Kaisie wished everyone would just stop saying that. He knew she’d lost a lot of blood. It coated her clothes and his. And John’s.
“Then let’s get moving.”
Dane nodded, though his lips flattened almost to the point of disappearing. “Alex is weak and the pregnant girl was having contractions when they showed up. And the other girl, Grace’s daughter…” He shook his head. “You let her keep a loaded gun.”
Kaisie shrugged his shoulders as he gathered Grace into his arms to get her off the plane. He kept her as still as he could and almost didn’t want to put her down on the stretcher Dane had waiting at the bottom of the steps.
“The gun made her feel safe.”
“Yeah, well, next time, take the damn bullets away first. She put one in the floor when I tried to take Alex into the exam room without her. We ended up putting Alex and the girl in the same room so Amy could be with both of them.” The edges of Dane’s mouth curled up. “She’s strong. A lot like her mother.”
The drive passed excruciatingly slowly. Grace never regained consciousness and, by the time they got to the den, his jaw felt close to shattering.
They carried her and Kaine into the den’s medical facility and Dane immediately went to work. Kyle’s mate, Tam, rushed in from somewhere and they started to talk in their own language, which sounded like English but didn’t make a damn bit of sense to Kaisie.
He could only watch as they started to work.
“Kaisie, why don’t you go check on Kaine?”
Kaisie lifted his gaze to Dane’s and started to shake his head before Kyle put his hand on Kaisie’s shoulder.
“Come on, man,” Kyle said. “Someone will come get you if something happens. Kaine’s awake. She needs you. And you should check on the kids. The girl’s asking for you. And you need to tell her to put the gun away. She’s scaring the natives.”
“Amy. Her name’s Amy.”
“Great. Tell Amy she needs to give you the gun. No one’s going to hurt her here.”
But they wouldn’t hesitate to separate and confine her if she did attempt to hurt someone and that might push her over the edge right now.
With a nod, Kaisie turned and headed down the hall to the exam rooms, using his senses to guide the way. They weren’t difficult to find. The bitter scent of fear drew him to the right room.
He knew Amy had sensed someone coming because when he looked through the window in the door, he saw her sitting at the edge of the bed closest to the door, gun pointed straight ahead.
He couldn’t help but smile. He liked this girl. He liked her style.
“Oh, thank the goddess.” Nica Donato stopped at his side, just out of range of the window. “I want to check the pregnant girl but the little one with the gun won’t let me near her. Said she’d only talk to you.”
Kaine glanced at the strega, seeing the relief in the pretty brunette’s eyes. An Etruscan witch who had the power to heal with her hands, Nica had a quiet disposition and soft smile that made her one of the least threatening-looking people in the world. But he didn’t blame Amy for being overly cautious. Growing up in a pit of Mal would make anyone paranoid.
“Give me a few minutes,” he told Nica.
“The girl’s been having contractions and I need to examine her to determine how far along she is and if this is false labor or we need to prevent her from going into labor. Time’s not on our side, Kaisie.”
“I just need a couple of minutes.”
He hoped. Deliberately taking his time opening the door, he walked into the room with both hands at his sides, loose and open. Amy kept the gun trained on him as he closed the door behind him, deliberately turning his back to her for several seconds.
When she didn’t shoot him in it, he figured that was a good sign. He walked over to stand in front of her as she scrambled to her feet, never taking the gun off him.
“I’m gonna need you to put that away now, Amy. Your friend needs to be checked out.” He turned to Alex on the other bed. “Hey, bud. How you feeling?”
The kid smiled, relief in every relaxed line of his body. “Better now that we’re ho—here.”
Kaisie nodded, returning the smile. “Good. Did you tell Amy we’re not going to hurt you guys?”
He nodded, his smile fading. “Yeah. But she’s worried.”
Kaisie looked back at Amy, noticing the fine tremor in her arms now. The weight of the gun was getting heavier. “I get that. I do. But I promise you, no one will hurt you here. But you’ve got to be willing to put down the gun. Your friend needs to be checked out. Can she speak?”
Amy worried her bottom lip between her teeth for several seconds before she lowered the gun to her side. “No. She can’t hear either. And she’s our cousin. Her name’s Mara. She’s seven months pregnant.”
Kaisie nodded. “Okay, Amy. Now, will you give me the gun so—”
“No.” She had it pointed at him in a flash. “No. I know what you think of people like me. I know the first chance you get you’ll throw me in a dark hole somewhere. But I promised Mara that everything will be okay and—”
Kaisie moved so fast, Amy didn’t have time to get off a shot before he took the gun out of her hand. He saw fear leap onto her face and heard twin gasps of shock from behind him.
Tears leaped into Amy’s eyes before she blinked them away then stood even straighter as if waiting for him to hit her.
With a few movements, he unloaded the half-full clip, made sure there was none in the chamber and shoved the bullets in his pocket. Then he flipped the gun in his hand and held it back out to Amy.
Confusion bled through the fear now as she took the gun.
“It won’t shoot but it’ll hurt like hell if you use it to hit someone. But you won’t need to. Not here. We do not hurt kids.”
Was he getting through to her? He couldn’t tell but it didn’t matter. The other girl, Mara, had sucked in a deep breath and was starting to pant.
“Now, your cousin needs help. Are you gonna let the strega in without a fight?”
Amy’s mouth firmed and she nodded then folded herself into the corner closest to Mara. The wary fear he’d seen at the house had returned.
He wanted that gone from her face but he realized it would take time. Time they might never get if Cole decided the girl was a threat.
Without taking his gaze from Amy’s, he motioned for Nica to enter. She headed straight for the bed and started asking questions.
Which, of course, Mara couldn’t hear.
“You’re gonna need to translate, kid. No one but you knows sign language.”
Her sneer returned. “You trust me enough for that?”
Kaisie smiled at her bravado. “For that, yeah. Come on, do your thing and help out your cousin.”
With a nod, Amy went to shove the gun at her back before realizing she still wore her nightgown.
She looked down at herself, disgust all over her face before she took a deep breath and set the gun on the floor between her feet and looked at Nica.
Nica immediately began asking questions. What was her due date? Had she had any complications? How close together were the contractions?
Kaisie stepped over to Alex. “Come on, bud. I don’t think you wanna be in here for this.”
Picking up the boy, he moved to the door and looked back at Amy. “You have my word nothing will happen to him and you’ll see him later.” He made sure the girl looked him in the eyes before he headed out the door. “And I’ll find you some clothes. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
He left before she could contradict him.
*
Grace woke with one hell of a headache.
She opened her eyes but snapped them closed at the blast of bright light.
Groaning, she tried to lift her arm to put her hand over her eyes but found she couldn’t lift it.
Was she tied to a bed? Her eyes flew open, the light not as bright this time but still enough to bring tears to her eyes.
A huge dar
k shadow moved across her, blocking the light.
“Hey, Grace. It’s okay. You’re fine. Your arm’s immobilized. That’s all. You’re safe.”
She knew that voice. “Kaisie.”
“Yeah. Alex is fine. So is Amy.”
“Amy?”
“Your daughter. Alex is in the next room. He finally fell asleep about an hour ago but he fought it for a while. I didn’t think you’d want him to see you until you woke up.”
“Thank you.” It was exactly what she would have wanted. As her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she realized the room was dark, the only light coming from what she assumed was the bathroom to the left of the bed.
She blinked, bringing Kaisie’s face into focus. He looked…tired. As if he hadn’t slept in days. She wanted to ask why he looked so awful but caught the words before they escaped. “Are they okay? Alex and…and Amy?”
“They’re fine. I left Amy with Mara to translate.”
“Mara? Translate?” Her brain must still be partially asleep because she had no idea what he was talking about.
“Amy said Mara is her cousin. She looks a lot like Alex, so I’m guessing she’s right about that. How are you feeling?”
The question threw her for a moment. She wanted more information, more answers to all the questions rolling around in her head. Blinking up at him, she realized her arm hurt but the pain felt dull. As if it’d been masked.
“What happened…” She looked down at her arm. “Ettore cut me.”
“He cut you pretty bad.”
Her gaze flew back to Kaisie’s. That sounded almost like a growl. “I guess it couldn’t have been that bad. I’m still here.”
“You nearly died.”
She frowned at the tone of his voice. He sounded angry. “Why are you mad?”
“I’m not— Okay, yeah, I’m mad. How the hell did he get that close to you?”
Her eyes widened at the menace in his tone, though it didn’t feel directed at her. He was pissed but not at her. “Kaine was injured. I needed to give John time to get to her.”
She watched Kaisie’s eyes close for a few seconds as the muscles in his jaw clenched in a way that looked quite painful. She wanted to cup his cheek and kiss that muscle.
And even though they’d had sex, she couldn’t believe he’d want her to touch him.
She swallowed and let her gaze drop. “How’s Kaine? Is she okay?”
“Kaine’s fine. You nearly died.”
“But I didn’t.”
He looked ready to say something else then must have decided against it because his jaw did that muscle-jumping thing again. “Would you have cared if you had?”
“How would I have known?”
She had no idea what he was getting at and it was frustrating the hell out of her trying to figure out his mood. Was he angry because his daughter had been hurt? Because Grace had caused trouble with her injury? Had they lost someone in the raid?
“Did everyone… Is everyone okay? Did everyone make it back?”
“Yes. And you were the only one who was hurt.”
Okay, now she was starting to get angry, which made her head hurt. Whatever they’d done to her arm to make it numb, it didn’t extend to her head.
She lifted her good hand to her temple and rubbed the ache there. “Kaisie—”
“No. Shit.” He released a hard sigh and shook his head. “Forget it. I’ll go get Alex. I promised him I’d wake him as soon as you opened your eyes.”
She tried to reach for him but she forgot her arm was tied down and she wrenched it hard against the restraint. Now that hurt and she couldn’t stop her groan of pain.
“Gods damn it, woman. Dane said you had to keep it immobile.”
“Then don’t walk away from me when I’m trying to talk to you, you stubborn scassacazzo.”
His gaze flashed back to hers as she called him a pain in the ass, which wasn’t exactly where she hurt right now but it was close enough.
“Release my arm.”
His arms crossed over his chest. “Dane said you can’t move it.”
“I won’t move it. Just, please let my arm go. I don’t like being restrained.”
The break in her voice at the end of that sentence probably revealed more than she’d wanted. His gaze began to burn with an unholy fire and she dropped hers to watch as he removed the cuffs holding her arm in place. His fingers shook but he released her without touching her at all.
Before he could move, she grabbed one of his wrists with her good arm, feeling his pulse jump beneath her fingers. “Thank you. For everything.”
He sighed and shook his head as he stared down at her. “Don’t. I’m no fucking hero.”
Then he turned and strode toward the door.
She released the breath frozen in her lungs in a slow stream through her lips. Yes, he was. To her.
She wished she could say it without him thinking she was merely talking about the way he’d rescued her children. She’d have to ask him the particulars at another time. She needed to know what had happened.
Had John killed Ettore? If so, would the Mal retaliate? If not, would Ettore? He’d taken her son for a specific reason, otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered. Ettore had no use for a sick child.
If he lived, he’d definitely be coming after Amy. She liked the name, even though he’d chosen it for her. She couldn’t wait to see her. Wondered if her daughter looked at all like her or if she favored Ettore. The girl probably hated her. She shouldn’t get her hopes up for a loving reunion. Who knew what lies Ettore had told the girl about her.
She hadn’t even asked if the girl had left willingly.
Guess she’d find out soon enough.
The door opened again and she nearly burst into tears.
She managed to hold them back as Kaisie set Alex on the bed by her good arm. Still asleep, her little man looked no worse for wear as he curled against her.
She tried to speak but didn’t think she could without sobbing. So she buried her nose in her baby’s hair and pretended she wasn’t.
*
Kaisie left, figuring she’d want the time alone with Alex. Besides, he could smell her tears and he didn’t think she’d want him to see those.
Heading back down the hall, he knocked first then pushed open the door into the room the girls were in.
Nica smiled tiredly at him from the side of the bed, where she sat with her hand resting on Mara’s swollen belly. On the other bed, Amy lay with her back to the room, curled in around herself. Asleep. Or so she wanted them to believe.
He’d let her get away with the deception for now. Hell, the kid had earned some downtime.
“How’s she doing?” He nodded at Mara, deeply asleep.
“I’ve managed to get the contractions stopped but she’s close to eight months pregnant according to Amy. Dane’s going to do an ultrasound when she wakes but I believe the baby’s far enough along to be born without complications.”
“And they’re both healthy?”
“Mara’s been very well taken care of.” Nica’s face twisted in an ugly grimace. “Of course, they put a spell over her so they wouldn’t have to hear her cry or have her hear what they were saying. But then we are talking about the Mal.”
His eyes widened. “You’re fucking kidding me?”
Nica’s mouth flattened into a cold hard line. “No. I was able to get that much out of Amy before she clammed up and told me to mind my own business. The girl’s got balls. Guess you’d have to grow up Mal. But…”
“But what?”
Nica sighed as she removed her hand from Mara’s belly and stood, stretching out her back. Then she motioned for Kaisie to follow her to the far corner of the room, where she thought she’d be out of hearing range.
“There’s something different about Amy,” Nica said. “Something I can’t put my finger on but there’s definitely something…off with her.”
“You mean something other than being Mal.”
N
odding, her gaze went over Kaisie’s shoulder to the girl still pretending to be asleep. “I can sense that part of her, that darkness that makes her Mal, but then…there’s something else beneath it. I just don’t know how to explain it.”
“Is she sick? Like Alex.”
Nica shook her head. “No, she’s perfectly healthy. It’s… Hell, it’s like a shadow underneath everything else she is. That’s the only way I know how to describe it and that’s not doing a very good job.”
“Did you ask her about it?”
“No. The girl’s exhausted. I don’t think she’s been able to sleep more than a few hours a night for the past few months. And maybe less since Alex’s abduction. I think she took on the job as Mara and Alex’s protector and…” Nica tried unsuccessfully to stifle a huge yawn. “Took the job seriously.”
Kaisie didn’t have to think that’s what had happened. He knew it. “Why don’t you go get some sleep? I’ll sit with the girls.”
Nica didn’t put up a fight. “Thanks, Kaisie. If Mara wakes and complains of back pain or cramps, come and get me right away. I’ll be in the next room.”
“Got it.”
Nica’s gaze landed on Amy again then she shook her head. “That girl’s got a backbone of steel. What the hell are we going to do with her, Kaisie? She’s got wicked-strong power.”
And she’s Mal. Nica didn’t have to add that last bit. They both knew that was the elephant sitting in the middle of the room. Or lying on the bed.
Nica gave him one last tired smile then headed out the door.
Kaisie waited a full minute before he walked over to Amy’s bed. “You can roll over now. I know you’re awake.”
Amy rolled to her back, one arm behind her head, the other over her stomach as she stared up at him. That look was back, the stubborn set of her mouth that Kaisie recognized. From her mother.
“You really need to get some sleep, little girl. You’ll be no good for your cousin if you can’t keep your eyes open.”
“Mara may need me. I’m her eyes and ears now.”
“So I understand.” He drew the chair by the wall to the side of the bed and sat down as Amy watched his every move. “You wanna tell me what happened to her?”
Amy’s sneer would have done Grace proud. “You wanna know about how my loving father put a spell on his niece so he wouldn’t have to hear her cry or worry about her overhearing his plans for her and the baby? About how, if the baby was born Mal, he’d be able to get a much better price for Mara the next time?”
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