Luca

by Nyssa Kathryn

  Evie dug her nails into his skin, breaking the surface, just stopping herself from crying out.

  Clawing at the hand that held her, the pain was unbearable. His knee then came up to hit her in the ribs, right where they were cracked. Biting her bottom lip and tasting blood, Evie still refused to make a sound. She was sure they were re-broken, each breath sent shooting pains down her body. She prayed he would go too far and the darkness would take her.

  As Troy’s body pushed her into the solid wall, something Luca had said replayed in her head—you can get through anything if you know the pain’s temporary.

  This is temporary pain, Evie. Get through it. Save Luca.

  Another punch hit Evie in the ribs stealing the breath from her body.

  Then another thought came to her through the pain. It wasn’t just her screams Luca would be able to hear. As another kick came to Evie’s middle, she called on all her strength.

  Taking a big breath in before screaming as loud as possible. “Don’t come down here, Luca. It’s a trap. There’s gas. Get away.”

  As the last word left Evie’s lips, the roof opened, and Luca dropped through just as her world went dark.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  EVIE’S VOICE CUT through the air. Luca didn’t think he just moved.

  His team would have his ass for not waiting for them, but Evie’s voice was pained, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to stand around and wait.

  Her voice came from below ground. She’d said something about gas and a trap, but he would risk it. He wouldn’t leave her in the company of Troy any longer than necessary. He wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from moving toward her if he tried.

  Seeing immediately where the ground surface was different, Luca didn’t hesitate. He jumped on the false ground and dropped the ten feet, not even flinching.

  Immediately gas was released into Luca’s face. His lungs started to compress and he stumbled back a step.

  Before Luca could recover from the gas hit, a fist swung at his face, his reflexes too slow to stop it. The combination of the hit and the gas pushed Luca into the wall behind him. The fist quickly returned fast and hard, hitting him in the ribs, then the gut.

  The air knocked out of his lungs, the punches kept coming, but his body seemed to be moving in slow motion, unable to defend itself.

  From the corner of his eye, Luca noticed a limp body on the ground. It was so still the person hardly seemed alive. Golden brown hair tinged with bright red blood colored the floor.

  Evie.

  A wild anger filled Luca. Troy had hurt his woman.

  He pushed to the back of his mind how still her body appeared and what that meant. Luca forced himself to move past the pain, dodging the next fist.

  Lifting his leg, Luca kicked out at the body in front of him. Stumbling forward, Luca noticed the effects of the gas were starting to pass, and his breaths were becoming easier.

  “What the hell?” Troy’s voice was full of shock. “There was enough gas to knock any man unconscious.”

  “You underestimated me, old friend. Didn’t you hear? I’m not just any man anymore.”

  Troy’s fist swung at Luca’s face, but this time he caught it easily. Pivoting and placing his body between Evie’s unconscious form and Troy. Luca squeezed the arm until he heard a crack and Troy shouted in pain

  “What did you do to her?” Luca demanded.

  The pain seemed to fade as Troy’s expression changed to one of sadistic pleasure. “Nothing that I haven’t done before.”

  Luca saw red. Only his years of training prevented him from lashing out. He had to kill some time to wait for the gas to leave his system or for his team to arrive.

  Troy ripped the mask off his face, and his eyes opened in bewilderment. “Well, look at that. Our bodies are indestructible, aren’t they.” Troy’s laugh made Luca want to rip his throat out. “And this is what you’re fighting against? The people who gave this to us? This was a GIFT.” Yelling the last word, Luca wondered if Troy was, in fact, insane. “No one can stop us now!”

  “I don’t know about you, but I like to have control over what’s being injected into my body. And just so you’re aware, I plan to destroy you. “

  “You’re a joke, you know that?” Troy sneered with open derision. “I told them. I told them so many times that you weren’t up for the job, and they wouldn’t LISTEN to me.”

  Luca tried to tune out Troy and listen in to Evie’s heart rate, but the fading gas in his body was still messing with his abilities. Turning back to Troy, he had to keep him talking for a bit longer.

  “So what’s the plan? Kill me, take Evie and run?” Not that that would ever happen. Evie was never leaving his sight again.

  “Kill you, yes, take Evie, yes, but not to where you might think.”

  Moving half a step closer to Evie, Luca still angled himself to block her from him. “What’s the harm in telling me, Troy? I mean, if I’m going to be dead anyway. Unless you don’t actually think you can kill me. Are you not up for the job?”

  Troy’s fists clenched. “Project Arma will only survive if no one’s hunting us, so my mission is to kill you and your team. I’ve been waiting to act for a long time. I was supposed to do it on your last mission as a SEAL, but you weren’t in the damn building when it exploded. Then the project was infiltrated, and we were told to abort the mission and go into hiding. I wanted to get on with the job, but my team said no.”

  Luca frowned. “Your mission? You’re on a mission right now?”

  Troy’s smile was slow, chilling. “You thought it was over? You have no idea. This is a lot bigger than you could ever imagine.”

  Blood boiling, Luca took a step forward. “Where are the rest of them?”

  “You won’t find them. They’re so deep in hiding, they’ll only be found if they want to be found. They’re more powerful than you know. You’ll be dead anyway, and sweet Evie over there will be with me. I was too lenient on her last time. This time I’ll make sure she fears the very idea of escaping me.”

  Troy paused, then his eyes narrowed at the sound of distant footsteps. Whoever it was wouldn’t be long.

  “Time to end this shit,” Troy muttered.

  Luca saw Troy reach for the gun. Before his hand could wrap around the weapon, Luca leaped toward him, his body hitting Troy at full force.

  On impact, both men hit the ground hard, the gun whirling around before landing feet away from them. Being the first to recover, Luca threw a punch before easily dodging a kick to the gut.

  Hearing a whimper from Evie, Luca’s head swung around, causing him to lose focus for a moment. Troy took advantage, releasing a kick to Luca, which knocked him to the ground.

  Moving straight into a crouch position, Luca saw Troy reach into his back pocket and pull out a knife. Slashing out at Luca, the blade sliced open his shirt, barely missing his skin. Moving faster than Troy could catch, Luca knocked Troy’s hand and swiped the knife from his fingers, then Luca dug it into the other man’s thigh.

  Troy’s face turned red from anger, and he howled in pain, “You fucking bastard.”

  “Guess I got the latest model of the drug, Troy.”

  “I’m going to kill you.” Diving for the gun, Luca was able to grab Troy’s foot and slam him to the ground just before he got to it. Climbing on top of Troy, Luca’s fist swung. Hard.

  Troy and Luca both got some swings in, and Luca avoided as many hits as possible.

  Finally gaining the upper hand, Luca did a quick internal scan while holding Troy down. A cracked rib and some bruising, nothing that would stop him.

  Grabbing Troy’s leg from his position on top, Luca dug his fingers into the knife wound. Troy let out another howl that slowly turned into a deranged laugh.

  Troy’s expression was nothing short of psychotic. “You should have heard her scream. She had so much hope that you would save her and look at her. Unconscious in the corner. I don’t even know if she’s alive.”

 
Anger thrummed through Luca’s veins. His fists swung. Fury vibrated through his chest as he pummeled Troy to within an inch of his life.

  When Luca heard shallow gasps coming from Troy, he forced himself to stop. He needed to keep him alive. Troy had information.

  Bloodied face, Troy’s eyes opened into slits and stared into Luca’s. “You think this ends with me? This is the beginning of the end for all of you.” The laugh that escaped Troy’s lips crackled with the sound of blood in his throat. “You won’t kill me. I’m too valuable to you. I’m going to escape eventually, and when I do, that sweet piece of ass in the corner is coming with me, and she will never see the light of day again.”

  Luca didn’t think, his hands moved to Troy’s neck, and he twisted, snapping his neck in under a second. The life left Troy’s eyes as his body went limp on the ground.

  Not sparing Troy a second thought, Luca jumped to his feet just as Eden dropped down into the room.

  Not stopping, Luca moved quickly to Evie, dropped to his knees, and his fingers gently probed her throat. It was faint, but he felt a heartbeat.

  Eden’s voice cut through the silence. “You killed him.”

  Luca felt no remorse. “He didn’t leave me a choice.”

  Walking up behind Luca, Eden glanced down. “Good, I’m glad the asshole’s dead.”

  Wrapping his arms around Evie’s still body, Luca stood. “She needs medical attention. Now.”

  “You’re injured, want me to take her?”

  “No. Let’s go.”

  Moving up the ladder, Luca was able to hold Evie with one arm and climb with the other.

  His body was regaining its strength, as well as his other abilities. The light thumping of Evie’s heart calmed some of the turmoil inside of him.

  Once they were at ground level, Eden and Luca both moved swiftly and quickly through the trees. They made it to Luca’s house in good time. Once there, Luca climbed into the back of the car while Eden got behind the wheel.

  As they drove away, Luca noticed Eden press dial on his phone.

  “Rocket and I are headed to the hospital. Evie’s hurt but alive. Just. We need you to pick up Troy from the woods behind Rocket’s house.”

  “Dead or alive?” Wyatt’s voice was all business.

  “Dead.”

  There was a slight pause. “Got it.”

  The line went dead as Eden focused on the road once more.

  “We got the fire at Marble Protection put out. Had to call the fire department and Lexie almost got caught in it, but Asher got her out. The office and half a dozen rooms have fire damage.”

  In all that had happened, Luca forgot about the call from Mason to tell him about the fire.

  Without taking his eyes from Evie, Luca questioned Eden. “Any idea how it started?”

  Eden’s voice was hard. “Looks like it originated in the office. Wyatt was able to recover data from the cameras. Someone in a black hooded sweater came through when Lexie had her back to the door. They went straight to the office and lit the fire using paper and gasoline. Looked like Troy. Was definitely moving fast enough.”

  Taking a piece of Evie’s hair and pushing it off her face, Luca saw that her skin was various shades of black and purple. The anger came back full force as his muscles clenched. If Luca hadn’t killed him already, he would kill the man again. “It was a distraction. To take me away from Evie long enough for him to take her.”

  Eden nodded his confirmation.

  Tuning into Evie’s body, her heartbeat was slow. Too slow. “Hurry, Hunter. She needs medical attention. Now.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  EVIE’S EYES FLICKERED open, and she had to stop a groan at the familiar pain in her ribs. Eyes darting around the room, she noticed she was in a hospital bed.

  Closing her eyes again, Evie took a calming breath as the memories rushed back to her. Troy had taken her. Threatened her. Threatened Luca. Did the fact she was in a hospital bed mean Luca had saved her? Where was Luca?

  Eyes snapping back open, she spotted the empty chair beside her bed. He was here somewhere. The man was indestructible.

  A light breeze had Evie turning her head. Noticing the open window, Evie’s brows furrowed together. Had the nurses opened it? It was pretty cold to not have it shut.

  Carefully crawling out of bed, Evie tested her balance as she stood. Slightly wobbly, but when she didn’t pass out, she took that as a good sign.

  Slowly moving toward the window, she stopped at a strange smell. Was that gas?

  Turning her head, she cried out as someone grabbed her from behind and placed their arm around her neck.

  “We meet at last, Evie, I’ve heard so much about you.”

  The voice was unfamiliar to Evie. Using every bit of energy she had, she forced herself to carry her weight. Only reaching the ground with her toes, the huge arm would choke her if she couldn’t hold herself.

  She didn’t have to wait long for Luca. With a bang, her hospital door flew open, and he stepped inside holding a gun. Mason and Eden trailed behind.

  “Get the fuck off her.” His voice was flat. Deadly.

  Two more men suddenly stepped out from the connected bathroom. Neither was armed, but both looked very capable of holding their own in a hand fight.

  “Luca, so good to see you, old friend. I would put that gun down if I were you.” She felt the man holding her indicate with his head toward something in the corner. “Don’t tell me you can’t smell that. It’s a natural gas that when mixed with a bullet… well, you can imagine, right?”

  “Boom,” one of the other men said with excitement.

  Evie’s heart sped up. Were they saying the room could explode?

  Luca’s eyes hardened, but other than that, his expression didn’t change.

  “Don’t believe me? By all means, give it a go. We’ll probably all get out in time, you know, with our speed and all, but poor Evie here won’t be so lucky.”

  Evie whimpered as the arm around her neck tightened slightly, and she was pulled further onto her toes.

  Luca let out a growl as his eyes narrowed. Then his hand dropped, placing the gun in his back pocket. Mason and Eden did the same.

  “If you don’t loosen your damn grip on her, I’m going to end you right the fuck now.” When the arm holding her loosened slightly, Luca continued, “Now, tell me what the fuck you want, Carter?”

  “Well, well, the rumors are true. You do have a soft spot now.” The man chuckled like he was talking to a friend. “We’re just here to send a little message to you and your boys.”

  As the smell of gas started to get stronger, Evie’s head felt cloudy. She pushed herself to stay upright, using every bit of strength she could muster.

  “Troy went rogue. We didn’t send him and take no responsibility for what happened here. But you are getting too close to us, so either join us or leave us alone.”

  “Us?”

  “We know you know, Luca. Our project is still very much alive. It was always too valuable to just let go of. You want out? Fine, but stay the hell away from us. Got it?”

  Evie could see Luca’s fists clench as the veins popped out on his arms.

  Mason stepped forward. “And if we refuse?”

  Evie’s breath was cut off as the arm tightened to an unbearable degree. “Watch what the consequences are.”

  In the blink of an eye, all hell broke loose. Luca moved before anyone could stop him and leaped onto the body holding Evie. She flew through the air, but her fall was cushioned by Luca’s body beneath her. Placing her on the ground, Luca pushed Evie into the corner before turning in a crouch position.

  Evie could see Mason and Eden each move toward the other men and throw blows that would make the toughest man fall.

  As Luca moved forward himself, he blocked her body with his own, but she could see the blows he dealt the man in front of them as they fought.

  Evie shrank further into the corner, the violence causing her stomach to contract. All t
he men in the room were deadly. Not one of them showed an ounce of emotion. They moved like machines.

  Seeing a knife pulled out by the man fighting Luca, Evie made to stand up.

  “Luca…‍”

  “STAY THE HELL BACK, EVIE.”

  Evie shrunk back down at Luca’s command. Not sure her legs would have held her for long anyway, she wrapped her arms around herself and prayed for it all to end.

  As the knife swung at Luca’s shoulder, he dodged it easily. Doing some defensive maneuver that Evie had only seen in movies, Luca knocked the blade from the man’s hand.

  Now without a weapon, the man jumped onto the windowsill, appearing more animal than human. Turning back, he looked at Luca.

  “Remember what I said, Luca.”

  Then the man dropped from the first floor to the ground. Evie’s eyes widened. Surely, he wouldn’t survive a drop that high.

  Before she could process it further, the other two men maneuvered themselves away from Mason and Eden and followed suit.

  Evie’s breaths were short. Luca crouched in front of her, trepidation in his eyes. Placing his hands in the air, Luca spoke softly, as if speaking too loudly might startle her.

  “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

  Evie nodded, waiting for him to reach for her. When he didn’t, she tried to get up but realized her body felt too heavy from the adrenaline.

  “I won’t come closer. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  Evie’s mind started to reel. Why wouldn’t he come closer? If he wouldn’t come closer to her, then she would force her body to move.

  Pushing herself up from the floor, Evie groaned at the pain she felt everywhere. It was like she had been injured so repetitively that her body was collapsing on her.

  Luca was beside Evie in a flash, placing his arms around her. Clinging to him, Evie didn’t want to risk him moving away once she was steady.

  Luca attempted to pull back, Evie’s tenacious fingers clung on.

  “I thought you would want some space after what you just saw us do.”