by Haley Weir
“It’s not that bad, but…this is…ridiculous. What did they put in those guns?”
“I told you guys to build up a tolerance to certain weapons,” he snapped. “If you three would just listen to me, maybe some of these things could be avoided, but no. You all have to go off and do your own thing no matter how stupid it seems.”
“Hey, I tried to save your brother. At least be grateful for that.”
“I know…thank you,” Michael replied. “But you’re married, Dorian. You have a wife to think about and you’re talking about starting a family soon. You shouldn’t have risked your life. They won’t kill him, ok? They need him.”
“But they won’t chance another incident like Anders,” Dorian said rationally, but Michael could tell the fever had begun to set in. “They’ll kill him if they think he can take out the entire operation. Brock is much stronger than Anders. He could do some serious damage. Not to mention, your little brother isn’t exactly good with his words.”
Michael felt Dorian’s body convulse. It caused them to stumble, but he made sure they didn’t get hurt on the way down. Dorian dug his nails into the dirt and thrashed around. “What did they do to me?” his friend asked desperately. “I…I don’t like the way this feels, Mikey. Make it stop.”
He hated how helpless he felt. There was nothing he could do for Dorian. He didn’t know how those weapons differed from the ones that had been used against Anders. If Dorian was treated for the wrong thing, they he risked worsening his condition. Michael gritted his teeth and grabbed onto Dorian’s shoulders. He dragged his friend through the forest until his back was aching and his knees buckled.
They stopped to drink some water from the river to help ease Dorian’s fever along with whatever ran rampant through his bloodstream. Dorian was unconscious by the time they reached town. Michael found the truck they drove to the forest in and lifted the overgrown male into the back. In order to maintain Dorian’s modesty, Michael covered him with a tarp and climbed into the driver’s seat.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Sapphire watched Corey, Travis, and Patrick sneak out of the camp. They turned down the path that led to the clearing as she crawled out of her tent. An owl hooted somewhere in the trees. A warm gust of wind caressed her burning cheeks and the sound of the trickling lake at the heart of the quarry soothed her nerves. She had to do this for Michael, Brock, Dorian, and Anders. They needed her.
Starlight filtered through the trees as though it were a typical summer night. Sapphire eased along the water’s edge until she reached Corey’s tent. She slid the zipper down quietly and crept inside. Her hand reached the pocket sewn into her tunic and pulled out Patrick’s lighter that she snagged from him a few days in advance. She flicked open the lid and illuminated the interior of the tent with a warm, orange glow.
The tapes were tucked away in Corey’s backpack along with several files on his team. It was clear that he didn’t trust anyone, not that she blamed him. Sapphire had grown to know him quite well during her stay. Corey had seen her as some sort of damaged soul that he could save and in return earn a twisted form of redemption. Sapphire wasn’t interested in being the object of his recovery.
She grabbed the tapes and closed the lighter to extinguish the flame. The zipper closed just as easily as it had zipped down, but a shadow fell over her. Sapphire tried not to scream, but the hand that fisted into her hair caused her to bite her tongue painfully. Corey’s angry eyes bore into her with a hatred she had never seen before.
“I knew you were up to no good!”
“I’m surprised no one told you,” she snickered. “Everyone in town knows that I’m nothing but trouble. It’s your fault for thinking I could be trusted.”
Sapphire rammed her elbow into his stomach and made a run for it. Patrick cut off her path and she landed a swift kick to his chest that caused the older man to stumble. Corey grabbed her from behind and slammed her to the ground so hard that her teeth clattered together and made her ears ring. Sapphire gasped, but didn’t recover in time before his boot kicked her over.
She climbed to her feet and picked up a stone near the water. Sapphire hurled the rock toward Corey and it hit him on the shoulder. He stood up and rolled his shoulder until it popped back into its socket. She cringed at his lack of expression; it seemed as though he felt no pain. Patrick swung a branch toward her head, but she ducked, causing it to hit Corey instead.
Sapphire sprinted back toward the camp and ran right into Travis’s arm. She hit with such force that she flipped over it and landed on her back. Travis attempted to stomp her with his foot, but she caught it and kicked him in the groin. He howled and fell beside her. She struck out and punched him across the jaw. Her knuckles throbbed, but he was down for now.
A terrifying roar reverberated through the mountains and Anders burst through the trees and attacked Corey. Sapphire screamed when she heard a gun go off until she realized the bullet had missed Anders. She saw Patrick reloading his weapon and grabbed the hunting knife strapped to her thigh. The skilled retired marine struck her sternum with enough power to crush her chest, but she jerked away to prevent the deadly blow. Air exploded from her lungs as she scrambled back on her hands.
Patrick reached for her and she slashed at his forearms. He recoiled momentarily. “Why did you do it? Why couldn’t you just leave it alone?”
“Because I love him,” Sapphire replied, casting a meaningful look toward Anders. “I could never betray him the way she did. I could never hurt him intentionally.”
“He hurt you. You told me that he hurt you.”
“Yes, Anders hurt me,” she said with a nod as she slowly rose up from the ground. “But I’m alive because of him. He gave me a second chance at life and I can never repay him for that.”
“You could have been happy with us.”
“None of you are happy, Patrick.” Sapphire circled around him with a noticeable limp. “You’re miserable and you’re consumed by hatred. I could never be happy here.”
“But Corey—”
“Corey tried to kill my best friend!” She snapped. “He set the fires that nearly destroyed my life. How can I forgive that?”
“Corey didn’t set the fires, darling. I did.”
Sapphire lunged, slashing furiously with her blade so fast that her movements were a blur even to her. Patrick tried to dodge her attacks, but scarlet stripes appeared all over his body. He grew tired and threw his body toward her. She accidentally buried her blade into the meaty flesh of his gut. Sapphire pulled the blade free. She never meant to kill him, only to harm him for the way he harmed so many others.
“Patrick!” Sapphire dropped the knife and applied pressure to the wound, but he slapped her hands away. “What are you doing?!”
“Good girl,” he praised. “I knew you had it in you.”
“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to.”
“We’re human now. Remember that,” Patrick gasped.
“Anders!” Sapphire cried out to her mate and hoped that he could hear her over his fight against Corey. “Hold on, Patrick. I won’t be responsible for your death, you stubborn bastard.” She pulled her tunic over her head and used it to try and stop the bleeding. Her hands trembled, looking strangely pale against the blood that soaked through the fabric. “Don’t you dare give up.”
***
He saw her sprint around the corner. Travis appeared out of nowhere and floored her with a brutal clothesline. Anders raced toward the camp and tackled Corey before he could reach Sapphire. He was torn between watching his mate and keeping his eyes on his target. The super soldier packed a strength that should be impossible for a human.
Michael had put up a good fight against Corey in their last fight, which made him wonder if his friend was aware of the human’s heightened abilities. Corey’s fists flew toward his face before Anders could duck out of the way. After the third hit, his boxing instincts kicked in and punches rained down on the smaller man. Corey was fast and he matched Michael
in terms of height, but Anders had always been the tallest of his friends. His hulking form eclipsed the human easily.
Corey jumped back. “You think she loves you?”
“I know she loves me.”
“You should have heard what she said about you,” the human taunted. “She compared you to her father, the filthy pig that used to hit her when she was a girl. And there was truth in every word she spoke. You might not have physically harmed Sapphire, but you broke her heart and that’s worse.”
Anders faltered a bit. He didn’t want to think that she saw him in the same light that she saw the man who had nearly broken her. “I know she loves me,” he repeated. “She was willing to say whatever was necessary to get you to trust her. And you did, didn’t you? She told me everything that dear old daddy said.”
“It was all lies…”
“I don’t think it was,” he goaded. “No one can hide that much pain, Reed. You were never good enough, but he saw what you really were, didn’t he? He knew you were just like the freaks that you hunted.” Anders knew he was reaching, but if there was a possibility that he was right, then he would gladly take the risk. “Are you sure you’re even human, Reed?”
“I’m not a freak!” the super soldier bellowed. He battered his fists into Anders’ sides. Anders shoved his chest and made the man stumble. “You are the freak. You’re not a man and you’re not an animal. You’re an abomination.”
“I’m superior to you, which is what angers you the most, isn’t it?”
“I’ve seen the tapes,” Corey revealed. “I watched them torture you and I laughed. They debased you. They treated you like the freak that you are.”
His vision flickered, pulling him from the present…Anders could practically feel the electric shocks as they caused his muscles to spasm. He remembered lying in a whole in the ground, surrounded by his own waste until a bucket of freezing cold water was dumped over his head. Whatever Corey had seen in his expression pleased the super soldier greatly. “You remember, don’t you?”
“Parts…it’s all fuzzy.”
“I’ll tell you, if you like,” his opponent laughed. Anders grabbed one of the chairs and broke it over Corey’s head. The hunter shook his head and then slammed Anders’ large body onto a table. He felt the change coming over him again, but a hand circled his neck and squeezed. Anders punched Corey so hard that he felt his ribcage crack.
The hunter shouted in pain and fell backwards. He held a hand to his side and looked up at Anders. “They pulled you from the hole and poked around inside your body while you were still awake. Those doctors didn’t see you as a man, so why should I?”
“Shut up!” Anders shouted, but the memories nearly crippled him. Bile rose in his throat as he looked down at his bare chest. Hidden beneath the thin trail of hair that Sapphire was so fond of was a vivisection scar. For years he told himself that the scar was superficial, that it didn’t mean anything so long as he didn’t remember the pain that he endured. But Corey’s words summoned the images and a phantom pain lanced through his body. “Stop it…please.”
“You begged then,” the hunter wheezed. “And your precious Nora Burk watched it all. She was in the room as they tortured you, but she said nothing. She stood beside Vanessa and bared witness to your pain.”
Anders grabbed Corey by his throat and lifted the pitiful man into the air. “She doesn’t matter to me anymore. I was blinded by her lies. Sapphire White is my mate and the only woman who will ever truly own my heart.”
“Anders!” she screamed from across the camp. He watched her struggle to save a man’s life. His beautiful, delicate flower stopped everything to save a man who had more than likely taken many lives over the years.
“I’ll save him if you let us walk out of here without further incident,” he offered.
Corey appeared to consider his offer, but made no move to hurry things up. “What makes you think that he means anything to me?” the hunter asked with a smile.
“Because I heard you tell Sapphire that he was the father you never had. I heard the fondness in your voice when you described watching your first baseball game with Patrick and when he helped you leave the military,” Anders growled. “You love him. Even if you love no one else in this world, you love Patrick as a father.”
Corey swallowed beneath his hand and nodded. “Save him. And then get out of my sight.” Anders released the human and then hurried over to his precious mate. He kissed her forehead and then nudged her out of the way as he removed her bloodstained tunic. Anders began to bark orders as if he were in the clinic. Sapphire and Corey rushed to obey him, though he could tell the Commander had issues with taking direction from anyone who wasn’t Hydra.
“He’ll live,” Anders announced a few moments later. “I’ve managed to stop the bleeding. It’s a good thing Sapphire didn’t hit any major organs or else he wouldn’t have survived a wound that deep.”
He helped Corey carry Patrick into his tent in a momentary truce. Then, Anders and Sapphire walked away from the camp with the tapes in their possession.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Michael carried Dorian into the loft as Sapphire pulled a shirt over her head. Anders vaulted over the couch and helped lower his friend onto the floor. Sapphire darted into the bathroom to get the first aid kit. Michael thanked her curtly as Anders ripped open Dorian’s shirt. “I’ll call Jenny,” she announced.
Her hands flew across the screen of her cellphone as she called her friend. It took three tries for Jenny to answer. “What is it, Saph?”
“Dorian is here at the loft. He’s hurt bad, but Anders and Michael are here.”
“Oh, god. I’m on my way!”
Sapphire hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed. She was by their side a second later and helped elevate Dorian’s head. “What happened?” she asked.
“Dorian attacked the guards as they tried to load Brock into the helicopter. There was a big red ‘A’ on the side of the damned thing,” Michael groused. “The guards unloaded four rounds into him. His body expelled the bullets, but he hasn’t woken up since I carried him out of the forest.”
Sapphire wanted to scream and demand answers, but Dorian needed help. She busied herself with closing the curious cats into the bathroom and clearing the bed so Anders could deposit Dorian onto the mattress while he looked over his friend. Jenny banged on the door. Sapphire answered and was nearly knocked down by the furious wife. Jenny punched Michael in the arm. “You promised he wouldn’t get hurt!”
“We didn’t get hurt on purpose,” he protested.
Jenny continued to scold him until she stomped over to the bed to comfort her husband. Sapphire watched a pained expression dance across the face of Michael Adair and pulled him into the bathroom. “Take off your shirt,” she demanded. He scuffed and shook his head, trying to move past her, but she was able to push him onto the toilet seat. “You said ‘we didn’t get hurt on purpose’ and that means that you’re hurt too.”
Michael gave her his signature eye roll and gingerly lifted his shirt. Sapphire knelt before him and probed around the wound on his side. “You were stabbed,” she said to no one in particular. Her fingers tested the tenderness of the gash before reaching for the alcohol. “This might hurt.”
He shot her a droll expression, but still tensed up when the liquid sloshed over his injury. She pressed a gauze pad over the raw flesh and sighed, “I never thought we would be here. It almost makes our feud seem so childish in comparison.”
“It does,” he agreed.
“What do you say we put it all to rest and focus on staying alive for another year?” Sapphire tried to keep her tone light, but in truth, she was tired of fighting him. In fact, she was tired of fighting everyone. “There’s no point in going on the way we were.”
“I don’t know. It absolutely horrifies me that you have those ridiculous fur balls in my loft,” Michael teased. “But I understand what you mean. After a while, I started being more protective over you than I w
as with my own brother. I see why he always wanted to keep you save. You’re a special person, Sapphire.”
“So are you,” she replied kindly. “But don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you said that. I know you have a reputation to live up to. And the cats aren’t going to be here forever. I’m moving in with Anders.”
“Are you? Does he know this?”
“Not yet,” Sapphire chuckled guiltily. “He’ll figure it out when he gets home and all of my stuff is there. So, that’s as good as telling him.”
“You really want to stay together, don’t you?”
“I don’t really have a choice,” she huffed. “I know people say I do, but I know there’s no one else for me and I’m okay with that. Even if he doesn’t love me the way I love him, at least I’ve experienced a love that not many people can say they have.”
“A fated match.”
“Exactly,” Sapphire agreed. “Maybe I’ll even team up with you. We could play cupid together!” Michael shook his head at her excitement and flinched when she began to sew him up. Sapphire continued to ramble on just to distract him from the pain and then let him out of the bathroom while she visited her fluffy children.
Anders arched his brow at her when she came out of the bathroom. “Don’t tell me you want to get another cat,” he grumbled.
“I was thinking of it. Maybe we can call it Pharaoh!”
“No, no more cats.” Anders laughed through his nose when he saw her pout. He kissed her temple. “We should talk.” He walked her out the front door and leaned against the wall. Sapphire saw the dark circles beneath his eyes and frowned.
“When I told you that I loved you, that wasn’t meant to guilt you into saying it,” she began. “But I would have appreciated if you had said something. Even if you had told me that you didn’t feel the same at least I would have known where I stand.”
