by Sadie Jacks
“If by landed safely you mean my ass got burned by water, which I didn’t even think was a thing, in your arms, then yes, exactly.” I elbowed him. “And you handed me over to Montague. Don’t think I’m forgiving you for that.”
The smile washed from his face as if it had never been there. He grabbed my hand, held it to his chest. “I’ll never forgive myself for that either, Kiema. I had no idea he was going to bloody dissect you right there. I had no fucking idea he planned to do anything but hook you up to the machine and test your magic.”
I studied him, this man who had done his best to protect me in a place filled with men. And men who weren’t really keen on the idea of a woman saying no. He’d been beaten black and blue the first day.
I’d done my best to heal him, but without physical contact, the results had been less than satisfying. For either of us.
“I know, Lukas. I know.” I patted his hand.
A pricking sensation started near my feet. “Do you feel that?” I asked him.
He shook his head, his red hair almost blending into the surroundings in the dim lighting.
“I think Montague is searching again.” I rolled myself into Lukas’ arms.
He tucked me under his chin, arms around my back.
The shivers started in my legs, moved up my body. Soon, I was quivering all over. I tried to burrow into Lukas’ chest.
“There now, lovey. Lukas has got ya.”
The pins and needles sensation washed away. Still, I shivered. The first time Montague had done his searching with his own magic, I felt like I was being flayed alive. Over and over.
“Nothing. She has barely enough magic to be useful.”
I kept my mouth shut, not even thinking of offering Matilda’s report as evidence to the contrary.
“What do we do with her?”
“Put her back with the others. She’s got to be useful for something other than Revelation.”
“Still with me, Ki?” Lukas asked softly.
I nodded against his chest, pushing the nightmare memories away.
“Good.” He ran his hands through my hair. “Good.”
We lay there for what seemed like an eternity. My tremors slowly eased, leaving me tired and achy. Lukas handed me the canteen. I shook it. There was barely anything left. I handed it back to him.
“You take it. I’ll be here, not doing anything.”
He pushed it into my chest. “Your lips are cracked and bleeding. You need it.”
I ran my tongue over my lips. He was right.
Shit, shit, shit. I unscrewed the lid, lifted it to my lips. Tipping my head back in the low cavern was tricky, but I managed to get the few trickles of water down my throat.
All too soon, though, it was empty.
I lay my head back down on his chest.
“I’m sorry, luv.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For this. For everything. This wasn’t the plan. No one was supposed to get hurt. When you wake up, try to get a hold of your boys, yeah? I’ll be back to check on you later.”
My stomach pitched and tipped as my brain swirled.
“Lukas, you fuckerrrrr.” I slid into the black.
Chapter 3 – Taryk
Three days later
Midnight. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Another day of fucking disappointments.
“T, you got a call from an unknown,” Xander said over the warehouse comm system. He didn’t sound tired at all.
“Tracing it?” I asked.
He snorted. “Yeah, up your ass, man. Who you think you’re talking to? You can come here and take it.” He disconnected.
I pushed up from my desk on the first floor. The other offices were dark. The guys had all gone up to their various beds already. I couldn’t bring myself to leave. It felt like I was failing her. Just like I’d failed...
I cut the thought off. No need getting all emotional about it.
Emotion clouded the brain, made it ten times harder to complete the task at hand. This was one of the single most important tasks of my life. I wasn’t going to let emotion stop me from saving Kiema.
I stepped through the elevator doors and right into nerd central. Every gaming console, computer system or peripheral hardware accessory, not to mention screens and controllers littered every available surface of Xander’s domain.
The man himself was dressed in his ‘jammies,’ some kind of old school movie decorated his pants. I smiled as I watched him fiddle with his electronics. He reminded me of my little brother. Even as a grown ass man.
Xander’s bare chest was a weird blue under the lights of the screens in the almost completely dark room. His dark brown hair was wild and wavy on his head.
“I’m here. Put it through,” I said as I stepped up next to him.
He hit a couple of buttons in rapid succession. He pointed at me.
“This is Taryk. To whom am I speaking?”
Muffled sounds came through the line.
I looked at Xander.
He shrugged. He hit some different buttons, moved a few sliders on his screen.
“Hello?” I called again.
More noise.
“Taryk?” It was a whisper. I couldn’t even tell if it was male or female at this point.
“Yes. Who is speaking?”
Shots sounded in the background. Both Xan’s and my body jerked as if we were the ones who’d been hit.
“Shit. Xan, are you recording this?” I pulled my phone from my pocket. I hit the recorder button, lifted it to the speakers.
“On it.”
Rustling came over the line again as the shots faded. “Kiema.” It was less than a breath of sound.
“Kiema’s on the line,” I shouted to the guys mentally.
“Where are you, sweets?” Xander asked.
“Xander? Is that you?” she asked.
She sounds sick, really sick.
Xander’s brow pinched. “Yeah, sweets. It’s me. Where are you?” He looked up at me, grief etched into his features.
The sound of pounding feet heralded the onslaught of men into our space. The guys came flooding through the doors. “Where—”
I cut them off with a slicing motion over my neck. I held up a finger for them to shut up. Dipping my head towards the monitors, I focused back in on Kiema and Xander’s conversation.
“I don’t know, Xander. He gave me a phone. I called information, asked for Taryk.”
The sounds of more gun shots ricocheted through the phone line.
Ransom looked ready to pulverize the whole warehouse with his bare hands. Saint...I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what Saint was planning. I did know that we wouldn’t survive the storm if he wasn’t so good at keeping his cool.
“Why Taryk, sweets? Why not—”
“Don’t say their names, Xander!” Her voice was so thin and strained, like she’d been screaming her throat raw. I felt my stomach freeze. I knew how to achieve that effect. Had done that to others. The idea that someone had done it to Kiema was unbearable.
“No one can know. No one can know.” Kiema collapsed into tears.
Gutted. That’s what her tears did to me.
“Okay, sweets. Can you enable the location data on your phone?” Xander continued to use a soft voice. He was damn good at deescalating people.
I gave him the keep it moving motion.
He rolled his eyes at me.
“I’ll try. Don’t leave me!”
My heart broke at the fear in her voice.
“Never, sweets. Never that.”
Her hoarse breathing scratched through the line. Nothing like the sexy tones I’d gotten used to the week before.
“There. Can you see it now?” she whispered.
We all inched towards the screens.
Nothing popped up on the map. I grabbed Xander’s shoulder, squeezed.
I could feel the others pushing up against my back. Their need for answers digging deep under my skin.
“Fuck. S
orry, wrong button. How about now?” she corrected herself.
A single steady red light flared to life on the map of North Cross.
“I’ve got you, sweets. I’m going to send—”
“Taryk. Only,” she interrupted him.
All eyes focused on me.
I shrugged.
I had no fucking idea what was going on, but I would soon find out. Covert missions had been my daily life for a number of years. One extraction who was eager to leave?
Cake.
“Sweetheart, I’m coming, okay? You stay on the line with—”
“Xander,” she filled in before I could say anything.
This was getting fucking weird. “Right. Xander,” I agreed with her, not wanting her to dissolve into tears anymore. They were cutting me to pieces as it was.
“I will.” Muffled voices filled the line. One decidedly deeper than even the hoarseness that was Kiema’s.
I couldn’t make out any of the male’s words, but whatever he said set Kiema off.
“Shut the fuck up, Lukas. You’re the fucking reason I’m in this fucking mess at fucking all,” Kiema hissed.
Ransom and Saint stiffened, growls purling from their throats.
“You said…” her voice trailed off like she’d turned away from the phone. Then it came back stronger. “No, no you did not, you stupid fucker.”
“I didn’t know Kiema had such a potty mouth,” Asher said mentally.
I would have laughed, but I wanted to annihilate this Lukas asshole as much as Ransom and Saint seemed to.
“Sweets, you still with me?” Xander asked quietly.
“Hi, Xan. Yes. I’m still here. Tell Taryk we’ll have a party of three coming out.”
“I’m still here, too, sweetheart. Anyone need medical attention?” I asked.
Ransom nodded quickly. “Good idea. We need more than just you if there’s three people to retrieve,” he said through the mental channel.
This wasn’t my first extraction, I snarled mentally. But I understood where he was coming from. Fear was a strong motivator for irrational behavior.
“Lukas is going to need a brain replacement if he keeps fucking with me.” She turned away from the phone again. “You little shit. Come back here.” Sounds of scuffling and a male voice filtered through the phone.
“Kiema, medical attention?” I asked again, my voice going hard.
“I need some water. I’d love some food, too. If you have any you can bring.”
Atlas opened his mouth. I slapped a hand over it. Shook my head.
“Ask her how long she’s been without water,” Dr. Atlas demanded, his bright green eyes hard as emeralds over the edge of my hand.
I asked Kiema the question.
“What day is today?”
Atlas’ eyes pinched around the corners. He pushed my hand away.
“Monday, sweets,” Xander answered.
“When did I see you all last?”
Fuck!
“Last Monday, sweetheart.” I was going to tear someone apart.
“Then Wednesday. Lukas only had a little water left before Iron Serpent broke into the camp he took me to.”
“Do we want to keep Lukas alive?” I asked calmly. I could take him out. Be one less problem to deal with, in my opinion.
Saint snarled.
Kiema snorted. “You hear that, fucker? They want to know if I want you taken out. I have that power over you right now. Shut your fucking mouth. I didn’t say that at all. You’re such a little bitch, Lukas.”
“She sounds on the edge of delirium,” Atlas said. “That could be due to dehydration. We need to get her fluids. Fast.”
“Atlas, you’re with me. I can’t rescue, drive, and heal at the same time.”
“I’m coming, too,” Xander said.
“You stay here.”
A low snarl rumbled from his lips. I clapped a hand on his shoulder. He rarely offered to leave his cave, his safe zone. That he was offering to go bring Kiema back said a lot about what she meant to him.
“You’re going to be leading us in. I’ll call you on the other line. The rest of you, get ready to have some company.”
I turned back to the computers and the live phone call. “On my way, sweetheart. Tell that Lukas I will take him out if he forgets his manners,” I said through the line before heading for the stairs. The elevator would take too long.
Chapter 4 – Kiema
“Xander, how’s everything? Every…thing good on that end?” I asked as Lukas crept back out under the rock that hid our current hiding spot.
“It’s good, sweets. All good.”
I closed my eyes, they were burning with the need to cry. I just didn’t have enough moisture to spare. “Good. Any idea on when Taryk should be getting here?”
“You’re only about an hour away, Kiema. He’ll move heaven and earth to get to you as fast as possible.”
I wiped my hand under my nose. “Thanks for picking up the phone. I know it’s really late.”
“I was up already. We…” he cleared his throat, “I’ve been looking for you. You’re a hard woman to find.”
That they had been looking for me, that he and Taryk answered my phone call in the middle of the fucking night, not only healed my heart, it melted it. These men were mine. All of them. I wasn’t going to share. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt them. They were mine.
I laughed, the sound like glass in my throat. I was so fucking thirsty. “Well, when Hellion pushed me out of the helicopter, I almost died. Although technically, I guess it was Reece and Aeron. Then Lukas literally swept in and saved me. But then the asshat punched me in the head, the little fucking bitch.” I rubbed at the spot.
I laughed as I remembered he’d been so apologetic when I woke up that first time. I’d jacked him with a punch right to the balls to accept his apology. We’d been inseparable ever since.
“You punched him in the balls and now you’re friends?” Xander asked.
“How did you know that?”
“Sweets, you just told me.”
Confused, I rubbed my forehead. I wasn’t even sweating anymore. Which was good since it was freaking cold outside. But I had a feeling it was also very bad. “Xander, I want to come home,” my voice broke.
“I know, baby. We’re on our way. You’ll come home and we’ll take care of you. Okay?”
“Are they…” I bit back the words. If what Iron Serpent had said was true, then anyone I healed was being hunted.
“Safe, sweets. All safe.”
They had no idea. No one was safe. Not anymore.
I had to warn them. Tell them to get out if I didn’t make it back to them. “Leave, Xander. You. Everyone. All of you. Iron Serpent is coming. Leave!” More gun shots fired near my hiding spot.
“It’s coming from over here, sir. I’ve got a lock on the signal now,” a masculine voice I didn’t recognize said.
“Shit, shit, shit. They found me, Xan. Tell Taryk not to leave without finding me, yeah?” I hit the disconnect button before he could reply.
I flipped the phone over, took out the battery. Fucking Lukas!
“Damn it. It’s gone, sir. Completely off the grid.”
“Find her. We can’t afford to lose her now.” The speaker had a deep authoritative voice.
Before last Wednesday, I wouldn’t have even known the second man. Now it was seared into my memory, locked away with the other horrors of my life.
Grand Master Kendrick Montague. Tall, skinny, beautiful, and powerful enough to make me nauseous. His voice reminded me of sandpaper rubbing over steel. Grating and nerve wracking.
A bird sang his low off tune song behind me. I turned, waiting for Lukas to appear.
I reached out a hand. We had to hurry, or Kendrick could find me.
Lukas’ palm slid along mine just as I felt the buzz of the magic sweep begin at my toes.
Had someone told me a week ago that I would know more about my magic in the last seventy-two hours,
that I carried not just one, but three types of magic, I would have smiled politely and walked away. I didn’t have time to indulge the idiocy of others.
But here I was, having my magic nullified so I could escape magical detection by a narcissistic asshole who wanted to kill all Normals. And he needed my magic to do it.
I was still a little fuzzy on that part. But I had understood well enough when he had his goons strap me down to a table while another dead eyed asshole slid needles and other metal under my skin.
Lukas and I lay still, fingers laced together, for what felt like eternity.
“Kiema?” Lukas whispered, his lips touching my ear.
I nodded.
“The sweep’s done. I’m going to go check and see if they’re gone. Wait for my signal to turn the phone back on.”
I nodded again, unwilling to risk giving our spot away if they hadn’t left.
Lukas let go of my hand and slithered back out the way he’d come in.
Once again, I was left alone in the dark. I began counting to take my mind off the small space.
The bird sang his low tune.
I slapped the battery back into the phone. Powered it up, hit redial.
It was answered immediately.
“Kiema?” Xander asked.
“Hey, Xander. Fancy talking to you.”
“Damn, sweets. You gave us a couple bad minutes there.”
“I’m sorry. Hey, I need you to start looking for info on Kendrick Montague. He’s the head guy for OTIS.”
“I’m on it, Kiema. Taryk should be there in about ten minutes.”
My eyes popped wide. “How is he managing that?” Had the man grown wings since I saw him almost a week ago?
Xander laughed. “Not quite wings.”
Apparently, my brain mouth filter was out of order.
Xander continued, “He called in a few favors. Tell your two guests to be ready for extraction.”
“Ten-four, good buddy. Over and out.” I ruined the message by giggling. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
“And you did it well, but I’m not hanging up until I look into your beautiful gray eyes.”
My eyes burned hotter as my heart went to mush. That floaty feeling was back. “I love you, Xan.”
“Love you, too, sweets. Love you, too.”