The Hero Within (Burned Lands Book 3)

by Bec McMaster

  Perhaps it would be easier to go out this way, with a clean bullet to the chest? His lungs started to squeeze, and he couldn't get a full breath at the thought.

  Eden. Think of Eden. You can survive this. You can escape.

  She's not the type of woman to leave you behind.

  But who'd come back for a man like him?

  The cuffs snapped into place as he slowly consented, the dull burn of fear flushing through him. He'd told her how he felt about her, but everything had happened so quickly. Eden would come for him; he knew her too well to doubt that. But there'd be other people around her, trying to talk her out of it. A whole Confederacy between the pair of them.

  And if her brother, Adam, had anything to say about it, Johnny would probably find himself rotting here. Adam might have forgiven him for what happened all those years ago, and there'd even been a hint of camaraderie between them when they parted ways, but they weren't friends, and if he had a single clue Johnny had put his hands on Adam's sister....

  Face it, you don't have a single friend in the world.

  The radio buzzed on one of the guards’ hips. "Is the prisoner secured?"

  The man lifted it. "Yes, sir."

  "Make sure he's cleaned up. Give him the works. Then bring him topside."

  "Sir."

  Johnny's eyes narrowed as the guard lowered the radio. This was new. They spent most of their time either brutalizing him or throwing him in a cell with one of their pet alphas to see if the warg could bring him to heel.

  He'd enjoyed turning every single alpha they'd tried to use against him. So far nobody had worked out how he'd managed to do it, though they'd taken blood tests and were quite excited about the slight differences in his DNA and nanoparticles.

  Apparently, a lot of records had been lost during the Darkening. Black River Testing Facility, way out there in the Wastelands, had been a black site according to the records he'd flipped through when he'd been poking around out there. It was possible Project: Warg had been so far off the books that when the Confederacy formed post-Darkening, they weren't aware of it.

  All their research had been on alpha and beta strain wargs they'd captured from the Wastelands to form their new lupine unit.

  He was their first omega.

  "This way," the one in charge said, and the guard behind him prodded him forward.

  And Johnny was just curious enough to obey.

  The shower cells were stark and empty. Just a row of showerheads, with drains set in the concrete floors. Uncuffing him only long enough to strip him down, they gestured him under the shower.

  "No trouble," the guard in charge snapped. "We've got orders to bring you before General Bligh, preferably in one piece. I'm going to be pissed if you force me to break the general's orders."

  Someone shoved him under the shower and turned the cold water on. Another tried to scrub the dirt and blood from his skin, but Johnny curled his lip and snarled, snatching the soap himself.

  No fucking way.

  He cleaned himself as best he could, and toweled dry when commanded. They wouldn't let him handle the razor himself, using one guard to pin his head in place, two on each of his arms, and another to shave him.

  Something was definitely going on.

  "No trouble," the guard in charge repeated, once he was dressed and cleaned. "Or you'll regret it."

  They'd even given him shoes.

  Dragging a hood over his head and cuffing him again, they led him through the main building where hundreds of wargs were locked away in barred cells. He'd been kept in solitary, and presumed he'd stay there until they deemed him subjugated. He could smell other wargs, hear them shifting in their cells as they passed, but nobody said a damned thing.

  These were the Confederacy's special warg forces, comprised of soldiers and not individuals. Not anymore. He'd tried to speak to some of the alphas that tried to break him, but there was no spark in their eyes anymore. Just puppets trained to submit to the Confederacy's whims. It made his skin crawl.

  The stale scent of warg pheromones stained the air, even through the hood. Then a hand in the middle of his back shoved him out of the room, into something small and dark. The swish of doors closing made him feel slightly claustrophobic as he found himself trapped on either side by the warm bodies of the enforcer guards. Suddenly the ground lurched and he staggered. Up. They were going up in one of their little metal boxes.

  Another hiss of air as the doors finally opened, and there was wind on his skin, rippling his shirt against his chest. An engine roared somewhere nearby, and the black hemp of the hood grazed his face as they walked directly into a headwind.

  "Where the hell are you taking me?" he yelled, breaking the first rule they'd ever taught him. Wargs don't speak. But he was too unnerved to obey. Maybe there was an execution ground out here somewhere, so they didn't get blood all over the floors. Or maybe they were simply going to throw him off the edge of the building?

  That didn't explain why they'd shaved him or given him shoes, though.

  "Silence." Another shove.

  One of these days.... He could feel his claws itching beneath his skin.

  "General." The guy who'd pushed him sounded instantly respectful.

  "Get that goddamned hood off him," snarled a voice thick with command. The stranger's voice dropped, though Johnny could barely hear him over the roar of that engine. "Jesus. I didn't tell you to put a hood on him! I said clean him up."

  They dragged the hood off, leaving Johnny blinking in the sudden sunlight. His eyes hurt after being trapped so long in the dark.

  Blades winked as they rotated slowly in the light, the flashes of sunlight blinding him. A black helicopter loomed on the launchpad nearby, a handful of people standing just outside the rotor circle, though he couldn't make them out. It still took his breath away, seeing something like the helicopter. These fuckers didn't know how good they had it here.

  Though he suddenly realized he wouldn't trade the Wastelands for all the tech in the Confederacy.

  "Johnny?"

  A whisper carried to him on the wind.

  His heart punched into his throat.

  And there was a slim figure in denim jeans and a white shirt, her long chestnut curls bound into a tight bun as her eyes lifted to his. The second she stepped into the sunlight, it surrounded her like a haze. Or no, maybe a halo of pure golden light that surrounded her entire body.

  Eden?

  The breath punched out of him, his heart plummeting like it had leapt off a cliff without the rest of him. He was dreaming. Had to be. Johnny took a half step toward her, before the twist of the cuffs reminded him exactly where he was.

  He had the unmanly feeling he was about to lose his shit. His vision blurred once again, but this time it wasn't from the piercing sunlight. She'd come. She'd actually come for him.

  "Remove his cuffs," said the general.

  An electronic click, and he was free, rubbing at his wrists.

  He barely had time to catch his breath before Eden launched herself against his chest, sending him staggering in a circle as he wrapped his arms around her and breathed in the familiar scent of her hair wash.

  Johnny captured her face between his hands as he found his feet, though he had the feeling he'd never catch his balance again. "Angel? What are you—?"

  Soft lips captured his, stealing the words from his mouth. Johnny moaned, drinking in the taste of her. But it was one thing to kiss her—something he'd been dreaming of for weeks now—and another to see her right back in Confederacy hands.

  She came back. Right into enemy territory.

  Who knew what Miles Wentworth's family would do if they heard she was back?

  Johnny broke the kiss, breathing hard. He squeezed her tight, his mind still reeling. What was she doing here? What had she done to earn his freedom? He couldn't believe she was real. "You came back?"

  For me?

  "Did you think I was just going to leave you here?" she asked, a tear sliding down
her cheek. Eden suddenly shoved him in the chest. "Damn it, Colton. Who do you think I am?"

  The woman of my goddamned dreams.

  He kissed her again, a silent apology for doubting her. Of course Eden McClain would storm the Confederacy to get him out. It was his own worth he'd doubted. Every inch of him ached with shock. He still couldn't believe she was here, running his hands up and down her arms as if to confirm the truth.

  "Sorry to break up the reunion," drawled a very familiar voice. "But I'd rather we get the hell out of here before some Confederacy cumstain decides the only good wargs are either dead or leashed."

  Johnny jerked away from Eden, his breath ragged.

  "Wade." Johnny's breath caught in his chest when he saw who else was there. Luc Wade was the last person he'd have ever expected to see. The last time they'd met, Wade's woman put a bullet in his chest, and Wade decided against finishing the job. But he was almost grinning now, as if to see Johnny undone made his fucking day. "Long time, no see."

  "Colton. Not long enough."

  Eden gasped, but Wade merely held up his hands. "I owed you a favor, Eden. I'm here to help spring his ass, but I don't have to like him."

  Definitely easier to pretend they didn't have a whole fucked-up history. He was dangerously close to feeling like the world was shifting beneath his feet as it was. "Aw, shucks. And here I thought we'd sit down and reminisce about old times."

  "Which old times? When you kidnapped my daughter and shot me in the knee?" Wade asked coolly.

  "I was kind of thinking of the night you barred the doors to the house I was sleeping in, and set it on fire."

  "You got out."

  "Lily was safe," Johnny pointed out. "I didn't let Cane touch a hair on her head."

  Touché. Wade's eyes narrowed as his gaze collided with Johnny's. "You and I are long overdue a certain talk. But we can shelve it until we get the hell away from this place. It makes my skin crawl."

  You have no idea. Johnny wrapped an arm around Eden's shoulders, still shaken by the fact she'd come back for him. "Agreed."

  "Besides," Wade gave him a wolfish smile, "I'm kind of anxious to get home. There's a certain reunion I'm looking forward to seeing even more than this one. You and Eden? McClain is going to just love that."

  "As you can see, Miss McClain, the Confederacy intends to hold up its side of the deal," said the general, who'd been watching the entire affair with a faintly disapproving look on his face. "If you would sign the agreement."

  A secretary in a prim suit stepped closer, opening his briefcase and presenting a set of documents. Eden signed with a flourish.

  "Eden," Johnny breathed. "What did you do?"

  What had she given up to get him out of there?

  "Don't worry, Colton," Wade mused, looking completely unconcerned by the idea of being surrounded by people who thought him an animal only good to be caged—but then he'd never been on the receiving end of their treatment. "Eden received the original contract terms for the Copperplate mine, except she managed to split the benefits between both Haven and Absolution. You're just a bonus. I think the good general thought throwing you in instead of the gold was a win-win situation, but you should have seen the fat little piggys in Absolution squealing about it."

  Johnny stared at her, speechless.

  "The settlements have a new agreement," Eden confirmed, sliding her hand into his. "We're going to be assisting the Confederacy with their new mine development program. The general has even offered us a helicopter ride home. Shall we?"

  He couldn't think of anything he wanted more. The sooner they got out of here, the better. He squeezed Eden's shoulder. "Let's go home."

  For the first time in years, he actually had one.

  And it was wherever she was.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  A SUDDEN LOUD banging woke her up. Various members of the council had come knocking since their return, but Eden had ignored them all. This was her time. Eden lifted her head off Johnny's chest and scraped her tangled hair out of her face. "I thought I told you all to go away and leave us alone?"

  "Eden, open up."

  Adam. That was Adam. Eden grabbed the sheet to her naked breasts and shoved herself upright, her post-orgasm languor sloughing off her instantly. He was back from the settlement of New Hope, where Mia's sister and her husband had settled. Finally home.

  Except she hadn't figured out how to tell him about Johnny.

  "Oh, shit," she breathed. A scalded sound echoed in her throat as she looked sharply at her lover. "You need to hide."

  "Where? Under the bed?" he whispered. "Do you think I'll fit?"

  She shot a hopeless glance toward the en suite bathroom. "In there!"

  "Ashamed of me?" he asked with a nonchalant yawn. He'd spent the past week in and out of bed with her, and he'd finally stopped waking up in a sweat, though he wouldn't speak about what had happened inside the training center. Not yet.

  "Of course I'm not ashamed of you!" Eden shot a look toward the door. A large shadow blurred the thin slice of light that streamed beneath it. "I'm trying not to get you killed."

  Johnny rested back on his elbows and arched a dark brow. "He's already smelled me. And he can hear us." He stroked a hand down her spine, smiling a mischievous smile. "I guess we get to discover just how much your brother thanks me for saving his life two years ago."

  The last few words rang out loudly, and Eden slammed a hand over his mouth, but it was too late.

  Silence.

  A thick, judging silence.

  Then someone was hissing words outside. Mia, by the sound of it. Probably trying to talk Adam out of murder.

  Good luck with that.

  "Give me a minute," Eden called, shooting out of bed and trying to locate her clothes. And panties. Jesus. Where—

  Johnny pointed up. The scrap of her cotton panties hung from the light fitting. Her face flaming, she leapt up and hauled them down. Johnny lounged in the sheets, looking for all the world like he had no intention of moving.

  "Get dressed," she hissed.

  Still smiling that lazy smile, he tossed the covers back and slung his legs over the edge of the bed.

  Eden whipped a shirt over her head and tugged her jeans on. Adam might have forgiven Johnny for the part he’d played in his warg curse, but there was no way in hell her overprotective, judgmental brother would let Johnny get away with putting his hands on her.

  The second she was dressed, she cracked open the door.

  "Adam! You're home!"

  "Oh, hell no," Adam ground out, his gaze shooting straight over her shoulder and locking on Johnny, who'd just pulled his jeans on. He stabbed a finger toward him. "You fucking bastard. You son of a bitch—"

  He nearly mowed her down, but Eden hadn't grown up with an overprotective older brother for nothing.

  "Hey," she yelled, slamming her palms against his chest. "It's good to see you too."

  Adam slowed, his nostrils flaring as he looked down at her. "What the hell, Eden? You're sleeping with Johnny Colton?"

  "Long story," she shot back.

  "Then give me the fucking short version. Riley sent her friend Jimmy to track me down and tell me I better get my ass back here as soon as I could. Something about a plague, and Lily dying, and you all wrapped up in it." Adam scraped a hand through his short tawny hair. "We returned as soon as we could and went straight to Luc and Riley's house to find you and Lily, but you weren't there."

  Eden tried to work out what to say. "I—I...."

  "The plague hit, Eden learned there was a cure in Cortez City, but she needed a guide to cross the Rim, and what do you know, but there I was, trying to drown myself in good whiskey in the bar she walked into. Your sweet sister mercilessly blackmailed me into being her guide, and so we broke into the city, stole the cure, found the Confederacy asshole who unleashed the plague, and worked out a deal with a general, giving him the Copperplate mining rights." Johnny yawned and stretched. "I think that's the short version, yeah?"r />
  Both of them blinked at him.

  "You missed the part where you put your fucking hands on my sister." Adam took a dangerous step toward the bed, but Eden darted between them again.

  "And you missed the part where I put my hands all over him. Hello? I'm over thirty. You do not make my decisions for me. Jesus, Adam, if you start a fight I will throw you out of my home. Johnny's a guest. My guest. And yes, we're sleeping together. Get over it. I'm a big girl."

  Adam froze, and then turned toward her incredulously. "I built this fucking house. You can't throw me out."

  "You put the deed in my name when you walked out—"

  "I seem to remember the story a little differently. I was forced to leave when this bastard"—Adam stabbed a finger toward Johnny—"shot me in the chest, and you took the amulet off to save my life."

  "I thought we'd gotten past all of that?" Johnny arched a brow, joking lightly. "When I saved your ass in Rust City. Twice."

  Eden glared at him, knowing he liked to lighten the mood whenever things got serious. "Not. Helping."

  He held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, my love."

  "Love?" The word sounded like it got caught in Adam's throat—or up under a rib.

  An amused chuckle sounded behind them. Mia leaned against the doorframe, her arms folded just under her breasts and her legs crossed. "Eden, have you been drinking? This is very much outside the rules."

  Eden turned toward her sister-in-law. "Ha. Ha." Mia often mocked her for coloring inside the lines. "It was a stressful time. Johnny got under my skin before I even knew it."

  Warm arms enveloped her from behind, and Johnny rested his chin on his shoulder. "I'm here to stay, McClain, so you'd better get used to me."

  "Like hell I will."

  Eden's heart fell. She adored her brother. But if he forced her to choose.... The mere thought of it sent her pulse racing.

  "You said we were friends," Johnny protested.

  "I didn't say we were friends." Adam was turning an alarming shade of red. "I said we weren't enemies anymore."

  "Adam," Mia called, locking eyes with him. "Why don't you walk it off? This is not fair to Eden. This is clearly her choice and once you've calmed down, I'm sure you'll be able to accept it too. Stop being a dick."