“That’s why it’s called that. It has the ability to destroy the world and the rest of the universe.”
“Oh, hell to the fucking no. And I was wearing that thing around my neck? What in the world? Who the hell are you people? And don’t you dare give me some kind of bullshit answer here.”
Our eyes link and I say nothing.
“You’re not like me, are you?” she asks.
She’s finally catching on. My head oscillates slowly.
“Please don’t bullshit me.”
“This is no bullshit, sweetheart. That’s why we need to get to Tara before the Shaurok. Now I have to go. Stay with Edge. He’ll keep you safe while we’re gone.”
“Jesus, now I wish you hadn’t told me.”
“I’ll ask Rafe about your things.”
“Is there Wi-Fi here?”
“Wi-Fi?”
“Yeah, so I can get on the internet?”
“Serena, there’ll be none of that for now. You can be tracked that way, and that wouldn’t do at all for your safety.”
She frowns. “No, that wouldn’t be safe, would it?”
When I get to the bedroom door, I turn to her and say, “I’ll be back.” Why do I feel so guilty? I’m only trying to help her. Because I scared the shit out of her and … enough. I march back to the sec center where Rafe practically tears my head off when I walk through the door.
“Where the hell have you been? The fucking Shaurok are in Durham!”
“What?”
“You heard me. We need to go. Now.”
“Right. Take Verus and Andros.”
Rafe shakes his head. “You misunderstand me. There are at least fifteen of them. In several gangs. We all have to go. Now.”
“Fifteen! They’ve never travelled with so many.”
“Yes they did. When they were searching for Juliette Hart.”
“Where did you put Serena’s things?”
“In the storage closet off the kitchen. But she won’t be needing most of it.”
“I told her about Judgment Day.”
“About damn time. We need to go!”
All of a sudden my neck is killing me. “Yeah. Give me another minute.”
“We don’t have a fucking minute, Sabin. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Don’t ask. I need to … can you just handle this?”
“No!” he asks. “Pull your shit together.”
“My shit is pulled together. Our little miss over there is one damn … aw, hell. Never mind. I’ll handle her. Just go and I’ll do the guiding from this end. Someone needs to stay behind anyway. I sure as fuck can’t have her out there. She is no meek thing, let me tell you.”
Of all the reactions I expect from Rafe, laughter wasn’t one of them. But the fucker throws his damn head back and howls. Yes, howls. Like I’ve never heard him.
“What in the hell is so funny?”
He can’t even answer me, because now the bastard is doubled over. He’s so loud, the rest of the men have stopped what they’re doing and are now staring at us. Bloody fucking hell, the SOB is making a scene. He knows I don’t do scenes. Ever. Unless I’m the one making them.
“Stop!” I use the voice. The one that makes my team shudder. It has no effect on Rafe. The rest of the seven raise their brows. This is not good. I clamp my hand on his shoulder and shove. “Do I have to beat the laughter out of you to get you to stop?” Now my voice is low, and deadly. This time it has the desired effect. Rafe straightens up and looks me square in the eyes.
“No. But the girl has gotten to you. Worse than Juliette. She’s under your skin, Sabin.” He grins again.
Juliette. I’m beginning to think she was a cupcake compared to Serena. Thinking back to the night Juliette stood outside and called us all a bunch of chicken shits because we would never show ourselves to her makes me want to grin. But Serena, she would haul off and throw a jab and not even bother to yell.
“Whatever. We have a job to do and I can’t leave her alone. She’s trouble, Rafe. If I take her to Durham, I have no doubt it will become a shit show.”
“Sabin, are you telling me you can’t control her?”
“No. I’ve got this handled.”
While I’m running through different scenarios in my head, Rafe says, “We have to go. That friend of hers may be in trouble soon. The last thing we want is for the Shaurok to get Judgment Day.”
“Go. I’ll monitor things here.”
“No. We need your fighting skills. Edge needs to stay, as planned.”
“Okay.” I yell for Edge and tell him what to do. “You’re in charge here and you need to protect Serena.”
The men gear up and I tell them I’ll meet them in a few minutes.
Serena is sitting on the edge of the bed when I return.
“Hello.”
She looks up from the floor. Something must have been very interesting down there.
“Rafe put your things in the storage closet in the kitchen. If you’d like, you can go get them. I have to leave for a bit. Edge is in the sec center and will protect you while I’m away.” She licks her lips and it’s distracting. Everything about her is distracting. “Go and join him in there.”
“I didn’t think I was allowed in there.”
“Change of rules.” I walk away. This is ridiculous. It’s time for me to get my head on straight. Why is it every time she opens her mouth, I get a damn hard on? By the time I join the rest of the team in Durham, they are getting ready to move on Tara Miller’s apartment.
“Do you have any info on the girl—that Tara Miller yet?” I ask.
“She’s not home. We’re going in now,” Rafe says.
Edge monitors every move the team makes. “You have four gangs of Shaurok moving toward you,” he lets us know. “Sabin, Rafe, you don’t have much time.”
“Moving in now,” Rafe responds.
“Go, go, go,” I command. “Take four men. Exterminate them and then find Judgment Day. Whoever gets to it first, send it back with one, but I want the rest of you to terminate the remaining Shaurok. Dust those mothers. That’s an order.”
“Yes, sir. Hear you loud and clear,” Verus answers.
“Don’t forget to do a memory wash on Tara Miller, if she comes in when we’re inside,” I remind him.
“Will do, Sabin.”
“Keep us in your sight lines, Edge.”
“I’ve got all of you on visual,” he responds.
The surveillance has Tara’s apartment scanned from all angles. Edge observes, and says he detects some motion from the rear. He commands the complink to bring the visual in closer and tells us another gang of Shaurok is moving in.
“Sabin, you’ve got a problem. Get the rest of the men to Tara Miller’s. Another gang is approaching from the rear.”
I give the order and the rest of the men divert. I can barely breathe because I know in moments a terrible battle will ensue. And as much as I know my men are trained, I hate to see their lives in danger.
“What’s happening?” I can hear Serena ask Edge.
“You may want to leave,” he tells her.
I can’t deal with Serena right now. I snap, “Get her the fuck out of there, Edge!”
Too late. The Shaurok and my men engage. If she looks at the screen, she’ll recognize her underwater attackers. Then I hear her yell, “That’s them. The things that attacked me!”
We’re outnumbered. The Shaurok stream in from all directions.
“Rafe, behind you,” Edge yells.
Rafe spins and executes a move that decapitates his attacker. Then he moves on to the next one.
“Verus, drop,” Edge instructs.
Verus drops, rolls, then comes up behind the one that was getting ready to rip his neck apart. With a lunge, he pierces the body with his weapon and the Shaurok lies dead at his feet. Two down, six to go. The fight continues, with Edge barking directions out to the men, and them following, until all the Shaurok are annihilated.
“That’s Ta
ra’s apartment,” Serena cries out. “How did they get there so fast?”
I don’t respond. I need an all clear from my team. Right now, I don’t give a shit about her dumbass friend. My ears are open for more instructions from Edge. When my men turn the Shaurok to dust, and they vanish into nothingness, I hear Serena ask, “What did they do to them? Where’d they go?”
“Rafe, an accounting, please?”
“All good, Sabin. We’re heading in.”
“Edge, anything else out there?”
“No. Looking good right now,” he answers.
“Got it. And thanks for the heads up. You saved our asses.”
“That’s my job. Let me do one more thorough scan. Okay, you’re good for now.”
I give the order to continue on.
Edge’s voice comes to me again with bad news. More Shaurok are heading toward us. Another gang of five this time, about a quarter of a mile away. Damn, they’re not giving up, persistent fuckers. Well, if it’s a fight they want, I guess they’re going to get one. The question is, how long can we keep this up until Tara Miller gets back or until we find the damn necklace?
They’re damn relentless. Every time we take a gang of them out, another one shows up.
“Rafe, get in there and do a thorough search. The rest of us will handle these mothers.”
Rafe goes inside and the Shaurok are all over our shit. I’m taking hits all over the place, but my shoulders take the brunt of it. Edge yells at Verus and Helios to assist me, but the Shaurok do their worst before my guys nail them. I can barely stand, much less breathe, by the time those fuckers lie dead at my feet. My head was not in this fight and there’s only one reason. Serena. I have to blank her out, or I’ll more than likely end up a dead man.
Edge’s voice comes to me and I’m having trouble understanding him. Things are turning hazy. I think my O2 levels are dropping. What the fuck! I’ve never been this bad before. It may be time to get out of here.
Six
Serena
Sabin tells me to stay with the one called Edge in the sec center. As I do, I watch things unfold and I’m not sure I want to see them. The bad thing is, I can’t seem to rip my eyes away from all the screens that hang suspended in the air like magic. Edge is giving the men information on where the Shaurok, those creepy things that attacked me, are located. Several skirmishes erupt and the fighting is vicious. Sabin’s men are quite fierce, cutting the Shaurok down and killing them quickly. In fact, they move so fast, it’s difficult to follow and I’m not even sure what they use to kill them. But it’s astounding when their bodies simply disappear, like they never existed. Things don’t add up here. And how the hell did they get to Durham so fast?
Suddenly, Edge says, “Sabin, Rafe, you’ve got more uninvited company.”
“What? I thought we got them all,” Rafe answers.
“A gang of seven just arrived. Looks like they’re not giving in so easily here. Your unwanted guests are about to ring your doorbell.”
The door to Tara’s apartment crashes in and Sabin and his men pour out, as they combat those disgusting creatures. Their eyes creep me out so much. They remind me of zombies, even though I know that’s silly. But then again, with everything I’ve been exposed to over the last twenty-four hours, maybe it isn’t.
As I watch, my stomach knots because Sabin is taking quite a beating. He has two of those Shaurok things attacking him and it’s rough going. He jumps between those things and his men, trying to protect his men from harm.
Edge yells out, “Verus, Helios, get to Sabin. Now!”
This Verus guy—he’s one I haven’t met—does this incredible leap. It takes him over the heads of several Shaurok as they fight and he assists Sabin in taking down his opponents. How did he do that?
“Wow. That was some move,” I say. Edge doesn’t comment.
“Sabin, you okay?” Edge asks, his voice shrouded with concern.
Sabin works both shoulders, like he may be in pain.
“Sabin, I need an answer,” Edge prods.
“Give me a minute.”
“No. You need to return to base.”
“No. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re not fine. Return to base immediately. Rafe, take over for Sabin.”
Rafe runs out of Tara’s apartment and yells, “Sabin, get back to base. Now.”
Seconds later, Sabin stumbles through the door.
Edge glances at me and says, “Serena, I can’t leave my post. I have to monitor the activity out there. Take Sabin into the kitchen. There’s a medical kit in there. He’ll tell you what needs to be done.”
“Medical kit. I don’t know …”
Edge cuts me off and clips, “You will. Now!” Then he yells out to Sabin, “Serena will take care of you. Tell her what to do.”
Sabin’s response is hoarse. “Yeah, sure.”
When I get to Sabin, he doesn’t look so good. His normally tawny face is ashen. “Are you okay?” Of course he’s not okay. He looks like death on a pancake and it scares me.
“I will be. Can you give me a hand?” he asks, his voice a weakened shadow of what it was earlier.
Really? He’s like helping a mighty oak. “Sure.” When he takes my hand, I feel him shaking. Air wheezes in and out of him as we walk. “Hey, you need to lie down.” His injuries must be really awful.
“Humph.” This awful sound comes out of him. Then, “Kitchen. Fast.”
When we get here, he tells me where the medical kit is as he tumbles backwards into a chair. I grab the kit and open it, but I don’t see bandages or any of the usual stuff, just an array of odd-looking silver gizmos. By now he’s gasping for air. He points to a little square thing and then tells me to plug this wire to it. I follow his wheezy instructions. The wire attaches to some kind of patch that adheres to his chest. When I press it on him, his eyes flutter shut. I watch his chest rise and fall and almost immediately, I see that it’s getting easier and easier for him to breathe.
“You’re gonna have to cut off my shirt.” His voice sounds somewhat stronger yet still weary. “There should be a small cylinder in the kit.”
After a brief search, I hold a silver tube up that looks like a lipstick. “This?”
“Yes. Aim it at my shirt and press the end of it. It will cut through the fabric.”
I inspect the tube and locate the end I’m supposed to press. Starting at his collar, I point it and the material just splits open. It’s something to watch. I go down both arms, and then in front of his chest. His shirt falls apart. Now it’s my turn to gasp for air. “Jesus. What in the … oh God.” My head starts to swim. I grab the table to keep from falling.
His hand latches onto my arm. “Stay with me, Serena. I need you right now and if you faint on me, Edge will have to leave his station. Take a deep breath.”
“But you need to go to the hospital. Your … is that bone and …? Oh, my fuck. Oh, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.”
“If you follow my instructions, I’ll be fine momentarily.”
“What do you mean? Your guts are hanging out and you’re bleeding. Look! And your bones are shooting through your skin!” I start to gag. “I’m gonna puke.” My hand covers my mouth.
But I don’t. “Look into my eyes.” His voice comes to me in my head, convincing me I’m fine, and for whatever reason, I am.
“Good girl.” He rests his arm on the table and leans his head on his hand. “Now you need to look for another gadget. It looks like the cylinder, but bigger, much like a small flashlight.”
I know exactly which one he means because I recall seeing it earlier. I grab it and wait for my next set of instructions.
“This is the tough part—for me, not you.” He grimaces and my skin pricks with needles. “This is where it hurts like hell. That thing you hold in your hand will mend all the shit you see. But it’s not fun.”
“Is there something I can give you for pain? Please say yes. I don’t want you to hurt any more than you do.”
�
�There is, but by the time it kicks in, this will be over. So it’s not worth it. I don’t have time to wait, either. The device works like the one used to cut off my shirt. But this time you’re going to wave it back and forth in a continuous motion wherever you see any wounds. Any questions?”
“Do I go fast or slow?”
“You’ll be able to tell by the rate of healing. And one thing, don’t let any sounds I make stop your motion. This needs to be done quickly so I can help the team. Are you with me?”
Oh, God, I don’t know if I can do this. It’s like amputating someone’s leg. You know they need it but you also know it’s going to be excruciating for them.
“Serena, the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be finished.”
Grimacing, I say, “I know, but I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Sweetheart, look into my eyes.”
“Swear to me you won’t do any of that mumbo jumbo crap.”
Sabin groans. “I can’t because I don’t know what that is.”
I look into his eyes, his unbelievable eyes, and he says, “Do it now, Serena.”
His chest and abdomen are pulverized. Torn flesh hangs in places and pieces of bone jut out. Bone chips are embedded in the flesh and I wonder for one fleeting moment how any man could withstand what he did. Then I begin. Back and forth, up and down, I wave that small device over his body and watch in amazement as his flesh binds and meshes together right before my eyes. But then I hear what I wish I didn’t—the sound of his ribs growing back together, his sternum healing. It makes me want to vomit again. Sabin’s hand grips the side of the table until it crumbles. Sweat pours down his face. I stop for a minute and grab a towel to wipe his cheeks.
“Keep going. I can deal with the sweat. Both of my shoulders are separated. I need to …” he stops for a breath. And I continue. When his chest appears mended, I move down to his abdomen, and then on to one shoulder and then the next. When I’m finished, he raises his arms, then flexes them.
“All good?” I ask. My hands quiver as I hold that small life-saving gadget.
“My back.”
I didn’t see his back because he was facing me. When I do, I marvel that the man could even make it back here on his own two feet. He leans forward in the chair, so I can finish up. Finally, he’s as good as new.
The Hart Brothers Series Box Set (Including the bonus book Sabin: A Seven Novel): Freeing Her, Freeing Him, Kestrel, The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart, Sabin: A Seven Novel Page 121
