Ancient Protector

by Savannah Verte

  She’d stowed away aboard the small boat that was going into the channel. She shouldn’t have been there at all. Now, seemingly weeks later, she wished she hadn’t been, even as she’d escaped, sort of. Everything hurt, and her throat felt like she’d swallowed razor blades from the breathing tube they had recently removed. Mansuelo would be furious. Likely, he already was, if he’d even noticed. It was part of why she’d gone in the first place. As he wasn’t nearby now that she could see, nor were any of his men, she wondered if he knew she was gone, that she’d been aboard when the boat had exploded, or that she’d survived.

  Her lip curled as she thought to herself that even if he knew, he might not actually care. She was a means to an end for him. He’d taken her to force her father’s compliance and gain what should have been her dowry; her father’s land, connections, and transportation routes to places that one could simply disappear, or make others disappear. She’d known for ages what her family did, she wasn’t naïve. Mansuelo only wanted to expand his reach, nothing more. His taking her was a poorly veiled play for fortune, one her father couldn’t stand against even if he’d taken issue with it, which to her knowledge, he hadn’t. Likely, as it was how her father had gained reputation once upon a time, it might have even been with approval. Marietta had sisters but no brothers, Mansuelo was the son her father had never had, but desperately wanted. That he already had a reputation was a bonus not a distraction.

  Dragging a hand down her cheek to swipe the tear that had escaped, she steeled herself to the possibility that she might just as easily become the fall person for the whole fiasco. She needed to make some decisions, and quickly. Faking amnesia could be possible, but for how long? How long could she honestly go without tipping her hand? At some point she would have to leave the hospital, then what? Where would she go? How would she live? Who could she turn to? Every single possibility lead back to Mansuelo in one way or another. She was either on her own and starting over, running back to the man who had robbed her of things that could never be replaced, or quite possibly facing prison. Deep breaths did nothing to calm her fears. She was only one piece of information away from ugly, bad, or worse.

  She thought absently about the other secrets she had…at least one she probably didn’t anymore as she was in a medical facility. If nothing else, she knew one thing to be true; she absolutely could not let word get to Mansuelo that she was pregnant. He would hunt her to the ends of the world to gain the child, and just as likely leave her for dead, or worse, trade her off as he’d threatened to do so often. It complicated her options. First and foremost, she needed to find out if the reason she’d tried to flee was still a factor. There could be no determining which way to go until she knew if she were running for herself, or for another.

  SEVEN

  Omen clicked the text box, his head jerking back to see it was from Taylen’s assistant at Hydro Lab. He’d only met Hastings in passing. He quickly replied that he’d stop before noon, shuffled his dishes together and dropped them into the sink. “I’ll be back,” he called to Rox over his shoulder.

  “Hold up. Just where do you think you’re going?”

  Omen smirked. “Work stuff. Going to hit Hydro Lab. Why? You wanna tag along?”

  Rox studied him over the top of the paper. “I don’t have anything else pressing. Why the lab? I thought Dr. Scott was still in the hospital.”

  “She is. It’s her assistant. He texted asking for an update,” Omen countered, roughing his chin. “Weird in a way. I would have thought they’d be off the case since the explosion, or maybe have an update for me. I’m not sure what he’s asking about. I figured it would be easier in person.”

  “Let me get dressed. I want to check in on Ridley. Nikolai has been acting strange since the thing in the channel that has left Andrej plastered into a chair at Dr. Scott’s feet. We can make the rounds together.”

  “Chop-chop then. I want to find out what this is about and be able to report in if needs be. Addian is champing the bit about the water since things went south. The next nearest water-way is inconvenient and Angel is in her terrible toddler stage demanding to swim. I’d like to give him good news if there is any, and buffer any bad if there isn’t.”

  Rox grinned mischievously. “Don’t worry lover, I’ll protect you.”

  Omen snickered. “I’d love to see you try. If Addian goes Berserker, there’s nothing you and I together could do.” He blew Rox a kiss. “Now hurry up, but thank you for saying it anyway.”

  Out the door and at the lab in record time, Omen was distracted by the black sedan with a single occupant reading what looked like a romance novel as they pulled into the lot. “Check that out,” he muttered to Rox as he put the hummer in park.

  Rox glanced sideways, but didn’t look directly. “I think Jessa has that book…some shifter love story, as if any author outside our world could possibly…”

  Omen turned in the seat to look at Rox fully. “Seriously?”

  “What? I didn’t say I read it.”

  “Seriously?!”

  “Can we go now?” Rox asked with a blank stare. “Sheesh. I’ve got all the shifter I can handle right here, thank you very much.”

  Omen was still shaking his head as they got out of the car. “Government plates,” he muttered as he came around the trunk.

  “Think it’s Andrej?”

  “No. More likely it’s Fedya. You’ll get a kick out of him. He’s something else.”

  Inside, as predicted, Fedya stood across the vestibule talking to the director of the facility. Their conversation was not quiet, and not loudly, not confidential either. “I would be thinking then that we will be waiting for Miss Dr. Scott.” Fedya was saying.

  The director noticed Omen and Rox over Fedya’s shoulder. “Can I help you?”

  Omen held up his phone. “Got a message from Hastings. Is he in?”

  Fedya turned. “Mr. Omen. How good of you to be seeing me.”

  Omen snickered as he noticed the confusion cross Rox’s face. “Agent Afanasi. Yes, it is good to see you. How’s the investigation?”

  “I am not to be discussing it while it is still happening, but be assured, we will report as soon as we are confident.”

  Omen shook Fedya’s hand quickly but only nodded to the lab director. “I know my friend, I know. You can understand everyone is anxiously waiting,” he said quietly to Fedya once he turned back to face him.

  “Everyone will be waiting for a while longer I’m afraid,” Emmers cut in. “Dr. Scott will be allowed to finish her research on this. We won’t be calling another Botanist in on it. No one knows what she knew or was able to learn. It would be a waste of her work to have to start over.”

  “Makes sense to me. Any word on when she’ll be back at it?” Rox interjected.

  “And you are?” Emmers challenged.

  “Rox Renault.”

  Emmers shrugged his shoulders. “So…”

  “So, he’s with me, and the parties I represent,” Omen glared.

  Fedya was pumping his hands up and down between the others. “Gentlemens, please. I will get more informations on Miss Dr. Scott when I return to the hospital. I believe she is mending.”

  Emmers didn’t hide his eye-roll. “Tell her to check in if you see her. We need an update. And, when should we anticipate being able to check or gather new samples? We can’t possibly know what effect the explosion had without them.”

  “I, or another agent will be letting you know. I am going to check on the crew next,” Fedya answered.

  “Then I’ll let you get to it. Time is already wasting,” Emmers clipped. “Good day, gentlemen.”

  Rox shook his head to clear the abrupt confusion as the lab director turned and left. Fedya grinned at him. “He is always so busy to rush off.”

  “I would have said rude, but we’ll go with ‘busy,’” Rox retorted with a snort.

  The three exited the lab together. “Fedya, I’ll wait to hear from you personally before I update Addian. We do
n’t need a panic starting with guesses.”

  “Ah yes, that would be bad. We have too many questions with no answers.”

  Omen nodded. “Yes we do.”

  Back on the road, Rox didn’t immediately speak. Omen noticed from the corner of his eye. “Spit it out.”

  “Something else was probably a good description.”

  Omen bellowed laughter. “Fedya is…well…he’s a good guy, a really good guy. He just hasn’t quite mastered the language thing.”

  “You think?!”

  Omen shrugged. “He’s like Nikolai and Andrej.”

  “Elemental.”

  “Yes. Which element, I don’t know. But he tries to be more conversational. ‘Tries’ being the operative word. He usually has way too many words, or the wrong ones to say what he means. You just have to listen and kind of skip a few in the middle of whatever he’s said.” Omen chuckled. “It’s the best I can explain him.”

  “I can see that. It makes my head hurt a little. Then again, I didn’t get Nikolai at first either, and his brother…that’s one I’m not sure I understand still.”

  Omen smiled and nodded to Rox. “They are a different breed altogether.”

  “No lover, they are a different species. Call it what it is. Me, I’ve got no problem with them unless I’m supposed to understand them…then I need a minute.”

  “Ridley seems to have figured it out.”

  “Don’t go there. I wouldn’t want her or Nikolai trying to figure us out…that’s ours.”

  “Yes. Yes, it is. Speaking of, you want to head there next?”

  “No. After Fedya, I think I need a break. I’ll check on them later. Next option?”

  “I need to update Addian, even as I said I wouldn’t. Then, we should check on Chub and Neviah. She can get word to her father about what’s happening up here.”

  “I thought we were waiting for more information?”

  “I would if I could. I don’t want to sound an alarm without more information, but not giving them an update? Yeah, that’s not an option at all, we might as well make panic the front page story,” Omen countered, shaking his head.

  “Bayview house then, Jeeves.”

  “Ha-ha.”

  EIGHT

  “Was that carefully enough for you?” Eli challenged as Emmers came through the office after the agent and Dr. Scott’s friend left.

  “You’d have me believe you somehow coordinated that?”

  “No, but it worked out. I was hoping that Omen would have an update. As it worked out, the agent was far more talkative once he arrived. We know more than we did.”

  Emmers scowled. “Yes. We know that we won’t be getting anywhere near the boat, or the plants anytime soon, and until Dr. Scott returns or updates, we don’t know what she knows, or who she shared it with.”

  Eli shrugged. “Like I said, more than we knew before.”

  “Not really. But, we can’t do any more here. Update Mansuelo that everything here is at risk and he should cut his losses.”

  “Why can’t you do it?”

  Emmers glared. “I believe your job is ‘courier,’ is it not? Information gets ‘couriered’ just like other tangible things. And, I’m the director here. So, because I said so.”

  Eli turned and headed for the door. “Jackass.”

  “I heard that.”

  NINE

  Marietta felt like the walls were closing in on her. She needed some air. The man from the hallway had not returned, but there were faces in the hallway that left her unsettled. Did Mansuelo know she had run? Did he know she had survived? Was it all in her head?

  Moment by moment she felt like her head might split from the questions. With each new question came a renewed urge to cut and run. If she could step out for air, perhaps she could get away before too many people asked too many questions. She didn’t think there was much time to act, if she had the option at all. Pushing the buzzer, she waited anxiously for a nurse, trying to calm her breathing and racing heart that would surely give her away. When a male nurse entered, she pulled back as she started to speak. “I wanted…” she stuttered as she studied the male who wasn’t familiar, but was at the same time.

  “You look pale, are you feeling alright?” the nurse questioned, reaching to take her hand.

  Marietta flinched, crossed her arms around herself, and squeezing. “It’s like I can’t breathe in here.”

  The nurse shrugged. “The windows don’t open, I’m sorry.”

  “Outside?” Marietta replied, hopeful that it would convey the whole question she wasn’t asking.

  The nurse looked back over his shoulder, then at her with his head canted sideways. “I’ll ask,” he said with his hands up. “There’s a little courtyard, so maybe.”

  Marietta nodded. She couldn’t decide if she trusted this nurse or not, even as they hadn’t done, or said, anything unusual. Maybe it was just that he was a man. She hadn’t seen all of the men who worked for Mansuelo, so she wasn’t confident she could identify them. Then again, she knew there were a few women who worked for him too, and those she’d never seen. The rabbit hole in her mind yawned, waiting for her to jump through. She shook her head to clear the thoughts. She could not, would not, be afraid of everyone. She’d die first. The thought sobered her quickly.

  Sarah, her nurse for the day entered just in time to clip her distraction short. The male nurse was following her, which eased her suspicion, slightly. “Terry says that you were asking about fresh air?” Sarah opened, thumbing over her shoulder to the male nurse, who Marietta surmised was the ‘Terry’ being referenced.

  “I feel shut in.”

  Sarah smiled. “We see that a lot with patients who had the abrupt wake up that you did yesterday. It’s disorienting. IF I can get the doctor to okay it, we’ll take you out to the courtyard in a wheelchair. I know we normally want to have you out of bed, and moving a bit better, and more, before taking you where there’s less resources if something would happen. There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered. We don’t know who you even are yet.” She paused as Marietta’s monitor beeped loudly at her kicked up heart rate. Sarah nodded knowingly. “I’ll see what they say. Can you sit tight for me for a bit?”

  Marietta didn’t want to, but had to ask. “What if they say no?”

  Sarah’s face did an odd half smile, half frown. “Then I’m afraid that the best we’d get to do is take you in the chair down the hall and back,” she paused and winked before continuing. “But, it would get you out of the room for a few minutes, so it’s a step.”

  “Thank you for trying.”

  “We’ll do what we can. Give me a little bit to get an answer.”

  Marietta laid back. She was determined to get going, but not hopeful that she would get the doctor’s blessing to do so. The wait was going to feel like ages, she was sure of that much. The positives were that the male nurse had a name, and she’d gotten confirmation that they didn’t yet have hers. One by one, Marietta became determined to count the pluses. There had been far too many minuses that had landed her here to begin with.

  As the wait drug on, she consoled herself with refining plans to get up, out, and away, in that order. Sarah had said down the hall was a step. Marietta had a half dozen more planned long before the nurse returned with a wheelchair.

  “Looks like it’s going to be down the hall,” Sarah said brightly. “Let’s get you out of this room for a bit. I’ve asked housekeeping to come change your linens while we’re out, and we’ll get you a shower too. Perhaps we can nudge the good doctor for more later today.”

  Marietta hadn’t considered a shower. She’d love a bath to sit and soak, but that would have to wait until she was away somewhere that she felt safe. Somehow, naked in a tub was the ultimate vulnerability in her mind. A shower suddenly sounded like bliss. She’d hold off on the plans she’d been working on in her mind. Clean was a priority that hadn’t made the list before, but now topped it. She wondered for only a moment before b
lurting out her next question. “Any chance of some pajamas, or sweats, or at least underwear? I see I’m not hooked up to much. This half dress you have me in…”

  Sarah laughed loudly. “As you came in with nothing besides the clothes you had on, I’m not sure what we can do on that front, but I’ll try. Let’s get you cleaned up and out first. One step at a time.”

  “Thank you.”

  Sarah winked, dipping in closer before answering. “I get it. I don’t know what the answer is, but I get it and will try.”

  Marietta nodded. “Then let’s get moving. You had my attention at clean.”

  TEN

  Taylen winced as they fit the upper body immobilizer around her torso. The only pieces of her that had been unscathed by the blast had been her arms. That small detail was in fact a very big deal as it was going to allow her to leave the hospital as soon as she could manage to work with crutches and assistance. The leg braces would go away eventually, but the rod and pins in her left leg would likely be permanent. She didn’t allow herself to worry over if they would become a complication down the road or not. She knew she could not stay prone in bed, and the idea of a wheelchair was only marginally better. She needed to move, even if it hurt.

  Travis, the physical therapist, was optimistic that she would be moving in no time, but cautioned her that it was going to be painful for a while. She slammed her teeth together to keep from crying out as they moved her to stand for the first time. Andrej watched, his face a mask as he stared unblinkingly at her. She wanted to say something, anything really, but kept her lips pressed firmly together to hold back the wail that threatened. She would have to be every bit the ‘tough nut’ her father had always called her to do what needed doing now. She wanted desperately to know if her worst fears were reality or a trick of her ears. If Hastings was the Eli that the men from the boat had mentioned, what more was there? She had to know.