But as he raised his arms, and closed his eyes, he couldn’t help feel that the task was more than a bit beyond him. Still, he had to try. For Maya. For Sam.
Aedan probed forward with his senses, feeling for the heat signature of the fire. The response was so intense, so full of energy and excitement that he actually felt it below the belt and hoped to God that Maya didn’t notice.
Focus. Okay, he felt it. He loved it. He needed it. He absorbed it, called to him, breathed it inside, stoking the core in his stomach. Pulling it away from the forest, and into his body. And for a minute – just a minute – he actually felt whole. Then every bit of strength gushed from his body, spilling out through his fingertips, and he collapsed.
The world seeped in a tiny bit at a time. First came sound. The rhythmic roar of a motor. Garbled voices. Then came smell and touch. The bleach that cut through the soothing scent of smoke. The uncomfortable sensation of something poking at his arm. The warmth of a hand clutching his. The dead weight of his spinning head when he tried to lift it. Finally, when he managed to blink his eyes open, squinting against the light, the most beautiful sight in the world. Maya’s filthy, crazed face filled with concern, but very much alive.
“Where?” he tried to ask, but she pressed a finger to his lips and bent over him.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she whispered. Her breath awakened something deep inside. “You put it out. All of it. And then they spotted us. We’re on our way to University, where Toby is. I had them check for me, and they said he’s in critical condition.”
Aedan wanted her to keep talking, just so they could remain close. But when a man in uniform appeared behind her, clearing his throat, she sat up again. Aedan squeezed her hand, so she wouldn’t let go.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” the man said. “Glad to see you decided to join us.”
“Uh,” said Aedan. “Thank you for rescuing us.”
The man’s expression remained cold. “That’s my job. I have to save anyone in trouble. Even arsonists.”
“Tim!” A woman’s voice called from behind. “Let the police sort it out later. You don’t have all the facts.”
Aedan’s heart sped up. Facts? They’d either think he was insane or dangerous. Which he was. But still – he had to save Sam, and how on earth was he supposed to do that in police custody? He searched Maya’s face, expecting to see his own fears reflected there, but she only smiled down at him, brushing the hair from his forehead. And when he opened his mouth to speak, she gave her head the slightest shake.
The helicopter jolted as it set down on the roof of the hospital. Aedan’s head spun. The pilot-light in his stomach was more like a blowtorch, which made him all the more anxious. It was a vicious circle that could only spiral out of control. But as his panic rose, Maya’s expression seemed to radiate calm focus. And as the paramedics began to unload his stretcher from the helicopter, she slid her hand from his grasp.
Aedan nearly called out, feeling like letting go of Maya was like letting go of his only tether to sanity. But he caught himself before he made a complete fool out of himself. He simply watched as she slipped behind the man, Tim, at his feet. And the rest happened so fast all he registered was the stretcher thudding to the cement rooftop so hard his vision shook.
“Get up!” Maya called, tugging at his arm.
“What the hell did you do to them?” he asked, staring around at the three unconscious bodies spread around them.
“Nothing permanent. They’ll be out long enough for us to get Toby and get out of here.” She sounded far too calm for the situation.
“But-”
“Hey,” Maya said pulling him down behind the door just before it opened. She laid a finger across his lips and threw an arm over his shoulder as they watched the other hospital personnel take in the scene, and rush the downed paramedics inside. Then she hauled him up beside her, catching the door at the last moment with her foot.
“It’s going to be okay,” she said, staring hard into his eyes. He couldn’t imagine anyone looking more beautiful, dirt smeared skin and all. And somehow the intensity of her gaze calmed the fire inside of him.
Although the feel of her lips firm and warm on his own started it right up again. But Aedan didn’t care. He needed this kiss, and he suspected she knew that. And when she pulled away, he exhaled deeply.
“So I guess this means you aren’t going to kill me?” he asked.
“I haven’t let you off the hook yet, Sparks.” Aedan blanched until a smile crept across her face. Her teeth so gleaming white against her filthy face and crazy hair that she looked like the Cheshire cat. “Now come on before I change my mind.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Maya
Maya stopped at each landing, peering through the door until she found what she was looking for on the fifth floor. Aedan followed obediently as she led him right into the empty storeroom. Then she jammed a broom under the handle effectively locking it before tossing Aedan some scrubs. He swallowed but nodded showing he understood. They couldn’t very well hope not to attract attention walking around with torn, burnt and bloodied clothing. And as serious as the situation was, Maya thoroughly enjoyed Aedan’s reaction while she stripped. Watching him peel off his clothes was fun too. Just as much as seeing him in his wet bathing suit. She allowed herself a smile when he stopped short of losing his boxers.
Before she could make a comment, the door shook and the broom rattled precariously.
“Come on,” she said, motioning Aedan to follow her lead. She guided him into the back corner behind the door and opened it to find a woman on the other side. The woman’s eyes widened in surprise and then settled into a squint that said she’d registered the state of Maya’s face and hair.
Just as the stranger opened her mouth to call out, Maya reached up and targeted a nerve between her shoulder and neck. The woman froze for a moment and then slumped forward into Maya’s arms. She dragged the limp woman all the way into the room, then yanked Aedan outside, letting the door click shut.
“What was that?” Aedan asked. “The Vulcan Neck Pinch?”
“No. It’s a combination of ancient martial arts and acupuncture.” Maya lifted the tiny needle she’d palmed from the supply cabinet for him to see. The humor slid off his face. “Lesson number one: Use your environment to your advantage.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Aedan whispered, and Maya pulled him into the bathroom of an empty patient room, shutting the door behind them.
“She’ll have a terrible headache in about an hour when she wakes up. Assuming no one else finds her first.” That would seriously impede the plan, so she hoped for a little luck. “Wash your face and hair,” she commanded. Then she stripped off her own scrubs and started the little shower.
Aedan gaped at her. “You-” he started.
“You can join me if you prefer,” she said. “But we don’t have a lot of time for anything fun.” She winked.
“I better stick to the sink,” Aedan sputtered, reaching for the tap without taking his eyes off her body.
Five minutes later, and they were reasonably clean. Maya quickly braided her hair, so the wetness wouldn’t be as obvious, and led the way back into the hospital. When they got to the elevator, she examined the guide and punched the down button. “Critical Care Unit’s on the second floor,” she whispered, brushing against his ear as a balding man with a stethoscope and clipboard accompanied them inside.
She wished Aedan would relax. He was making them far more obvious targets than he needed to, and she fought the urge to kick him. He didn’t have her training, she had to remind herself, and that’s what made him Aedan. She let her fingers brush his and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.
But when the doors opened, and they took their first steps down the hall, past the waiting room filled with desperate grieving loved ones she suddenly felt weak. What if it was worse than she’d believed? What if… what if he was Corey? What if Corey had been in a hospital like thi
s one, and she hadn’t known that he lay dying?
Aedan now pulled her along after the doctor whose nose remained buried in the papers on his clipboard. It turned out the guy was exactly what they needed. Because when he swiped an ID badge through a slot in the wall, the doors buzzed open, and they slipped inside behind him.
Maya didn’t even have time to wonder how they would go about finding him. Aedan yanked her along with a sudden rush of purpose, and when she saw what was guiding him, she couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping her lips.
Toby lay on the cot like one of the dummies they might have used in training when they were back with the Noble Ones. Only he was covered in real bruises. Real blood. Machines beeped and whirred, and tubes flowed from his hand, snaking around cold steel and dripping strange liquids inside.
Her feet cemented to the ground. What had she been thinking? Why had she wasted their time like that? Sam’s time? Had she really thought she could just show up, throw on a bandage, and sweep him out the door with them?
“Maya?” Aedan’s voice called to her softly. His hand found her cheek, and she longed to both lean into it, and swat it away. So she did neither. “Are you okay?”
She couldn’t respond. But Toby must have heard her name because his eyelids fluttered and half opened. She leaned forward, scooped his glasses off the tiny table next to him, and set them on his face.
“Maya?” he croaked.
She leaned down, and stroked his forehead gently, fighting as hard as she could against the tears. She wouldn’t cry. He was going to be fine. She’d make that bitch pay. She’d kill her, and save Aedan and Sam.
“We need to get out of here,” Toby whispered.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she said, laying her forehead against his.
“I’m dead if I stay. It’s the first place she’ll look.” Toby pushed himself up on his elbows, winced, and fell back down to the bed again. Maya drew away and felt Aedan’s hand around her shoulder. “I’m a lot better than it looks.”
“Stay put, Tob. I’ll just wait here for her and-”
“And have a battle in the middle of a hospital with hundreds of innocent, already injured people?” Toby asked, forcing himself up to a semi-sitting position.
Maya’s mouth hung open. She felt the blush rise to her cheeks. Now she was pissed. “You need to heal.”
“I need to get out of here,” he said, yanking the needle from his hand, and swinging his legs over the side. His hospital gown bunched up as he grasped his ribs, grimacing in more pain. Aedan brushed past her to help support Toby as he stood, and Maya threw her hands up in the air.
“Get his chart,” Aedan said.
“Brilliant,” Toby agreed.
Great. Now they were bonding. Maya snatched the file from the pocket on the curtain and took the lead. But just as they approached the double doors, faces appeared in the windows, and Maya clearly made out the uniforms. Shit.
She ducked, and motioned for the boys to follow, snapping the curtain closed around them just as the officers burst through the doors. She barely registered the unconscious man in the bed behind them. In moments the whole place would be going into lockdown.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Maya
“What are you doing in here?”
Maya turned to find the same bald doctor they’d followed in from the elevator. His eyes were locked on a very flummoxed Aedan, now supporting most of Toby’s weight with his arm and hip.
“Uh,” Aedan said.
It was a typical mistake. Ignore the smallish female and focus on the potential testosterone filled hooligan. Bastard.
Ten seconds later, and Doctor Parker (Maya noticed the name stitched in his white coat) lay unconscious next to the patient and was half undressed.
“What the hell?” Aedan hissed, lowering Toby to the bed where he sunk to the mattress with a groan.
“Trust me,” Maya said, and threw the clothes at him.
Five more minutes, a lot of activity on the outside of the curtain, and a delicate maneuvering of bodies, and they were ready to go. Aedan was much taller than the good doctor, so it wasn’t perfect, but Maya’s hope was that no one would bother looking close enough. Because if they did, they were screwed anyway.
“Just keep your nose in that clipboard, Doc,” she whispered to Aedan. She got the feeling it was important to keep him as calm as possible. Probably the way he seemed to be straining like some internal battle was going down. And potential boyfriend or not, there was absolutely no more doubt about what he was.
She pecked him on the cheek before ripping the curtain aside. Then she pushed the bed out, Toby’s face hidden beneath the bunched up blanket. And with barely a glance at the chaos still going on at the other end of the hall, she wheeled him through the double doors.
Behind her, the curtain snapped shut once again. Aedan making sure no one noticed the two unconscious bodies on the floor. Nice.
They made it as far as the ER on the first floor before the question surfaced.
“Um, Maya.” Aedan’s hot breath on her ear sent sudden shivers of anticipation through her body nearly melting her. She was already high from the danger. “How do we get him outside the building? And then what?” Well, that was a buzz kill.
“When I raise my arm, close your eyes for a moment.” She fished inside her bra where she’d stashed the last remaining flashball.
“But-”
“Just follow my lead, Sparks.” She nodded toward the police presence outside. At least five uniformed men paced before the wall of windows at the entrance speaking into their shoulders at random intervals.
“Shit.” Aedan said it under his breath, and Maya had to bite her cheek not to smile. She did let her arm brush his though, and noted the small smile through her peripheral vision.
With a deep breath, she wheeled the gurney toward the doors. She kept her head held high, staring down anyone who may have thought about asking what she was doing. It was simple psychology. If she looked completely confident, they’d assume she wasn’t up to anything nefarious.
Maya squinted the moment they stepped outside. The sun was high, the air dry and hot like every other summer day in Tucson. It wasn’t completely unpleasant yet, actually almost refreshing after the cold recycled air of the hospital. But she knew that wouldn’t last long. And more importantly, the day was clearly wearing on. Sam’s life was slipping away with every second.
She quickened her pace and let Aedan help Toby back to his feet. By the time they made it to the nearest car in the parking lot, Maya’s grip on the flashball had gone lax. They may not even need it.
“I’m driving,” Maya said, reaching through the open window and unlocking the doors.
“It’s not our car-” Aedan started.
“I don’t care. Get Toby in the back.” And with that, she slipped inside and began hot-wiring the clunker. They were nearly home free when she glanced in the rearview mirror she saw a rapidly approaching paramedic flanked by two police officers. Damn it!
“Change of plans,” she said, leaping out of the driver’s seat to make room for Aedan. “Get us the hell out of here. Now, but close your eyes when I raise my arm.”
With a curt nod, Aedan slid into the front, and Maya turned just in time to find the paramedic stepping up to the car. She was there in a heartbeat, between Toby, safely arranged in the backseat and the boy not much older than herself. She looked him in the eye as Aedan put the car in reverse. One of the uniform’s hands went to his holster, but she held her ground.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“What are you doing?” the boy asked.
“Leaving. What does it look like I’m doing?”
“You’re going to need to come back inside until we verify your friend’s discharge papers,” one of the officers said.
Maya was about to argue that he had every right to leave if he didn’t want to be treated when she remembered her own plan. Flashballs were easier anyway.
She
raised her arm high so Aedan would see it and pressed just as the officer released his weapon from the holster. When she opened her own eyes, everyone in a fifty-foot radius was frozen in place, glassy eyed and obedient.
Maya grinned.
“Where to?” Aedan asked as they pulled out onto the Boulevard.
“My apartment,” Maya said, propping her feet up on the consul in front of her.
“We need to ditch this thing. It’s a stolen vehicle and they’ll know who we are if they find us at your place,” Aedan said without taking his eyes off the road.
“It won’t matter. As long as they don’t know who you are. It was never meant to be a permanent residence anyway. And after I get what I need we can destroy any left-over evidence.”
Aedan pulled into the apartment complex and parked around back and inside an empty carport. It was the best they could do to hide it. Then he helped carry Toby up the stairs.
“Oh my God,” Aedan whispered, taking in the dislodged door, and the remains of everything else. He set Toby down on the cement just outside the front entrance, where he slumped down, clutching his rib. “Kari did this.”
“Yeah,” Maya said, hurrying inside to gather everything she could find that might be of use. Within five minutes she had a bag full of weapons, medicine, clothes, and as much of Toby’s materials as she could salvage, including his goggles.
She tossed the duffle into Toby’s lap and looked him square in the face. Copernicus appeared on his other side, mewing, and rubbing his fuzzy orange head into Toby’s open palm.
“The laptop. We need to let them know,” Toby said.
“No,” she answered. “What we need is to keep them away from him.”
“Maya, you don’t know what you’re saying. This isn’t the way-”
But she was already up and facing Aedan.
“Burn it,” she said, then scooped up both the bag and the cat before bounding down the steps.
Flame and Fury Page 14
