Reluctant Protector

by Nana Malone

  Shit. Was he losing his mind? Another image flashed. Him, strapped to a table in a white lab. Cassie lay next to him, unmoving. Peter Reeser stood over him with a scalpel. Seth shivered and his heart raced. More than during the first battle he covered in Afghanistan. He gulped in air and his vision grayed at the periphery. “Cassie, we have to go. They’re coming for us.”

  She gaped at him for ten seconds, but then became a flurry of motion as she dressed. He ground his teeth and shoved himself into a sitting position.

  She slowed to help him. “Maybe we should—”

  “No. If we stay any longer, they'll find us. Find you. We have to go. Or at the very least, you do.”

  She glared at him for several long moments before she donned his dark grey T-shirt. “You might be ready to be rid of me, but a deal's a deal. I'm taking you to a doctor.” She peered at the clock. “It's only six. Good thing the ERs are open all night.”

  He pushed himself into a standing position. Even though his legs were taking their turn in the inferno of fire, at least they weren't in mind-numbing pain. He could walk. He just had to find his clothes.

  “I’m not talking about a doctor, Cassie. You need to leave.” He shook his head, aware of how crazy he sounded. “I can’t explain how I know, but I can see it. More men, they're coming here. They're going to shoot you and kill me. Or shoot us both and take us both. I'm not sure. Either way, bad things happen if we don’t haul ass.”

  She blinked at him with wide eyes. From his current vantage point, she looked even tinier than when he first met her. As if either she was shorter or he was taller.

  Cassie shot one more quizzical look at him then shoved on her jeans. She jammed their dirty clothes into her backpack and swept the first aid kit remains into the garbage. Shaking out his jeans and easing his feet into the legs, Cassie yanked up his waistband and buttoned his fly.

  The pain in his arms gradually decreased, but not before the pain in his legs upped the ante. Though this pain was more a deep ache than sharp knives, the tremors went bone deep. He was dying. Only the possibility of death made him consider his next option. “I know a doctor. She’s about forty miles from here. She’ll see me. That way you won’t have to overuse your power. You didn’t get much sleep.”

  Cassie's cheeks tinged pink and he wanted to smile. Even now, in the throes of the most incredible pain he ever experienced, the dull hum of arousal flooded his veins.

  She quickly wiped down every surface they touched, from the bed side lamps, to the miniscule desk in the corner and the bedside tables. She even swept a cloth over the wood frame of the bed. Her bare feet raced over the worn, beige, carpet as she flew swiftly around the room. “If they’re on their way, they’ll know we've been here. Maybe someone saw us. I pushed the desk clerk, but I was really depleted. Maybe it didn't hold. I'm not willing to take chances though.”

  She propped her shoulder under his arm and holding his waist, she helped him limp to the car. Large puddles welled on the ground, but no rain drops created ripples in the mini lakes. After she slid him into the passenger side, she backed out of their space and floored the gas. All the while, gut tearing pain gnawed at his ribs.

  “This doctor, can you trust her?”

  He clenched his teeth. He wished they didn’t have to entrust Cassie's life to her. “I’m not sure, but we have no choice.”

  Chapter Eight

  Seth was right. As they screeched onto the highway at a wrap-your-car-around-a-tree pace, dark cars with tinted windows approached their hotel. Cassie thanked God the back parking lot kicked them right onto the two-lane freeway. If they had stayed one second longer, they’d both be dead.

  Cassie slid a glance at him in the passenger seat. Seth had started shaking and passed out a half an hour ago. He was going through the transformation, but she couldn't fathom why he would. Unless they’d shot him with something other than Nisulin. What truly astonished her was the precognition. He knew Trackers were coming for them. If she hadn’t given him the benefit of the doubt, she would have been caught. They would have been caught. She oscillated between weaving in and out of traffic like a bat out of hell and coasting behind soccer moms not to draw any attention to their car.

  The real question was how the Trackers had found them. She’d disabled her tracking chip. Maybe she had been careless, missed some detail. Maybe she should have been more worried about their safety than finding out how good it felt to be in Seth’s arms. She flushed and looked at his sleeping frame. His face had also started to change. His cheeks were leaner and his bone structure more pronounced. The muscles around his neck were thicker as well. The change in his pectorals was hard to miss. From gently muscled to bulging.

  As they left the motel, he complained about the pain in his legs. She didn’t doubt they were going through the same transformation as the rest of him. Something was happening to him and she was responsible. The question was why? Was it the solution in those dammed bullets or her healing his wounds? Or perhaps she’d done something to him when they made love. She didn't know how he'd react to the changes. She should have left him behind. So he could be killed? No. For the time being, he was stuck with her.

  Following the directions he gave her before he passed out, Cassie veered toward the exit for Coral Gables. He seemed uncertain about trusting the doctor, but as things stood they had no choice. If they went to an emergency room, explanations would be necessary. She couldn’t just leave him in his current state. Yes, you can. The small voice inside her beseeched her. You could take him to the nearest ER or to his doctor friend, and then drop his ass off and ghost. Except, the mere thought of leaving him behind made her stomach clench and ache.

  On her own, she wouldn't have to worry about protecting him from the Trackers. But she'd gotten him in this mess, and with the way things had changed between them, what they'd already been through, could she walk away and leave him to fend for himself?

  Seth stirred as she drove up to the tidy Spanish-style house. The red, tile roof, smooth stucco siding and deep door opening was complemented by Mediterranean arches above the porch. Each house was a carbon copy of the next, with manicured lawns and professionally landscaped roses, begonias and birds of paradise. Every other house had an Audi, BMW or Mercedes in the driveway.

  Cassie pulled the car into the driveway and made a mental note to move the Jetta once Seth was settled. She wasn't sure if she could leave him behind, but at the very least, she needed to get him inside. When she opened the passenger door, his head rolled in her direction, but his eyes didn’t focus.

  “Looks like there’s more bad news,” Seth mumbled.

  Her nerve endings tingled when she felt him tense. “More Trackers?”

  He shook his head. “I’m blind.”

  Cassie froze. Maybe a side effect of the visions? “I’m sure the sight loss is only temporary.”

  He softly groaned as she pulled him out of the car and wrapped an arm around him, supporting his weight.

  The way his body loomed and bent over her, he looked taller. Not good news. When she first received Peter's treatments all those years ago, nothing happened. But that changed when he started administering them intravenously. Abruptly, her body transformed. She was no longer a gangly adolescent. Muscles had developed overnight. She had been thin and sickly all her life. More skin and bone than anything. Because of the drugs, she’d gained the muscle mass of an athlete. The burning had lasted for a week. She even begged her brother to kill her.

  If Peter found out about Seth, he would slice him open like a man-sized lab rat. She couldn't let that happen.

  She flushed as she considered one likely cause of Seth’s transformation. That sex with her had changed him. Her body tingled all over and her core readied for him when she remembered the way he lapped at her body. She'd been drawn to him when he was just Seth, but now, the attraction was like the magnetic pull of the sun. She stumbled and prayed he wouldn’t ask why she lost her footing.

  He lifted his head and
smirked. “Is it totally weird that I can smell you right now?” His lopsided smile morphed his face into the one she saw when she first met him. “Like citrus and vanilla. It’s delicious.”

  Heat burned through her veins, but she concentrated on the information he just gave her. His olfactory senses were already developing. It might be safer for her to leave him behind, and maybe safer for Seth in the long run. But in the short term while his powers developed, he needed her.

  She pulled him closer to better support him and was assailed by his scent. Woodsy. The damp heat between her thighs intensified and she flushed. So not the time. Get him to the doc, and then get yourself a cold shower.

  She knocked on the door with three quick raps while doing a brief scan of the house. There were no pets and one female in the house. Must be the doctor. When there was no answer, she rapped again using more force. Beside her Seth stiffened. “Are you in more pain?”

  His skin was sallow and green as he spoke. “In a manner of speaking.”

  When footsteps drew nearer, she let out a long breath. The door swung open and a tall brunette stood inside the threshold. She wore Mickey Mouse pajama bottoms and a plain white T-shirt, hair tousled like she just left the bed.

  Cassie didn’t have her shields up, so the woman’s immediate shock, filtered through Cassie’s consciousness.

  “Yes? How can I help you?” she asked, her voice wary.

  “Dr. Lisa Trenery? I'm sorry to trouble you, but Seth needs medical attention. He refused to go to the emergency room and insisted we come here.” She slid a glance toward Seth. “He said you would help him.”

  The woman turned her attention toward Seth and narrowed her eyes. She grabbed Seth’s arm and stared at the eagle tattoo on his wrist. Staggering back, she and paled. “Seth Adams? Is that you?”

  Cassie put up her shields to avoid the woman’s thoughts. She didn't need to know what the brunette was thinking. Cassie’s guess was they once had a relationship. She swallowed the bitter taste of jealousy.

  Lisa stepped aside to usher them in. “You can put him on the couch. I’ll get my bag.”

  The living room was to the left of the foyer and looked like a room out of Architectural Digest with sleek modern furniture and cherry hard wood floors. Cassie settled Seth on the couch and picked a spot by the window, where she could watch both the street and the doctor.

  If she was smart, she would leave now. Leave and not look back. He’d be safe enough here. But what if he wasn’t? He needed help understanding his powers.

  Envious or not, Cassie didn't like the way the doctor’s eyes roved over Seth. She slowly lowered her shields. It was rude, but in the case of life and death, manners equaled a date with the Grim Reaper. A warm glow filled her, chased by a gray swirl of loss. Love. Not romantic, but love nonetheless. Love and sadness.

  “You want to tell me what happened to him?” Lisa’s flipped her dark hair over her shoulder as she kneeled to examine him.

  Cassie had already decided to tell the truth. She was at full power again. She could mind push the doctor into forgetting the two of them had ever been here, if necessary. Or push her into thinking Seth had arrived alone. That way, if medication was missing, there would be good cause for the disappearance.

  “He was shot. Mostly healed, but the burning and body transformation started early this morning. I don't know what to do for him. He needs pain medication and something to bring his fever down.”

  Lisa stared at Cassie, mouth agape, her expression changing from incredulity, to horror, to disbelief, then back to incredulity. Likely, she tucked Cassie into the crazy-out-of-her-brain category.

  But to her credit, she tried to keep her voice professional. “Did you say body transformation?”

  Cassie pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look at him. When I met him yesterday morning, he had a runner’s body. Now he’s got ripped abs like the guys from the movie 300.”

  Lisa nodded. “He’s so much taller than I recall. Maybe it's the years and I don’t remember well.”

  Cassie shook her head. “No, that's the transformation. Yesterday, he was just over six feet. Today, I’d estimate six four, at least.”

  “You want to explain the gunshots? I see no evidence of them.”

  Cassie quickly told the story even as she tried to read Lisa. Still, she had little luck, gathering impressions and feelings, but no thoughts. The doctor’s mind was strong. Maybe as strong as Seth’s. While Lisa finished examining Seth, Cassie assumed her post by the window and watched the main road. “You don’t have to believe me. But please, please bring his fever down. Please give him something for the pain.”

  Lisa stared at her. “What the hell am I supposed to say to a story like that?”

  Seth didn’t completely trust this woman. Cassie didn’t trust anyone. But right now, Dr. Lisa Trenery was all they had. Cassie turned her attention to the doctor’s medical bag and levitated it across the room. “I realize this is a lot to take in. And I know you barely want to fulfill your favor to Seth, but we need you, and from what I've seen on television about doctors, you have taken an oath to first do no harm. In action, I’ve only seen the opposite. Please help him. We have nowhere else to go. Please prove me wrong.”

  Lisa stared at her levitating medical bag, then at Cassie, then moved her gaze back to Seth. “Oh Seth, what has been done to you?”

  Cassie turned back to the window. “I wish I knew.”

  Chapter Nine

  One word echoed in Seth’s head. Run. Through the pain, he reached for Cassie. He needed to get to her, to keep her safe. His heart thundered in his chest his breathing stuttered. He jerked up with a start, as if a coiled spring propelled his movement. “Cassie.”

  “Seth. It’s okay. I’m right here. We’re okay.”

  Relief flooded through his body the instant she spoke to him. She hadn’t left him. Not that he would blame her if she had. She needed to put miles between Gentech and herself, and she didn’t need an injured, blind guy slowing her down.

  “Cassie?” His throat was scratchy and hoarse, but at least he could speak. The more he focused, the more he realized he no longer hurt. The burn was gone. His hands quickly groped around and came into contact with soft cotton material underneath him. A bed, maybe? His hands shifted to the edge of where he lay and he tried to push himself up.

  “Calm down, Seth.” Cassie's voice was steady and matter-of-fact as she patted his knee. She slid a soft hand into his palm and twined her fingers with his. “You still need to rest. After what you've been through, nothing will feel the same. You have to take it easy.”

  His reflexes kicking in, he blinked. Hazy gray shadows lurked through the gauze patches over his eyes. With his vision no longer pitched in darkness, he tugged hard at the gauze and tape. He didn’t remember much of anything after Cassie lifted him out of the car. Just the pain.

  “I thought you were going to keep him calm. If you can't, then I'll have to ask you to wait outside.” Lisa's voice was cool.

  He smiled. She had come through for him even though he didn’t deserve her help. He could be grateful for that. “She stays.”

  Just like the flashes from before, he received a sudden mental picture of Cassie leaning over him, kissing him while her breasts swung, inviting him to touch her. The surroundings were unfamiliar, but the image was clear. And unlike before, the vision didn't shoot blinding pain through his temples.

  Cassie removed her hand from his knee and just like that, the images disappeared.

  Lisa shoved at his hands. “If you calm down, I'll remove your bandages properly. I gave you some eye drops and the gauze pads kept the light out.” She paused. “Your friend here says your vision went suddenly. Anything in particular that brought this on?”

  He considered lying, but then a thought popped into his head. I already told her most of everything. You might as well be honest with her. It could be related to what's happening to you. He immediately turned his head toward where he’d last heard Cassie’
s voice. But the gauze was still in place and he couldn’t see her.

  As Lisa cut away the thick gauze, the scent of vanilla and citrus made him turn to the right. She was by the window. Had she overcome the barrier to pushing thoughts to him?

  “I lost my vision on the way here.” He cleared his throat. “After I had a premonition about the Trackers.”

  Lisa spoke in an even tone, but her raised eyebrows told him she didn’t believe him. “Was your premonition like a dream?”

  He shook his head. Lisa peeled away the gauze and more light seeped in. He blinked rapidly as Cassie’s image shifted into focus. Relief flooded his tense muscles. He wasn’t blind. The condition was temporary, just like Cassie told him. “No. It was like a movie reel. Like I was experiencing the scene. Not at all like a dream. Besides,” he shrugged. “I was awake.”

  Lisa muttered “Mmm-hmm,” and “Uh-huh,” as she squeezed the pulse point on his wrist and stuck a thermometer in his mouth. “And how is the pain now?”

  “It's gone. Actually, I feel great.” The concern etched on Cassie's face made something cold settle along his spine. “What are you not telling me?”

  Lisa threw the gauze into the trash and put her supplies back in her medical bag. “Okay, I want you to rest for another day or so. Physically, you’re fine, though, I want to run some tests. Right now, it looks like you two have a lot to discuss and I have hospital rounds. Will you be okay for a couple of hours?”

  Cassie nodded but didn’t take her eyes off Seth. “Seth, I'm sorry, but the burning, the pain. The increased sex drive.” Her voice hitched. “Your condition is my fault.”

  Increased sex drive? “It's not your fault I got shot. Now if I come in contact with one of those Trackers again, I won't be so forgiving.” He cracked a smile.

  She sat down next to him on the bed. “It wasn't the Nisulin. Dr. Trenery and I talked while you were sleeping. She has a theory that the changes in your body are probably from something in my blood or my pheromones. Something that’s been altered in my genetic makeup. When I healed you. Or maybe when we—” She stopped. “Either way I’m responsible. I should have used better judgment.”