by Maya Banks
smoke that blanketed the entire area.
Her unfocused gaze found Beau, her eyelids fluttering weakly, as though it were a struggle to merely remain conscious.
“Is it gone?” she asked hoarsely. “Is it destroyed?”
Beau’s throat closed in, swelling with emotion until it was impossible for him to swallow.
“Yes, honey. It’s gone. You destroyed it just like you swore you would.”
“And my parents?” she whispered.
Beau exchanged quick worried glances with her mom and dad because they were sitting right next to her. They’d held her, talked to her. And she wasn’t aware of their presence?
Beau pressed his lips to her forehead. “Your parents are okay. More than okay. You saved them. They’re here now with you. Do you want to see them?”
Ari’s eyes closed and she sagged limply against Beau.
“It’s finished,” she whispered.
Beau gathered her more tightly in his arms, fear knotting his insides. He held her fiercely as if by holding her tighter he could somehow hold her spirit with him in the here and now. Because he could see her fading away. As though she’d mustered just enough strength to achieve her objective and now was sliding away from him with each passing second.
“No, it’s not finished,” Beau choked out. “Not you and me, Ari. We’re just beginning. You hang on. Don’t you dare give up. Do you hear me? This isn’t finished!”
He pressed his lips to the top of her head, hot tears sliding down his cheeks.
“Don’t go, Ari. Don’t leave me. I love you,” he said brokenly.
He bowed his head, pulling her closer into his body even as his fingers stroked her neck, searching for a pulse. There’d been so much blood. So much mental strain. How could anyone survive something like this?
Her breath, so light and erratic puffed and then stuttered against his skin. And then she went utterly still. No rise and fall of her chest. No air exchange. No pulse. Nothing.
“No!” Beau roared in fury, denial raging in his mind, heart and soul. “Goddamn you. Come back to me, Ari! You can’t leave me. You can never leave me!”
Zack and Gavin managed to pull Ari from Beau’s grasp and they laid her on the floor of the helicopter so they could begin CPR. But it was all distant. Like it wasn’t really happening. As though Beau was watching it happen to a complete stranger with mild curiosity.
Only this was no stranger. Ari was his entire world. Without her to share it with him, it simply wasn’t worth getting up in the mornings.
She wasn’t responding to Zack and her father’s urgent attempts to bring her back. It was simply too much for Beau to handle any longer.
He dropped to the floor and gathered Ari’s limp body in his arms and rocked back and forth, his face buried in her hair.
“Don’t leave me,” he whispered. “Please don’t leave me, Ari. Stay. Fight this. Fight for us. Just please don’t leave me when it took so long for me to find the other half of my soul.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
BEAU paced the interior of the waiting room like a caged lion, edgy, raw, his nerves so jagged that any sound whatsoever set his teeth on edge. Every time one of the medical staff opened the door to the waiting room, he surged to attention, hoping it was someone bearing news about Ari.
He hadn’t wanted to be separated from her, not even for a minute. But the nurses hadn’t been swayed by his harsh demands, pleas or frustrated raging. Not even her parents had been allowed back while the doctor and other nurses worked rapidly to stabilize her. He’d drawn no comfort from that fact, because while he wanted to be with her, absolutely, he just didn’t want her to regain consciousness alone and frightened.
And judging by the restless, worried expressions on her parents’ faces, they weren’t faring any better than he was.
He closed his eyes, remembering the warning from so long ago. Tori’s dream. In reality, not that much time had passed, but so much had happened since then that it seemed a lifetime ago. Him, covered in blood, on the floor. He’d been right about one thing. It wasn’t his blood in his sister’s dream. It had been Ari’s. But Tori hadn’t seen something that had already occurred. She had seen the future. Ari’s fate.
Dane, Eliza, Capshaw and Isaac had arrived an hour and a half after the helicopter had touched down on the roof of the hospital. If the personnel had been taken aback by the strange aircraft, they hadn’t let on. They’d set about briskly and efficiently doing their jobs. Saving Ari’s life.
But Beau was worried about the amount of blood loss she’d incurred. It seemed she’d lost over half her volume. Just what she’d lost with the multiple and continuous psychic bleeds would be enough to fell anyone. Add a gunshot wound on top of that?
She had lost and regained a pulse numerous times on the helicopter flight to the hospital. Upon arrival they’d intubated her and began CPR again.
That was hours ago. What the fuck could be taking so long? Didn’t they know there were people out here dying a slow, agonizing death waiting to know if Ari lived or died? Would it kill them to give some kind of update?
But then if she’d died, they would have already reported that, so he took comfort from the fact that not a single person had been out to give Ari’s status.
Beau had been on the phone with Caleb and Ramie every hour since Ari’s arrival at the hospital. Ramie had wanted to fly out in Caleb’s plane immediately, but Beau had convinced her not to. There was little she could do and Beau would prefer they not leave Tori alone with only Quinn for protection. His little sister was still in a very fragile, vulnerable state, and subject to anxiety attacks if left alone for more than a few hours.
Quinn, too, had called, though his younger brother hadn’t even met Ari. Apparently Caleb and Ramie had filled him in, though, because he was anxious over the condition of his “future sister-in-law.”
Beau blew out his breath. If he was lucky, Ari would give him the time of day after he’d let her down so many times.
“Man, sit down for a while,” Zack said in a low voice.
Beau looked up to see Zack standing beside him. He hadn’t even noticed the other man’s approach. Zack held a cup of coffee out to Beau and he took it gratefully. He was weary to his bones and needed any surge the caffeine would provide because he refused to even contemplate sleep until he’d seen for himself that Ari was out of the woods.
“You’re wasted,” Zack said bluntly. “You aren’t doing anyone any good, especially not Ari, by stalking around here making the other people in the waiting room nervous as hell and you’re certainly not helping to diminish Ari’s mother’s worry. You saw Ari. You were with her. Her parents weren’t. So to see you so eaten alive like this only makes them think the worst.”
Guilt surged over Beau and he glanced momentarily over to where Ari’s parents sat. Ginger had her head laid on her husband’s shoulder, his arm firmly wrapped around her. Her eyes were red and swollen from the tears she’d shed and worry was bright in both her and her husband’s eyes.
Conceding that he wasn’t helping matters any, Beau took a seat and leaned back, fatigue washing through his veins, nearly overwhelming him in the process. He sipped at the strong coffee and grimaced his distaste.
“I didn’t say it was good coffee,” Zack said in amusement. “But it should definitely give you a zap of caffeine. I think it qualifies as sludge more than actual coffee.”
Beau peered down into the cup and frowned his agreement. Then he sighed and forced another sip down his throat.
The minutes ticked by with excruciating slowness, each one seemingly an hour. Beau watched the hand tick around the wall clock, counting each second. Silence had fallen over the small room, and no one seemed to want to change that.
There were half a dozen other people occupying the waiting room, but they’d all relocated to the far wall when Beau and the others had burst in. He couldn’t say he blamed them. Beau was covered in Ari’s blood, Gavin had dried blood in more than one place from
his altercation with the two men he’d killed and the rest just looked pissed off.
Beau leaned back, cocking his head toward the ceiling, forcing his gaze from the clock and his frustration with how slowly time was passing. His eyes had just began to close when he heard the door to the waiting room open.
Bracing himself for disappointment—again—he surged to his feet, only this time the woman wearing scrubs called out Ari’s name. He strode across the room, but Gavin and Ginger were closer and they eagerly approached the nurse.
The nurse frowned when she saw many people gathered at the mention of Ari’s name.
“I’m sorry, but only immediate family is allowed back.”
Beau stood there, stunned. They weren’t going to let him back? What the fuck?
His fingers curled into tight fists at his sides, his desire to hit something—anything—a violent need boiling inside him. He was a simmering cauldron of fury, his impatience reaching its breaking point.
Before he could open his mouth to blast the nurse and dare her to keep him away from Ari, Gavin motioned to Beau with his hand, shocking him with his next words.
“Come on, son.”
Ginger smiled up at the nurse. “He’s her husband—our son-in-law.”
Beau wanted to drop to the floor and kiss his “mother-in-law’s” feet and he would have if he thought he could get back up. Embarrassing tears welled in his eyes at their unconditional acceptance of him. Was this what it was like to have parents who loved you? That behaved like real parents, or like they should?
He couldn’t even choke out his thanks as he walked through the open door behind them because he wouldn’t have been able to get the words past the knot in his throat. To his further surprise, Ginger curled her arm around his, walking beside him as the nurse led them down the hall to one of the rooms.
She gave him a little squeeze, almost as if she knew the weight of his emotions and the impact her words had on him. God, he wanted nothing more than to hug her.
The nurse hesitated at the door and Beau’s stomach tightened.
“She’s groggy from the pain medicine,” the nurse said. “But she’s comfortable for now. The doctor will be by in a few minutes to fully update you on her condition, but I knew you’d want to see her as soon as possible.”
“Damn right,” Beau said gruffly.
The nurse smiled. “Go in then. If she gets restless or agitated, push the nurse call button. Until a surgeon is consulted and a decision is made as to whether she requires surgery she needs to remain as still as possible because we haven’t set her leg yet.”
“Set?” Beau croaked. “As in it’s broken?”
Ginger swallowed hard and Gavin’s face went gray with worry.
“She sustained a femur fracture, but the fracture itself isn’t too serious. The force of the bullet’s entry dislocated her hip, and the orthopedic surgeon is being consulted to see whether the tear in the cartilage needs to be surgically repaired or if we can reset the dislocation and she’ll heal on her own.”
Beau winced. That sounded damn painful. But he nodded, only wanting her to get out of the way so he could see Ari. His heart thundered, his pulse loud in his ears when she finally moved, allowing them entrance inside. He pushed by quickly, in his haste going right by Ari’s parents, who were every bit as eager to see her as he was, he knew.
But they hadn’t been there when she’d been shot. When she’d taken a bullet meant for him. They hadn’t held her while her blood poured all over him and onto the floor in a scarlet wave. They hadn’t experienced the harrowing thought that she was . . . dead.
He breathed in, shaking the horrible memories from his head. And he went straight to Ari’s bedside, curling his hand around her limp one. The other hand had an IV attached and she was hooked to an assortment of other machines. His blood chilled because there was a crash cart next to her. Had she coded? Surely they would have been notified. Or had they merely feared and prepared for the worst given the condition she’d been in when she arrived?
His gaze raked hungrily over her, taking in every detail, watching each and every breath, the soft rise and fall of her chest. This time tears didn’t merely burn his eyes. They streaked down his cheeks, blurring his vision.
She was alive. It nearly brought him to his knees. The sheer gratitude that she was alive, breathing, that she would recover. And God willing, she’d recover with him every step of the way.
Her parents crowded in on the other side of her and her father leaned down to kiss her brow. Her mom carefully picked up the hand the IV was attached to, and in that moment, she was being touched by the three people who loved her most in the world.
“Beau?” Ari murmured, her voice cloudy with confusion. But thankfully no pain. At least it didn’t sound pained.
“Yes, honey, I’m here,” Beau said, wiping at his tears with his shoulder. Damn if he’d sob all over her like a child.
She licked her lips and then smacked them together as if ridding herself of a bad taste. But no, that wasn’t what she was doing at all.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
Ah hell. She didn’t realize, in her drug-induced fog, that her parents were standing right there. But he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of complying with her wishes because it was what he wanted right now more than anything.
He leaned down, capturing her mouth gently with his. She sighed against his lips, and then he pulled away, though he’d love nothing more than to spend the next several hours simply touching and kissing her, reassuring himself that she was alive.
“Honey, there are two people here who want very much to see you,” Beau said, brushing her soft cheek with the crook of his finger.
Her brow scrunched up as she looked at him. She hadn’t even looked in her parents’ direction yet, but they didn’t seem bothered by that fact. Ginger was smiling through her tears, watching the interaction between Beau and her daughter. Her father wore a slight scowl, but that was to be expected. What self-respecting father ever liked the man his daughter hooked up with at first sight?
“Who? Where?” she asked in puzzlement.
“Here, baby.” Her mom finally spoke.
Ari’s head turned swiftly and she let out a small cry when she saw both her mother and her father there.
“You’re all right,” she breathed. “You’re not dead!”
Gavin frowned. “Why on earth would you think a thing like that?”
Knowing it would be difficult, not to mention tiring, for Ari to explain it all, Beau explained what Ari had seen—and assumed—himself.
“Oh baby, I’m so sorry,” Ginger said. “You didn’t fail us and I won’t have you saying so. You saved our lives. Because those men absolutely meant to kill us. They tried to kill us. But your power stopped them. And well, by the time they realized the barrier was gone, it was too late,” she added ruefully. “Your father was pretty pissed by then.”
Gavin’s face darkened. “That’s an understatement.”
Ginger laughed and Ari smiled and Beau went weak at the knees. Man did she have a beautiful smile. It lit up the entire room. Warmed his entire body.
Then Ari sobered, her expression somber and utterly serious.
“Mom, Dad, there’s something you should know.”
Knowing precisely what Ari wanted to tell them, Beau lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.
“Would you rather I left you alone to speak to your parents?” he asked softly.
Something flickered in her eyes, and then she shook her head. “I’d like you to stay. That is if you want to. If you’d rather—”
He put his finger to her lips, shushing her. Then he followed it with a kiss. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away. I’ll always want to stay, Ari. But if you wanted privacy I’d certainly grant it.”
Instead, she laced her fingers through his and turned nervously toward her parents.
“What is it, baby?” Ginger asked, her brow creased in concern.
; Ari took a deep breath. “I know the truth. That you and Dad adopted me.”
THIRTY-NINE
HER parents wore mirroring expressions of alarm. Fear leaped into her mom’s eyes and her father actually paled. Ari lifted the hand with the IV attached to where her parents’ hands rested, one atop the other, on her bedrail. And she covered it with her own.
“How?”
It seemed the only word her mother was able to speak. She looked so shocked—so terrified—that Ari wondered if they feared rejection. Her anger. Disappointment? She would give them none of those.
The only thing she’d ever give them was her love. Well, plenty of other things too. Loyalty. Laughter. Grandchildren . . . ? She snuck a quick peek at Beau as she thought the last. She could just imagine little dark-haired boys who looked like their father. A blond angelic baby girl. Or perhaps even a daughter with her father’s dark hair. The possibilities were endless, and Ari wanted a big family. She just hoped Beau felt half of what she felt in return.
“It’s a complicated story,” Ari said with a sigh. “And I’ll tell you all the specific details sometime. The important thing is that I know.”
“We’re so sorry,” her father began, but Ari cut him off rapidly, not even wanting him to venture in that direction.
“The other important thing—really the only important thing—is that I love you both so much. And you are my parents—my family. Blood doesn’t make a family. Love does.”
The words, the sentiment or epiphany—whatever she wanted to consider it—had come to her in the worst of circumstances and now, giving voice to them, made it all the more real.
Tears spilled down her mom’s cheeks and her father turned his face away so she wouldn’t see the emotion churning in his eyes. But she had glimpsed it. Just before he turned away.
Beau’s hand tightened around hers in silent support. She waited for her parents to collect themselves before she said anything further. When they seemed more controlled, she continued.
“At first I was hurt—devastated,” she admitted. “The idea that I was unwanted, unloved, left on someone’s doorstep to die if no one came.”
She broke off. Despite being at peace with her past, a knot had still formed when speaking of her birth parents.
“Oh baby,” her mother whispered. “You are so very loved.”
Beau cleared his throat, clearly wanting to say something, but he seemed to battle whether to do so or not. Then he sighed and ran his free hand over his head, a signal of his agitation.
“Ari, the night you were taken from the safe room, when we all left the house to engage the threat against us . . . I tripped over a body. It was a man who’d been badly beaten. In fact I didn’t think he was even alive. But then he spoke and he made me promise to give his last words to you.”
Her eyes rounded with shock and her parents gave him a look of equal bewilderment.
“Me?” she asked, flabbergasted over Beau’s statement.
Beau took a deep breath and squeezed her hand, lacing and unlacing their fingers, hesitating a fraction of a second longer.
“He was your birth father.”
“What?”
“Oh my word,” her mother whispered.
Her father remained silent, his expression and features stoic. He’d frozen the moment Beau had dropped the words “birth father.” At least he hadn’t said father. Because that would have been an insult to the man who was her father in every way except blood.
“I have to back up a little,” Beau admitted. “He called me a few days before. Not long after you came to me for help. And he warned me. He told me what they’d done to your birth mother in order to glean information about who your adopted parents were.”
Ari’s hand broke free of her parents’ grasp and she brought it over her mouth as a gasp escaped.
“I won’t go into the details,” Beau said in disgust. “There’s no need. These people are—were—animals. But then I neither heard from him again, nor did I ever see him in person until that night. When I found him outside. And he made me swear that I would give you his message.”
“What was it?” Ari asked, her voice catching.
“That he loved you. That your birth mother loved you. And that when they discovered the true intentions of the surrogacy foundation who funded your birth mother’s pregnancy, they ran. They had several close calls, so after you were born they went to . . .”
He broke off and closed his eyes as if what he would say next hurt him more than it would her.
“They went to my father,” he said hoarsely. “Because he was an active donor/participant in the foundation, and they begged him to take you in and raise you. So you’d be safe.”
