Forcing my body still, though my heart pounded inside me like a racehorse, I searched everywhere and then searched again.
In the back of my mind, there was a ticking clock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
If I didn’t find her soon, she would likely disappear forever.
I shouldn’t have brought her here. I should have stayed glued to her side.
Enough! I silenced all the screaming thoughts in my head and demanded my eyes to see.
There. A shift of movement, a little bit of bright in the night.
That yellow slicker was ugly as sin, but it had probably just saved her life.
Blinking, my eyes adjusted as I started forward, nearly tripping over my own feet. Her body was limp and lifeless. The man all in black carried her like a rag doll that belonged in the trash.
White-hot anger unlike anything I’d ever felt before blew up behind my eyes. Tears rushed to the back, trying to put out the flames but managing only to blur my vision.
It didn’t matter. I wouldn’t lose sight of her. I would keep my eyes on her even if I were blind.
“Ivory!” I roared, sprinting forward.
The man hauling her stiffened, glancing in my direction.
I didn’t waste my energy on threats because I was past threatening.
Sensing my deadly manner, he turned away, lifting the limp little duck nearly over his head.
“Nooo!” I screamed, fear almost buckling my knees.
Horror overcame me as her slight, defenseless body met air, flying high for only a moment before plummeting, hitting the water with a splash, and being tugged down into its dark depths.
A sound that could only be described as animalistic ripped free as I rushed toward the water, hell-bent on pulling her out.
A man cloaked all in black materialized in front of me, readying his stance as if he could stop me from getting by.
No one would stop me. Not even this harbinger of death.
Taking note of his posture, I shifted, leaping into the air as he lunged, my feet propelling me out of reach as I spun into a flip, landing with a smack behind him.
A sudden loud gasp and some clumsy splashing practically made me weep with relief when I saw Ivory’s dark head pop above the surface of the water.
Cough. Cough. “Help!” Splash. Splash. “Help!”
“Ivory!” I roared. “Hang on!”
Something hard and firm hit me dead center in my back, knocking me onto my knees. I rolled with the hit, spinning around and kicking out one leg, tripping the asshole trying to stop me from saving her.
He fell but rolled into it, leaping right back up onto his feet.
Cough, cough.
I could practically hear her drowning. The sound would haunt me the rest of my days.
I can’t let her die. I can’t be responsible for one more death.
Surging forward, I moved to leap into the water, but a hand grabbed my slicker, pulling me back onshore.
“Fuuuck!” I screamed, ripping at the buttons and shedding the layer.
Something hard and heavy slammed into the back of my head.
“Ungh.” I gurgled as white light and darkness exploded behind my eyes.
Dark water came fast, plowing into my face and body as I smacked into the wall of river, everything burning, but I couldn’t quite care.
For long seconds, everything went quiet, the muffling effect of the water muting everything else. My eyes were open, but I couldn’t see. Cold penetrated suddenly, stinging my fingers and nose. The back of my head exploded in pain as warmth seeped out of my skull.
Something grabbed me, yanking me up, heaving me out of the water to drop me like abandoned trash on the pavement.
Through half-open, blurry eyes, I saw a shadow pause before slipping away, leaving us there to die.
Us.
Ivory.
Immense, thunderous pain echoed through me, and it seemed to take forever to form a single thought. But it was okay because all my thoughts were a single word, and I knew what I had to do.
Rolling over with a heave, I blinked the water and maybe blood out of my eyes at where she was slipping beneath the surface.
“Here,” I croaked. “Ivory, come toward me.”
Her pale hand stretched out for mine, but the distance between us was still too great.
Crawling farther toward the water, I moved until I was mostly hanging off the divider, stretching as far as I could go.
She made a sound, and I made one back. And then her hand slapped against mine, my fingers automatically grabbing on to never let go.
My body didn’t want to work. I felt my brain and limbs begging to shut down. I denied the urge because I was it for Ivory. If I succumbed, then she would too.
Muscles burning with effort, mind nearly numb with pain, I pulled and shifted until her hand slapped the divider I lay across and she hefted her drenched, shivering form out of the water, falling beside mine.
“Neo!” She gasped, her voice sounding so far away.
I felt my lips try to smile. I hoped my muscles listened. Even dripping wet with no color at all, she was achingly beautiful. More beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before.
“You’re okay,” I slurred, eyes growing heavy.
Her palm slid against my face, but I couldn’t feel it, just as I couldn’t hear whatever words she said.
“You’re safe now,” I repeated, relief draining the rest of determination from my limbs.
Her face was the last thing I saw before there was nothing at all.
36
Huntsman
* * *
The business of killing paid well, and that’s how I looked at this. As a business.
Every business had standards. A set of rules to follow.
Never compromise your identity.
Never kill for the same person twice.
Always get paid half up front.
Do your research on your target.
Finished your research? Do more.
Only kill who you are paid to kill.
Always finish the job.
And above all: Never make it personal.
I’d never had a problem following this simple code of conduct.
Until now.
Until keeping one rule compromised the others. Until this no longer felt like a business, but a nightmare I couldn’t escape.
37
Ivory
* * *
Concussion.
Ten stitches.
I’d never been more afraid in my entire life. And not because I almost died, but because Neo did it all because he was trying to save me.
My life wasn’t worth his, and if he wasn’t lying here unconscious, I would tell him exactly that.
I was frightened. Exhausted. I’d had just about enough of all of this.
And this hospital was… primitive.
The chair was pulled so close to the bed the arm would leave a dent in the mattress. The air was cold and sterile and there were no extra blankets, so all of the ones we had, I made sure covered Neo. He was still and silent, something I had never seen.
Something I never wanted to see again.
Usually oozing with sarcasm, mischief, and even sometimes with sadness, he always sparkled with life. His normally luminous eyes were hidden from me, all his secrets locked up tight with no chance of me finding the key.
Vivid images assaulted me, and I curled into a ball. I’d been drowning, slowly losing the battle with the waves, but I’d barely noticed because he’d been ashore, screaming my name and literally flipping over a killer just to come and save me.
The hit to the back of his head should have knocked him out instantly. The doctor said if it had been just a little to the left, he might have died right there.
Neo didn’t die or pass out. He pushed through the obvious splitting pain, the life pouring from his wound, and pulled me from the water before allowing himself to slip away.
I’d never met anyone so selfless in all my
life.
Body still tight in a ball, I leaned against the mattress, resting my head near his prone body. A relaxed hand lay at his side, and I stared at it, marveling at the length of each digit and the strength I knew they possessed. Slowly, my own hand slid over the blanket, one finger reaching for his, hooking around his pinky and holding on tight.
“Please wake up,” I whispered. “Please be okay.”
A soft groan answered, and my body shot up to stare at his face.
His eyes were still closed, but his face was no longer relaxed. His brows furrowed in what could be pain, and his lips tugged into a grimace.
He groaned again, and butterflies erupted beneath my ribs.
“Neo,” I whispered, watching him intently. “Neo, wake up.”
Slowly, his lashes fluttered, opening only to recoil from the light. “Wh-what happened?” He groaned, raising a hand to press it against his forehead.
“Oh, Neo.” I tried not to sob, but the relief of seeing him moving and awake was almost more than my heart could bear.
Thank goodness he was all right. Thank goodness my world could remain splashed with color.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and his shoulders lifted off the mattress. The abrupt movement caused pain and made him wince, but he ignored it, grasping my face between his startling warm palms so slightly unfocused eyes could scour every inch.
“Are you okay, princess? Tell me you’re okay.” His voice was raspy, and it made my heartbeat wild.
“I’m okay.” The words were watery like my eyes, my lower lip quivering.
“Ah, sweetheart,” he whispered, caressing the side of my head.
I started to cry even though I tried very hard not to.
His body lowered back to the mattress, but he still held my face so I was pulled along with him. My cheek pillowed against his chest, and I sniffled then gasped, pulling back.
“You’re hurt!”
“My head, not my chest,” he said, reaching for me again.
Leaning over the bed, I let him press my face against his chest. The sound of his heart was a lullaby.
Grunting with dissatisfaction, he tugged on my shoulder. “Closer.”
My lashes were heavy and wet when I lifted my head.
“Come here.” He beckoned, patting the space beside him.
I gasped and glanced at the curtain pulled around the bed, shutting us off from all the other beds lined around the room.
“Please.”
Giving in, I crawled onto the bed, fitting myself against his body and melting immediately when his arm slid around my waist, holding me tight.
“Are you okay?” he whispered softly, lips grazing my forehead.
“Now that you’re awake, I am.”
“How long have I been out?” he murmured, the sound of his voice giving me goose bumps.
“We’ve been here about an hour.”
There was a pause and then, “Here…?” Lifting his head, he took in his surroundings for the first time.
“We’re at the hospital.”
“What?” he yelled, making us both flinch.
“Don’t you yell at me,” I admonished, pulling back to sit up and glare.
“Why did you bring me to a hospital?”
“Because you were unconscious and bleeding so much.” I felt my lip wobble again and willed it to behave. “You almost died saving me, and I’m so angry with you!”
His lips tried to pull into a smile, so he pursed them instead. “You’re angry at me?” He pointed to himself as though I wouldn’t know who he meant.
“What were you thinking fighting that man like that?” I smacked him in the chest.
“I’m a patient!”
“More like a test subject. This place is foul.” I sniffed. “If you weren’t bleeding so bad, I would have insisted we take you somewhere else.”
“We?” His brows shot up, making him cringe again.
“Kraken and the other gentlemen brought us here. After you pulled me out of the water, I screamed and they came running. Thank goodness for them because I wouldn’t have known what to do.”
“Did you tell them someone is trying to kill you?”
“Of course not,” I rebuked, looking away.
“Ivory…” He growled a warning.
“Well, they might have figured it out because when we checked in, I gave them my name.”
“What?”
“The nurses wouldn’t admit you without some sort of paperwork and insurance. You were unconscious, and I only have one name…”
He groaned. “So they know who you are.”
“I’d already decided to go back home.” I reasoned. “I can’t disappear if I don’t have anywhere to disappear to.”
“You should have told me.”
“I just did.”
“Before now.”
“You were unconscious.”
His stern look made my shoulders slump. We both knew what he meant.
“I wanted a little more time with you,” I whispered. “I wasn’t ready to go back home yet.”
“And now you are.” His tone brought up my eyes. There was softness there but also distance.
A sense of longing curled through my veins. “Now I don’t really have a choice.”
Pushing into a sitting position, Neo gingerly fingered the back of his head. “How many?”
“Ten.”
“What the fuck did he hit me with?” He wondered.
“Please don’t ever do that again.”
Hand falling away from his head, the dark orbs I’d longed so desperately to see just minutes ago focused solely on me. I loved the weight of his stare, the depth.
“Do what?”
“Risk yourself for me.”
“I won’t ever stand by and watch you slip away.”
I sighed. “Neo.”
Abruptly, the curtain closing off the rest of the world was ripped aside, and Kraken stuck his head inside. His beard seemed even more unruly under the hospital light. “The press is here,” he said, eyes so wide we could see white all around the brown. “You really are her.” His voice was awed as he looked me over.
“Hold them off,” Neo said, pushing back the blankets covering his legs.
“Neo! Your head!”
“Has stitches,” he said, bare feet slapping onto the floor. “I’m fine.”
“You need to lie back down.” I fussed, hovering around him like I would catch him if he pitched over.
I probably wouldn’t be able to catch him. I’d try, though.
Neo pinned Kraken with a look that made me draw back, and Kraken cleared his throat. “I’ll hold ‘em off as long as I can.” And then he disappeared, curtain swaying with the force of his exit.
“Did you mean it?” he asked, voice taking on an almost desperate tone.
“Mean what?” I echoed, watching him find his wet boots and jam his feet inside.
The rest of him was wearing a hospital gown.
It was his most ridiculous look to date.
“You want more time with me.”
Wide, sincere eyes searched mine, imploring for the truth.
The truth was all I had to give. I didn’t like to lie. “Yes.”
Emotion passed over his features, and then he was reaching for my hand, pulling me away from the bed in the opposite direction from which Kraken had gone.
People looked up from their beds, seeing a woman with a pair of scrubs and wet hair being led away by a man wearing only a giant bandage on his head, a hospital gown, and a pair of wet boots.
“Neo,” I said, still clutching tight to his hand despite the ridiculousness of this situation. “Where are we going? Now that news of me being alive is out, they will find me.”
The elevator doors slid closed, the car smoothly sliding down toward the ground floor.
He tugged, bringing my body flush against his. “Just a little more time,” he murmured, brushing the pad of his thumb over my lip.
“Okay.” I agree
d. “But where will we go?”
He smiled. “I know a place.”
38
Neo
* * *
Riding a subway in nothing but a hospital gown?
One star. Do not recommend.
But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. And when big blue eyes look at you and rose-red lips wish they had more time… your naked bum runs out of a hospital and onto the subway.
To be fair, I’d done far worse in the subway.
Don’t ask me what. Some secrets I’ll take to the grave.
“We look ridiculous,” Ivory muttered, tugging the green scrub top around her as if it would somehow make her less visible.
“At least you have pants.”
A hand pressed against her lips, muffling the giggle shaking her slight frame.
I couldn’t help it. I smiled. “You look good in scrubs.”
Making a face, her hand fell from her lips. “This is definitely not something I care to wear again.”
“Our clothes were drenched, huh?”
Her throat worked, and both hands twisted in her lap. “Yours were also covered in blood.”
The bandage on her injured finger must have fallen off, and it caught my eye as she wrung her hands. The skin was still raw and red. The place where the nail should have been was angry and sore-looking.
Her anxious movements stilled when my one hand fit over both of hers. Without words, gently untangling her fingers, I brought one hand into my lap, cradling it tenderly.
“Why are you warmer than me when you have on less clothes?” She wondered, staring at our attached hands.
“Because when you’re beside me, my heart beats extra fast.”
“When I told the doctor you stayed awake long enough to pull me out of the water, he was shocked. He said you should have passed out right away.”
“You needed me.”
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t the words that meant so much to me. It was the sincerity behind them and the way she punctuated such a simple phrase by resting her head on my shoulder.
We rode the rest of the way in silence, my hand holding hers, my shoulder supporting her head.
Ivory White : A House of Misfits Standalone Page 19
