Benny eased Harper behind him and grabbed her hand. “Phoenix, this ain’t what you think.”
Phoenix raised a brow. “You’re not helping her escape?”
Harper retreated a step, dragging Benny back with her.
“No way, man. I just wanted to…you know…have some fun with her before you offed her.”
A credible lie delivered with the skill of a master. But it still wasn’t good enough.
Phoenix shook his head. “That’s no better than trying to help her escape, I’m afraid. I don’t like to share what’s mine.”
Harper was about to remind him—using only four-letter words and hand gestures—that she was in no way, shape, or form his when Benny guided her hand to his back pocket.
Well, this is hardly the time to try to cop a cheap feel, she thought. But then her fingertips touched something that made her regret not slipping Benny the tongue when she had the chance.
He had a knife in his back pocket.
With only the slightest of movements, she eased the knife—a switchblade—out of his pocket and slid it up into the sleeve of her blouse.
As Phoenix came down two more steps, Benny let go of her hand. She took advantage of her freedom by slinking back to the furthest corner of the basement and pressing her spine to the wall.
Harper had to give Benny credit. For a small guy with questionable morals to face down a practiced killer like Phoenix—on her behalf—took a level of guts Harper hadn’t realized he possessed. Benny didn’t budge an inch as Phoenix moved toward him.
“You don’t have to hurt her to get to Riddick,” Benny said quietly.
“Of course I don’t have to. But what fun would it be if I didn’t? I wouldn’t have to hurt you, either…”
With a movement so fast Harper couldn’t be sure she’d seen it, Phoenix struck out and snapped Benny’s neck. He tossed him aside like a used bath towel.
Harper could barely hear above the sound of her own blood roaring in her ears. She knew Benny would recover—broken bones didn’t mean much to the undead, even halfers—but he’d need time.
She was on her own.
Phoenix finished making his way down the steps and sauntered toward her.
“Are you ready for me, darling?”
She let the switchblade slide down to her palm. “Come and get me if you think you’re man enough.”
As soon as he stepped within striking distance, Harper flipped the blade open and swung it in a wide arch, catching him across the cheekbone. He stopped. His eyes widened in shock and his hand flew to his cheek.
After his initial surprise, a slow smile crept over his face. The smile—God help her—appeared genuine.
As he continued to stare at her, smiling, Harper felt her blood pressure spike higher and higher. If she didn’t get out of there quick, she was going to have a stroke before Phoenix could kill her.
Phoenix pulled his fingers away from his wound and licked the blood off each one, deliberately holding her gaze while he did it. She cringed. God, what a creepy bastard.
“I like a woman who fights back. And you will scream for me, darling.”
She raised the knife and gave him a come-closer gesture with her free hand. “Maybe you’ll scream for me, asshole.”
He lunged for her and she dodged left. With her right foot, she kicked out, catching his left knee. When he grunted in surprise and clutched his knee, she darted for the staircase.
She’d made it to the second step when he grabbed her ankle. Harper went down with a yelp, landing hard on her wrist. She heard the bone snap, but fortunately, she had far too much adrenaline surging through her veins to feel any pain.
Phoenix fisted his hand in her hair and yanked her viciously up and back against his chest. The knife clattered to the floor.
With one arm across her shoulders, and one around her waist, Phoenix held her so that her feet didn’t touch the ground. She squirmed and fought against his hold with all her strength, but it wasn’t enough. He tightened his grip to the point that she could barely breathe.
“What do you think now, darling? Ready to scream for me?”
“That’s not going to be necessary.”
Phoenix—still holding Harper in front of him like a shield—faced Riddick. Harper blinked twice, hoping beyond all hope that she wasn’t hallucinating.
Riddick stood not ten feet away with a crossbow trained on Phoenix’s head, which was, unfortunately, just an inch above her own.
“Riddick, you’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” Phoenix taunted. “I was sure it would take you days to find us. You’re ruining my quality time with your little whore.”
Harper’s desperate gaze moved from his tousled hair to the toes of his black boots and up again. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked to be a good twelve hours past a five-o-clock shadow, and she’d be willing to bet he hadn’t slept a wink or showered in the past twenty-four hours. He was still the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.
The crossbow remained pointed at Phoenix, but she felt Riddick’s gaze moving over her, silently looking for wounds and assessing damage. When his eyes met hers, she had no idea how to convey to him that she was okay. Without really meaning to, she whispered his name.
His jaw tensed and his lips thinned. His gaze shifted to Phoenix, and she’d never seen his blue eyes look so cold.
“It’s not her you want,” Riddick said quietly. “Let her go so we can fight this out once and for all.”
Phoenix’s chin dug into the top of Harper’s head as he laughed. “Oh, there was a time when I would have welcomed the opportunity to fight you. Warrior against warrior to the death.”
His arm shifted from Harper’s waist to just below her breasts. She cringed as Phoenix rubbed his nose against her hair.
“But I’m over that now, Riddick. All I want is to see the look on your face when I rip her heart out.”
“You’d be dead before you could even enjoy it.”
Harper shuddered at his savage tone.
Phoenix laughed. “It will be worth it.”
She closed her eyes. This was it. Phoenix wouldn’t let her go, and Riddick couldn’t kill him while she was in front of him like a human shield.
Tears welled in her eyes. Was this really how it was going to end? God, she’d always thought that if she died young, she’d go out in a blaze of glory, not in a basement. Not like this.
She exhaled sharply, getting hold of herself. No freakin’ way was she going down like this.
Using every ounce of fear and adrenaline and rage left within her she started flailing and cursing Phoenix at the top of her lungs. She raised her knees and swung her legs backward, connecting satisfyingly with his shins.
“Bitch!” he yelped, dropping her only enough that her feet touched the ground.
She slammed her elbow backward into his gut. He grunted in pain and wrapped his hands around her throat.
“I’ve grown tired of you, darling,” he hissed in her ear as his hands tightened.
“Harper.”
The panic in Riddick’s voice pierced through her desperation. She stopped struggling.
“Do you trust me?”
She blinked, thrown off guard by the question.
“Do you trust me?” he repeated.
Something told her that her answer was everything to him.
She didn’t really have the best track record when it came to trusting men. Her father, her husband, her fiancé… she’d trusted all of them, and they’d all let her down. Now, she could count the number of men she trusted on one hand.
One finger, actually.
She choked out, “Yes.”
Relief flashed through his eyes. “You won’t regret it,” he whispered as if they were alone in the room.
Phoenix snorted. “Touching, truly. But we both know that trust is irrelevant. There’s nothing you can do save her. If I as much as flinch, she’s dead.”
Riddick’s gaze stayed on hers for a moment, before
slowly shifting back to Phoenix and hardening to flint. “Maybe you won’t.”
“Won’t what?” he sneered.
“Flinch.”
And with that, Riddick took his shot.
Harper felt only a slight breeze as the arrow whizzed right over her head and she found herself dumped on the concrete.
With adrenaline still churning through her veins, she rolled to her knees and looked back at Phoenix. The arrow had caught him right between the eyes, and he now lay twitching on the floor. It would take him several hours to recover from a shot like that.
It wasn’t enough.
Remembering every moment he’d toyed with her, threatened her, and scared the living crap out of her, Harper grabbed the knife, raised it, and buried it with a scream in Phoenix’s groin.
“There, you son of a bitch,” she shouted, “I screamed. Was it as good for you as it was for me?”
He merely twitched a few more times and drooled a little.
Riddick dropped the crossbow and fell to his knees so that they were eye to eye. He looked her over with an assessing eye and ran his hands over her body impersonally, searching for wounds he couldn’t see.
The wrist had already swollen to twice its normal size, and the way she was cradling her ribs told him a few were bruised, if not broken. Bite mark on the neck along with some pretty nasty bruises, split lip, cuts on her wrists from struggling against cuffs…he took a deep breath, every nerve ending in his body screaming to kill the bastard.
Then she smiled at him, and he felt his rage dissolve. “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice breaking.
She nodded. “I am now.” Reaching out with her good hand, she brushed his cheek with the back of her fingers. “You came for me. I knew you would.”
He swallowed hard. “Always. I’ll always come for you, sunshine.”
She fell forward into his arms and he lifted her off the ground, cradling her against his chest. He took his first easy breath in what felt like years as she laid her head on his shoulder and pressed her cold nose into the crook of his neck.
Sirens wailed in the distance. She tried to lift her head, but he forced it back down to his shoulder by laying his cheek against her hair at the crown.
“How did they know what was going on?” she asked. “We hadn’t even called them yet.”
“Your friend Mischa must not have trusted me. I think she called in the cavalry,” he answered wryly.
“Why wouldn’t she trust you?”
He chuckled, picturing her face when he’d left her with Hunter. “I’m sure she’s anxious to tell you all about it.”
Chapter Thirty
Everything happened very quickly after the cavalry arrived.
Benny awakened right about the time the vamp squad arrived. Only Harper’s fast talking saved him from being hauled to jail as Phoenix’s accomplice. He gave his statement at the scene, and thanks to Harper, the media was now billing Benny as the hero who single-handedly slayed the dragon and rescued the damsel in distress.
Riddick was fine with that. Hell, the last thing he needed was his face plastered on TVs and newspapers nationwide. Let the little bastard have the glory.
Unlike Benny, Phoenix didn’t come to when the cops burst in. Based on Harper and Benny’s statements, they’d pumped his inert form full of tranqs and hauled him off to jail to await arraignment.
The paramedics set Harper’s wrist and taped her ribs while she sat on Riddick’s lap because he hadn’t been able to let her go. She hadn’t seemed to mind, either.
And now, hours later, as Riddick sat at Harper’s hospital bedside, he still couldn’t bring himself to let her out of his sight. He’d be in the bed with her if not for fear of disturbing her sleep.
Harper’s nurse, a pretty young black woman named Jama, shuffled into the room, completely ignoring Riddick as she checked her patient’s vitals. After jotting down some notes on Harper’s chart, she glanced pointedly at Riddick, then at her watch.
“Visiting hours are over, darlin’. Time to go.”
Her tone brooked no argument, so he didn’t make one. He gave her a hard look instead.
She took a step backward and let out a sharp hiss of breath. “Ohhhhkaaaay,” she said after a long, tense silence. “We’ll just let security know that visiting hours don’t apply to you.”
Riddick forced his expression neutral. He hadn’t intended to scare the woman. Jerking his head toward Harper, he asked, “How is she?”
As if someone had flipped a switch inside her, Nurse Jama was all business again. Riddick wasn’t surprised. In her line of work, he was sure she’d seen the best and worst of people. To be effective at her job, she had to be able to distance herself emotionally from her patients.
“She’s doing well. Vitals are strong. She’s only sleeping so hard because the doctor gave her a sedative.” Her expression softened. “She your wife?”
“No.”
She cocked her head to one side. “Fiancée?”
He shook his head. “No. I like her way too much to wish that on her.”
She rolled her eyes and snorted. “Yeah, I can see where you’d be pretty tough to take, you poor homely thing.” She shook her head and brushed a stray lock of hair off Harper’s forehead. “Lord save us from men who think they know what we need better than we do, girl.”
Riddick glanced at Harper, wondering how she’d thrown her words into someone else’s mouth. But Harper was still sleeping peacefully.
The nurse replaced Harper’s chart at the foot of the bed and moved toward the door. She glanced over her shoulder. “Mister?”
“Yeah.”
“The cops told me my girl here buried a switchblade in her attacker’s groin. That true?”
Riddick smiled at the memory. “She sure did.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “Doesn’t seem to me like a girl who can survive a serial killer and manage to filet his dick in the process is a girl who needs to be sheltered. From you or anybody else.”
He considered a reply, but when he turned to deliver it, she was gone.
With a sigh, Riddick gently picked up Harper’s hand and cradled it between his own. He understood what the nurse was saying, and part of him agreed. Harper was a tough, self-sufficient woman who’d managed just fine without him for twenty-nine years.
But after only a couple weeks of knowing him, here she was, bloodied and broken in a hospital bed. Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to give up the notion that she needed protection. Especially from him.
Chapter Thirty-One
Anyone who didn’t know Harper Hall would say she was fine. But Riddick did know her, probably better than most, and he knew she was anything but fine.
She’d been home from the hospital for a week. She went through the motions, accepting visits from her friends and family, saying and doing all the right, expected things. But she simply wasn’t there. The light was off in her eyes. She was a shell, existing but not really living.
Riddick recognized the signs. Hell, he'd lived them.
She was turning into him.
He tolerated days of polite, shallow conversation before he decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d be damned if he’d let her end up like him. But he knew someone was going to have to break her down before she could be built up again. Force her to acknowledge what had happened to her and deal with the pain. But while he’d take a bullet for her, he’d never knowingly hurt her.
So, he called the one person he knew was perfect for this particular job. The one person she’d managed to avoid the whole time she was in the hospital and her first week home.
Harper’s mother hit the door with several casserole dishes and a determined look on her face the likes of which Riddick had never seen. That look told Riddick he’d made the right decision.
“Where is she?” Tina asked, shoving the dishes into Riddick’s hands.
“In the bedroom,” he said.
Tina shrugged out of her coat and tossed it on the sofa, th
en strode purposefully to the bedroom.
When she shoved the door open, Harper, who’d been sitting on the bed staring blankly out the window, looked up, and for the first time in days, Riddick saw actual emotion in her eyes.
She was pissed.
Riddick nearly fell to his knees in relief at the sight of those green eyes shooting fire at him.
“I said I wanted to be alone,” she bit out.
“You’ve been alone long enough,” he said quietly.
“Little girl, there’s a lot of things I’ll let you deal with on your own, but this isn’t one of them.” Tina moved to stand in front of her, hands on hips. Harper turned her head back to the window.
“No you don’t, missy,” Tina said, grabbing her daughter’s chin, forcing her to meet her steady, searching gaze.
They stared at each other for a long moment, and whatever she saw in Harper’s eyes—or read in her emotions—caused tears to come to her own. “Oh, baby,” she whispered.
Riddick could tell by the set of Harper’s jaw that she was struggling to keep her emotions in check. But the wall had started to crumble the minute Tina walked in.
Tina sat down on the edge of the bed, not saying another word, and brushed a lock of hair off Harper’s forehead. With that one gesture, Harper broke, flinging herself into her mother’s waiting arms with a sob that damn near tore Riddick’s heart in two.
Feeling like an intruder—and, if he was perfectly honest with himself, unable to watch someone who had become everything to him suffer when he couldn’t do a damn thing to help—Riddick eased quietly out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Almost an hour later, Tina did the same. She took a seat next to Riddick on the couch. “How is she?” he asked.
Tina sighed. “She’ll be fine. She’s sleeping now.”
Riddick felt his gut tighten at her choice of words. Not “she’s fine”, but “she’ll be fine.”
She must have sensed his discomfort, because she smiled at him. “Don’t you worry. That girl is far too stubborn to let anything keep her down for long. She’ll struggle for a little while, then she’ll pull herself up and keep on living her life. I’d like to think that’s partly because of how I raised her, but mostly, it’s just who she is.”
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