. Did you use second-generation Zenith on you at any other time?”
Amaryllis had gone around to the other side of the bed so she wasn’t disturbing Ezekiel, who stayed close. She stretched out beside him, her back to the headboard, just as his was. Malichai threaded his fingers through hers and brought their joined hands to his thigh.
“Lily hadn’t perfected the drug then. She was working on it and the original Zenith was too unpredictable, so none of us were using it.”
“So, you’d never actually used it before that first time when you used it on your leg?”
“No, when I was wounded prior to Lily perfecting the second-generation Zenith, Rubin, Joe or one of you took care of it, or I did. I’ve never had to use the patch until that first time our helicopter went down and I was shot. And then this last time, those bullets tore up my leg. I didn’t think I was going to make it, I was bleeding so much. It was use the patches or die right there.”
“I’m sending all this information to Lily. We’re going to have to initiate testing every single GhostWalker again for their reaction to Zenith,” Wyatt continued.
“It could be a bad batch as well,” Trap suggested. “That happens.”
“Or it’s reacting specifically to Malichai’s DNA,” Wyatt said.
“Gentlemen, perhaps it’s time for you to take this discussion elsewhere,” Joe said. “Rubin, Amaryllis and I have to work on Malichai before the sun comes up. Rubin and I can slip through people unseen as a rule, but in broad daylight with people already speculating about vans, Navy SEALs and hit men in the bed-and-breakfast, I doubt if we’ll get away unseen.”
“Yeah, that sounds right,” Trap said. “Don’t worry, Malichai, we’ll figure this out.”
Malichai lay back, tightening his fingers around Amaryllis’s and pressing their joined hands deep into his thigh muscle. They weren’t going to figure it out. Wyatt had been his best friend for years. It didn’t matter that he was miles away in the swamps of Louisiana, and that he was speaking over a cell, Malichai could read his every nuance. Neither Trap nor Wyatt thought they were going to find a way to save his leg.
“Can you keep me going at least through whatever is happening here in San Diego, Rubin?”
“We’ll do our best,” Rubin said and looked at Ezekiel.
Not Malichai. Ezekiel. Malichai clenched his teeth so nothing would get out that he would regret. This wasn’t anyone’s fault. He’d chosen to attack the enemy bunkers like some crazed kamikaze. It seemed the only way at the time, and maybe it had been. He knew he would have done it all over again, even knowing the consequences, in order to bring those soldiers home. He just had to wait until he was alone and then he could do all the necessary swearing and screaming he needed to do.
Amaryllis leaned into him and brushed his jaw with her lips, featherlight, but he felt her touch go through him like a flaming dart. It was all about light, those flames. Solidarity. She was with him. She would be with him through whatever he had to endure. He had that.
The door cracked just enough to allow a shadow to slip into the room and then it was closed again. Cayenne leaned against the thick oak door, her green eyes wide with shock.
“Trap, my water broke. I’m in labor.”
Trap nearly leapt across the room, but then he just stood in front of her, raking his hands through his hair. “This is too soon, Cayenne. You’re not supposed to do this yet.” His voice was sharp with reprimand but blended with panic.
“Well, I am doing it,” she snapped back. “Believe me, I don’t want to.”
“Cayenne, come here,” Ezekiel said, his voice one of complete authority. “Malichai, move all the way over to the other side of the bed. I’m going to have Cayenne hop up for just a minute so I can see what’s happening and if the baby is all right. Malichai, do you have a medical kit here in the room?”
He always had one. “It’s in the bathroom under the sink. A full kit.”
Cayenne looked to Trap to tell her what to do. He stepped back and waved toward the bed. She shook her head. “I want to go home.”
“Baby, you’re not g
oing to make it home and we can’t have the baby in the sky. It’s safest here. You’re surrounded by doctors. Amaryllis is here as well.”
“I don’t like anyone touching me. Or poking at me. I’m not sure I can control myself through this, Trap.” Cayenne sounded haunted. “What if I hurt someone, or kill them?”
Malichai knew it was a very real possibility. Cayenne’s bite was lethal. She had been created in a laboratory and the healthy dose of venom given to her was no joke. She had an hourglass in her hair as a warning, not a decoration.
“We need to get her to the hospital,” Joe said. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
Cayenne turned and rushed for the door. Trap got there just as she tried to pull it open, his large hand above her head, slapping it closed. “Stop, baby. No one’s going to make you go anywhere you don’t want to go. Get on the bed right now and let Zeke examine you. I’ll be right next to you, holding your hand. You have to bite someone, you target me, you understand? I’ll be very unhappy if you do anything but what I just told you to do.”
Trap poured command into his voice, but at the same time, his tone was velvet soft, low, a sound Malichai had never heard before. Cayenne responded immediately, taking the hand he held out to her and letting him lead her to the bed. She skirted around Joe quickly, as if she were afraid of him, and Malichai knew she wasn’t afraid of much. Cayenne was a force to be reckoned with in combat. She could be counted on every time to stand with them. He’d never seen what amounted to terror on her face.
Trap’s hands went around her waist and he lifted her onto the bed and indicated she stretch out beside Malichai.
“I can get up and move to the chair,” Malichai offered.
“We might need you,” Ezekiel said. “Okay, honey, you know me. I would never do anything to hurt you or your baby. I just want to take a look and see what’s happening. Is that okay with you?”
Trap moved in close, keeping possession of her hand. “Look at me, Cayenne. I want you to do this, do you understand me?”
She bit down on her lip but didn’t take her gaze from Trap’s. To Malichai’s horror, her green eyes actually filled with tears. Her nod was nearly imperceptible.
“Go ahead, Zeke,” Trap said.
“Need a light over here,” Ezekiel snapped.
Amaryllis stepped up beside him with a flashlight. “I know you don’t know me, Cayenne, but I’m the same as you. I would never allow experiments on me again either. I give you my word I won’t let anyone experiment on you or your child.”
She spoke in a low voice, distracting Cayenne as Ezekiel pulled on gloves and slipped a thick pad under Cayenne. Trap had to lift her to do it, but the pad was put in place.
“Zeke is going to help your baby and you. All of us want to help you. Just please keep in mind that always, you have a sister in the room. A woman that will stand with you no matter what.”
Even though Cayenne never took her eyes from Trap’s face, Malichai felt the tension ease out of her just a little at Amaryllis’s declaration. And she nodded.
“Put your knees up and open them, baby,” Trap instructed. He had moved slightly; although he stayed tightly against the mattress, it was clear he was trying to see what Zeke was doing.
Ezekiel had always had that expressionless mask and it stood him in good stead. “Amaryllis, I need heated towels. Can you get them for me? Joe can hold the light. I need them fast as well as hot water. When I say fast, I mean hurry.” There was no urgency in his voice, but coming from Ezekiel, Malichai—and everyone who knew Zeke—knew he was declaring an emergency.
Amaryllis handed the flashlight to Joe, and Cayenne nearly came off the bed. If Trap hadn’t put his hand on her chest to hold her down, she would have made another run for it.
“No, she can’t leave!” Cayenne protested.
“Cayenne, she has to get the things we need for the baby,” Trap said patiently. “Tell Amaryllis it’s all right. She’ll be back immediately. In the meantime, you have me right here, and Malichai. You know him. You know he’d fight for you. So would Zeke and Joe. We talked about getting upset over nothing. That isn’t logical. It’s your hormones.”
Malichai winced. Most women didn’t want anyone talking about hormones being the reason for anything they did. “Honey, I’m right here. I would never allow anyone to take your child from you or harm you in any way,” Malichai assured.
“Is it all right if I leave?” Amaryllis asked. “If not, I’ll see if I can get someone else to get the heated towels we need.”
Cayenne began to pant but she lifted a hand and waved it toward the door, her gaze going from Trap to Malichai just for a moment. Amaryllis took that as a signal to leave.
“How much is she dilated?” Trap asked.
Ezekiel held up his gloved hand. There was blood and other liquids coating the fingers. “She’s at eight centimeters, Trap. She’s in transition and the contractions are long and very hard.” He used his stethoscope to find the baby’s heartbeat. It wasn’t easy with the shield of silk protecting Cayenne’s insides. Ezekiel was patient, slowly moving the amplifier over her until he suddenly stopped.
The room went silent as he listened. Everyone waited to see if the baby was managing the difficult part of labor without a problem.
“This one is strong. Baby wants out and you’re doing an excellent job, Cayenne,” Ezekiel encouraged.
So far, Cayenne hadn’t made a sound other than to pant quietly, her gaze still clinging to Trap’s. He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her forehead. “We’re close, baby, so close. Everything is fine. Whitney isn’t going to get our child. No one is. No one will take him from us, and they won’t get a chance to kill him.”
Malichai realized why Cayenne had refused nearly all treatment. She was terrified of someone wanting to kill her child. She had been scheduled for termination. Her experience had been watching others die. She wanted no paper trails following her child. She didn’t want any documents anywhere that Whitney or one of his other scientists might have found. She had very real concerns. He wished she’d told them all, but Cayenne had lived her life in a cage, with no family or friends, no relationships. She was just coming out of her shell and beginning a fragile trust with them.
“No one will get to your child, Cayenne,” Malichai added his word. “We’re a family. You’re part of that. Your children will be ours as well.”
Cayenne barely nodded her head, but she did it. She reacted in a positive way, although she never took her eyes from her partner. It was Trap she trusted. Trap she loved. Trap she believed in. Trap was right when he’d said he could never afford to break that trust with her.
“Take another breath now, baby, and let it go,” Trap instructed. “We watched a ton of videos, and you know what to do. You’re doing great. I’m so proud of you.”
His eyes kept straying to Ezekiel. Malichai noticed his face was a little paler than normal. That made him want to smile. Trap was always so removed from the world around him, but clearly, Cayenne having his baby was a huge thing he couldn’t quite separate himself from.
Gonna tell this to you straight, Zeke, Trap said, his voice going to all three men. Anything goes wrong, anything at all, you save Cayenne. I can’t live without her. You save her. I’m compatible with blood type. I know Bellisia is Rh-null. She can give blood to anyone. Just letting you know where your priority has to be. She’s going to say save the baby . . . but . . .
Nothing is going wrong. She’s going to be fine and so will the baby, Ezekiel shot back. Cayenne is totally reliant on you, Trap. You can’t panic. Slow your breathing down and stop thinking of all the things that could go wrong.
Trap’s mind would go over every possible problem and the solutions to fix them. That was the way he was built. The drawback was, this was Cayenne and it was far too personal for him to retreat into his brain.
Trap made a conscious effor
t to breathe normally. He kept his gaze glued to Cayenne’s as if he could will her to give birth without a single problem. Malichai thought there was something especially beautiful in the way the couple looked at each other.
Amaryllis hurried in with a stack of warm towels and then left to return quickly with two buckets of steaming hot water that she’d boiled.
“How are you doing, Cayenne?” Ezekiel asked. “I’m going to listen to the baby’s heartbeat again, just making certain he’s doing all right. I want to check your progress again. You seem to be going fast.”
Cayenne nodded. “Hurts pretty bad, Zeke.”
“You’re in transition, honey,” Ezekiel said. “You were at eight when I checked you last. Let’s see where you are now.”
Malichai was proud of his brother. He was in a bad situation but doing his best. Cayenne, even in the condition she was in, was a flight risk. She was terrified of needles. Terrified her child would be taken and used for experiments or just plain killed. Ezekiel had gotten her to respond, which meant she was getting past that fear to allow them all to help her.
Malichai dared to rub her shoulder after a particularly long and hard contraction. She hadn’t made a sound, just breathed her way through it and looked at her man. “You’re amazing. This childbirth thing isn’t for wimps, but it is making me hungry. When Amaryllis gives birth, I might have to have a buffet set up in the room.”
To his astonishment, Cayenne turned her head to look at him. There was a hint of laughter in her eyes. “You eat while she’s in labor and I can guarantee you that you won’t live out the night. If she doesn’t do you in, the rest of the women will, including Nonny.”
Even Trap laughed. The terrible tension in the room was dispelled.
Ezekiel suddenly smiled. “There he is. He’s so ready to come into the world. Heartbeat is strong and steady. Last contraction slowed him down a little, but nothing to worry about. You’re dilated to nine, almost ten. You’re going to need to push soon, honey. Do you remember how? Did you watch the videos?”
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