Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats) (33 page)

ground.

The rain was coming down harder now, and with any luck, they wouldn’t see their tracks.

Marco waited beside Cam and Diego. No doubt they were holding their breaths just like him.

The light swooped from one side and back again before going out. The two men retreated into the cover

of the trees, but that didn’t mean they were alone. Their retreat could merely be the set-up for a trap.

Marco might’ve grown up in Colombia, but Cartagena was far from most of the cartel and guerrilla

skirmishes, and he didn’t know any of their plays or tactics. He might not know what Diego’s motives were, but he was their best bet for information.

Diego was on his left side, so Marco leaned over and whispered into his ear. “What should we do

now?”

“Let me use my latent ability to scout the surroundings.”

Marco remembered Diego blurring back in the travel agency. “Blurring is nice, but it won’t make you

invisible.”

“I’m a Concealer. Do you know what that means?”

The name sparked a memory from his training during his teen years. A Concealer could blend in with

the surroundings, and if the person was powerful enough, could even blur the surroundings enough to

make a person go in circles and lose their way.

Marco nodded his head. “Concealers can be useful, but how do we know that you won’t just flee and

leave us here?”

“You don’t, but I’m curious enough about your little ice dome trick to not leave you behind.”

At least the man was honest. “All right, go. If you’re not back in half an hour, we’ll make our own

way.”

Diego nodded, then scooted a few feet away before he started to blur. Within seconds, Marco felt

compelled to look away.

Cam touched his arm and leaned in to whisper, “Do you think he’ll be back?”

He’d forgotten about her supersensitive hearing. Undoubtedly, she’d heard every word. “For the sake of

our mission, I hope so.”

As they waited, Marco made sure that he had one finger pointing to the west, and because there was no

one else around, he sidled closer to Cam until they were touching.

She glanced at him, pressed closer to his side, and then looked back in the direction that Diego had

gone.

He loved how she didn’t hesitate with him anymore, and actually sought out his touch. If she’d have

him, Marco wanted to continue working with her. Combining his elemental powers with her considerable

strength and brain, they could become a phenomenal team.

He couldn’t wait for this mission to be over so he could show her around his hometown. He’d never

wanted to do that before, but he wanted Cam to know everything about him. Cartagena would be the perfect place to explain about the other Elemental Masters.

A rustle came from the east, and Marco looked over, but didn’t see anything. He nudged Cam, and she

whispered, “Every time I try to focus, I can’t see anything. It’s almost as if I’m forced to look away.”

Marco whispered, “Diego.”

As soon as Marco said, “Diego,” Cam forced herself to look over to where she’d heard the sound.

Something kept trying to force her to look away, but her keen vision did more than see in the dark.

Apparently, she could also pick out the blurry form of Diego the Concealer.

She didn’t have to keep fighting to focus on his location because a few seconds later, Diego appeared

plainly in front of them and said, “They left a few minutes ago. One of their cars broke down, but

otherwise, I didn’t see any sort of trap or signs of hidden lackeys.”

Cam stood up. “Did you check the vehicle for suspicious activity?”

Diego frowned. “No. By the time I got to the car, the men were just leaving. I thought it more important

to follow them and make sure they’d gone.”

She touched Marco on the arm. “Unless you’ve had some sort of bomb squad training I’m unaware of,

I’ll take a look and make sure the vehicle isn’t a threat. I had some training in my old life.”

The last thing she needed was for Diego to learn about her past.

Marco touched her cheek. “No, I don’t know anything but generalizations when it comes to bombs or

trip wires. But I can stay close, in case I need to try and protect you if things go wrong.”

Not caring if Diego saw, she kissed Marco and said, “Thanks for having my back.”

Marco grinned at her. “Anytime.”

Diego cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t it be better to just leave the car in the jungle? The lackeys might’ve left, but they’ll probably be back. We shouldn’t linger longer than necessary.”

Cam shook her head. “Just in case it’s armed, I can’t leave it for an innocent bystander to find. Now,

take me to it.”

Diego shrugged, and starting walking. She followed, with Marco right behind her. She kept an ear out

for the cartel lackeys. Even if Diego had been telling the truth—that they’d gone—she wasn’t about to let

her guard down. In the middle of an operation, that was the easiest way to get yourself killed.

After walking for five minutes, they came to a bare patch of the jungle where an old jeep-like vehicle

sat with its doors open. Cam motioned to Marco. “Stay back here, and duck behind the trees if things go

wrong.”

Marco nodded and she approached the car. She looked inside, then under it, and finally under the hood.

The car was clean.

She let out a sigh and turned around. “There’s nothing there, so let’s get out of here.”

Diego came forward to stand next to her. “We need to hurry. Follow me.”

He circled to the back of the car and headed toward a faintly worn path. Just as he was about to enter

the trees, Cam saw it—a clear fishing line-type trip wire.

She dashed toward him. “Diego, stop!”

But as he turned, his leg pushed against the wire and something exploded behind her.

Chapter Forty

Marco took the split second between Cam yelling and the blast to try to construct a protective ice wall at Cam’s back. But he only managed to make it a few inches before something near the car exploded.

He was thrown back and hit a tree.

It took him a second to jump to his feet, and then he raced toward the smoldering remnants of the car.

He was relieved to see that his wall was still standing—elemental ice was stronger than real ice—but his

relief faded when he saw Cam on the ground.

No.

As he raced to her side, he melted his ice wall and put out the car fire. Marco knelt down next to Cam,

who was unconscious, and checked her pulse. But while erratic, it was strong.

He checked her over, but when he got to her midsection, he found out why she was on the ground. A

four-inch piece of shrapnel had blasted through his ice wall and into Cam’s side.

Diego raced out of the trees he’d taken cover inside, and stopped next to him and Cam. Only because

Cam was hurt and needed help did he restrain himself from punching the man in the face.

Still, Marco couldn’t resist asking, “Why the fuck didn’t you pay more attention to your surroundings?

You claim to be part of a Talent’s army, but if you’re the best this Talent has, then he or she isn’t going to last long.”

Diego wasn’t fazed by his anger. “Are you going to insult me some more, or would you like me to go

get some help?”

Marco took a deep breath.
Think of Cam.
“Is there a hospital nearby?”

Diego shook his head. “No, but if we get her to Eduardo, he should be able to save her.”

Diego’s words only confirmed his suspicions about Eduardo being a Talent. But now was not the time

to get the guy to admit it. “How far away is he?”

“Maybe ten minutes, if we hurry.” Diego gestured toward Cam. “Do you think you can carry her?”

Marco looked back down at Cam. It took all of his training and experience as a soldier to keep from

panicking at the amount of blood on her shirt. “Yes, give me a second.”

He went around to her good side, placed his arms under her shoulders and her knees, and lifted her. He

leaned her weight against his chest, careful not to jar her more than necessary. He looked back up to Diego.

“Take me to Eduardo.”

Diego nodded and started walking.

As they moved through the jungle, Cam kept making small grunts of pain. The part of Marco that had

come to care for her wanted nothing more than to lay her down and whisper sweet nothings. But, the

solider part of his brain understood that such an action would probably kill her.

Don’t you dare fucking die on me, woman.
He tightened his grip and pushed on.

In another five minutes, Diego suddenly stopped and put up a hand. Marco was still angry with the man

who’d put Cam in this position, but he knew Diego was his best chance of getting her medical attention. If Eduardo was a Talent, and the legends were true, then the man should have extraordinary healing powers.

Marco waited to see what Diego would do.

Diego blurred in front of his eyes until Marco was forced to look away. When he looked back, Diego

was gone. “Fuck.” The bastard had ditched him.

He was alone, the woman he cared for possibly dying in his arms. He well knew that emotions could

kill in an extreme situation, such as this one, but it took him a little longer than usual to focus on what he could do rather than what he couldn’t.

All he could do was try to patch Cam up.

He kissed Cam’s forehead and said, “Hang on, beauty. I need you to hang on. I’m going to try and stop

the bleeding.”

Marco knew some basic field medicine, but not enough. All he could do was remove the metal and

create some kind of makeshift bandage.

Reluctantly, he laid Cam on the ground. He checked her pulse, and while it was weaker than before, it

wasn’t yet in the danger zone.

Okay then.
He brushed her cheek and leaned down to take a better look at her injury. He ripped her shirt away and sucked in a breath. While the metal wasn’t embedded that deep, there was a real chance it’d hit

one of her kidneys.

If he’d thought waiting for Richard Ekstrom to trade Cam back on the ocean had been bad, this was a

hundred times worse. Because if Cam died it could very well be Marco’s fault.

He took a deep breath, pushed aside his emotions, and focused on the wound. He had no way of

knowing if the metal embedded in Cam’s side was straight or jagged. Since pulling out a jagged piece of

shrapnel could make things exponentially worse, he hoped for the former.

Of course, he was damned either way. If he left the shrapnel in, it could kill her. Or if he pulled it out, it could also kill her.

Because he had a trick from his teenage training years that might help, he decided to take his chances

with removing the shrapnel. He shucked his shirt to use as a compress, and took a grip on the metal. “Don’t you fucking die on me, Camilla, do you hear?”

Of course, she didn’t respond, but Marco only hoped her subconscious heard him. It was important that

she knew he was fighting for her.

He exhaled, and on his next inhale, he started to pull out the shrapnel. Cam made a faint noise, and he

paused. “I’m sorry, Camilla.” Marco pulled a little more, sweat trailing down his back as the metal came out centimeter by centimeter.

At least Cam hadn’t started to hemorrhage.

Judging by the marks toward the bottom of the shrapnel, the next pull would take it out completely.

He checked her pulse. Her heart rate had dropped slightly, but he hoped not enough to cause her to

crash. He needed to finish this. Now.

Marco readied his shirt and pulled the metal free. Blood started to flow out of her wound—at least it

wasn’t gushing—and he applied his shirt compress. It was time to try his trick.

He moved one of his fingers to the west and moved some elemental water particles to just under the

compress. With everything in place, he removed the compress, pressed the two sides of her skin together,

and used his elemental water to create ice staples to hold her skin in place. He knitted one through her skin, and then another, until he had enough to stitch the wound closed.

This wasn’t a long term solution, but it was the best he could do.

Marco checked her pulse again, but there wasn’t any change. He was going to take that as a good sign.

He brushed back the stray hairs that had escaped Cam’s braid before cupping her cheek. She was pale

and motionless, which was a huge contrast to her stubborn, argumentative self.

The sight squeezed his heart.

He had to do something, anything, to prevent fear from taking hold. So, he took a firm tone and said, “I

can insult your effectiveness as a soldier, if that will rile you into waking up.” He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Or I can tell you that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, cooking for her man. Anything you

like, Camilla, as long as you’ll open your eyes.”

But, of course, nothing happened.

Marco hated this. He was used to always having an out, or at least a strategy to try. Unfortunately, in this case, nothing he could do would help. Either Cam would last long enough to heal, or she’d die.

“Right, Alvarez. Time to stop moaning, as Jax would say, and focus on what you can do.” And right

now, the only thing he could do was try to find a village or someone to take him to a village where he could get Cam help. Even if there wasn’t a major hospital nearby, this area was on the edge of the Amazon

rainforest, and there were all kinds of unique medicines here that could help with infection.

He maneuvered himself to pick Cam up again when he heard a noise. Marco looked up. As he scanned

the area, someone said, “Don’t attack. This is Diego, and I’ve brought Eduardo with me.”

Marco felt a sense of relief. Diego hadn’t abandoned them after all. “If you’re here to help, you’d better hurry up.”