Revealed (8 page)

He cradled her
close. “Damn it, Riley! I told you to stay in the car.” Pressing a kiss to her
lips, then her cheeks, he rocked her in his lap. “Gaius! We need to get her to
the Mountain, now! She’s been shot, damn it.” Another round of kisses to her
face, his hand stroking over her cheek and throat. “Don’t you die on me, do you
understand?”

“Let’s go,”
Gaius shouted. “I’ve cut the wire. We can get the hell out of here. Thankfully,
they didn’t have a clue what they were doing with the explosives, or we’d have
been toast.”

Hector raced
back to the truck. He climbed in, with her in his lap, to the front seat. “Go,”
he growled at Gaius.

“Going, I’m
going.” Gaius threw the truck into drive and, with a small skid, they shot off
down the road toward a large mountain in the distance.

“I’m not going to die.”
Hurts like hell, though
. Riley felt numb
from the waist down and was starting to from the waist up, but she clung to
Hector. “I think it’s in my side. I don’t want to look down because I really
don’t do blood well. If I see it, I’m going to pass out.” She hadn’t been able
to think about the blood that had flown while the men had fought, but now that
she had, that fast she closed her eyes. “Oh God.” She whimpered. “I saw blood.
If
I pass out, don’t yell at me,” she muttered and rubbed her cheek to the side of
his neck. “I love you, Hector, for now and ever. You were worth being shot
for.”

“Damn it,
Riley.” He pressed her face closer and rested his cheek to hers. “I told you to
stay in the truck.”

“She saved your
life,” Gaius said. “If she hadn’t smacked you out of the way that shot would
have taken out your medallion for sure. I couldn’t get to you quick enough. If
not for her, you’d be dead. For good.”

“Fuck,” he
breathed out. She felt a shudder move through his body. “I love you, Riley. But
I’m not all that happy with you right now, even if you did save my hide.”

Gaius snorted at that. “I have a
feeling you’ll be sucking up to her for years to come. I can see her whipping
out the
I saved your life
card any
time she’s on the losing end of an argument.”

Riley smiled and
moved to touch her fingers to Hector’s lips. “You were worth saving,” she told
him quietly. “I won’t pull that out on you. I love you too much to hold that
against you. We’re good. Just get me somewhere so that they can give me
something for this pain. No one ever said how much being shot hurt,” she
grumbled. “You guys beat the hell out of those men.”

“We did more
than beat the hell out of them,” Gaius said.

“Shut up, Gaius.
She doesn’t need a replay of all the gory details. She saw it. Grab the med kit
from under the seat. We should have some morphine in it. I definitely need some
gauze.”

“Hang on,” Gaius muttered. The
vehicle slowed for a moment before something hit the console. A
crink
of paper. Hector lifted his head.
Then he grabbed the package and tore into it with his teeth.

“I’m going to
press this to your side. It’s going to fucking hurt, but I need to try and
staunch the blood loss. So, hang on tight and curse up a blue streak if you
need to.” It was her only warning before a handful of gauze was pressed against
the wound, lighting up a fire along her side.

Riley screamed. Once again, her
vision seemed to go sideways. “Holy
freaking
hell, that hurts.” She had a massive pain now, one that was burning hotter and
hotter. “Oh God, I don’t like this. I don’t ever want to be shot again. You
said morphine. Where is it?” she demanded as she clutched Hector’s shirt, her
teeth now chattering as the shock began to fill her body.

Hector shot her
a knowing look. He lifted a hand and took something else that Gaius was holding
out. A little syringe. He used his teeth to yank off the cap. A small prick to
her arm, then he pulled it out again. “You should start feeling it any second
now,” he told her.

Suddenly, Riley
felt the morphine that raced from one side of her body to the other. She
sighed, resting against him again. He rocked her gently in his arms as he
brushed light kisses over her face and lips. “We’re close, sweetheart.
Shouldn’t be more than another couple of minutes. We’ll get you in and into our
medical bay so we can get you cleaned up and get that wound looked after.” Then
he growled, “Gaius.”

“We’re coming up
on the parking bay. Another minute. Two at most. I’ll get you to the elevators
and worry about parking later. How’s she doing?”

“Okay now,”
Hector said. He was back to stroking her cheek and hair. “She’s still losing a
lot of blood, though. Damn it, the bullet could have hit anything.”

“Calm, brother.
We’ll figure it out and get her all fixed up.”

“He’s right.
Calm, Hector.” Riley was soothing him when she was the one shot. Later, she
might laugh at that fact. “I’m tougher than I look.” Her words started to slur.
“I feel all kinds of dizzy, though. Is that normal?”

“It’s the blood
loss, sweetheart. Combined with the morphine, yeah, it’s normal. I’m sorry,”
Hector whispered. “We’re here. Another moment and we’ll be stopping. I should
apologize now. We all have medical training, but it’s a bit crude. We’re
guys—we don’t really care about things like that. Sweetheart, do you know your
blood type, by chance?”

“O negative. I
know because my father needed blood, and I had to be typed so that I could
donate.” Her words were almost unintelligible.

“Holy shit, how
much did you give her?” Gaius asked.

“Just two CC’s,”
Hector replied. He was frowning at her, concern etched on his face.

The truck rocked
to a stop. In a moment, Hector was moving out of the vehicle and into an
elevator. It began to move as soon as Gaius was in. They were going down,
deeper into the Mountain. When they stopped, Hector began to jog along a long,
well-lit hallway. She was jostled against his chest, but he was holding her
tight enough that there was very little pain along her side.

Riley held on. She was feeling
sleepy but knew that he would freak out if she were to fall asleep on him. She
reached out with her mind to him.
N
ot
going anywhere, Hector. Sorry, but you’re stuck with me forever.

Damn
right, I am. And don’t apologize for something I want.
They entered a large room, and
he eased her down onto a table. “Gaius, grab the blood and IV. I’m going to
strip her down and get her into something we can work around.”

“Right,
definitely, blood, need blood,” the other man muttered.

“I need to get
you out of your clothing fast,” Hector told Riley. He moved away from her and
came back a moment later, wheeling a table. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I need
to cut them off. I’ll buy you new ones, promise.”

“Okay,” Riley
whispered, struggling to look around.

He began to cut
away at her shirt, tearing it when he could, cutting when he couldn’t. Helping
her sit up, he tugged everything down her arms gently. Even her bra. Then he
slipped a hospital gown up her arms and tied it behind her neck before laying
her down. Next went her shoes and her pants. He left on her underwear.

When the doctors
and nurses stepped in, Hector turned a look on them. “Cause her any pain, or do
any harm, and you’ll never walk out of this room.” His warning given, he leaned
over and kissed Riley’s lips. “I’ll be right outside. You need me, you call.”

She managed a
shaky nod, hoping that when they knocked her out to extract the bullet that he
wouldn’t be able to remain connected to her. She closed her eyes. Hector’s hand
on her cheek was the last thing she felt as the doctors gave her something to
send her into blissful darkness.

Chapter Seven

“She’s waking
up,” a feminine voice said.

She felt Hector
before she heard him, his presence through their bond growing before his hand
touched hers. “Riley, come on, sweetheart. Open up your beautiful eyes for me.
Come on, Riley. Enough with the lazing around. Time to wake up so I can show
you your new life and so you can meet some of the people you’ll have to
tolerate as I do.”

Riley opened her
eyes, then winced. “Can you turn the light down just a hair?” It was right over
her head and very bright. “Hey, you.” She turned her head to the side,
clenching her eyelids shut. “Goodness, I had the best dream, and you were
there.”

“You can tell me
all about it later, when we’re alone,” Hector said. “All right, the light is
off now. Open your eyes for me, Riley. I need to see them,” he said softly. A
brush of his lips to hers and the slide of his fingers to her cheek had her
sighing.

Riley did open
her eyes then. They fluttered once, then a second time. She licked her lips.
“Can I have a drink, please?” When she shifted slightly, however, she grimaced.
“Oh God. That hurts like hell.”

“It likely
does,” someone said. She recognized Gaius’s voice and saw him as he handed a
glass with a straw to Hector.

“Here.” Hector
held the straw to her lips as he stared into her eyes.

“It’s worth it,
though,” Riley said. “As long as I get to see that look on your face. Heck yes,
it’s worth it.” She took another sip of the water and sighed. “Enough. Thank
you.” Turning, she winced again but managed a small smile when she looked at
Gaius. “Hey, you.”

The woman at Gaius’s side bumped
against him. Riley watched the movement with a grin. Mentally, she reached out
to Hector again.
I take it that’s his
other half? Why isn’t he introducing her?

Because
he is greatly lacking in something we refer to as manners.
“Riley, this is Emily. Emily,
this is Riley,” Hector said. He shot Gaius a look, but all he got in return was
a shrug and a little smirk.

“Nice to meet
you.” Emily held out her hand.

Riley took it.
“Hello, nice to meet you. I like you already.” The woman was like a shining
star beside Gaius. The golden threads that bound Gaius and Emily together were
like thick ropes. Inches thick. The love that they had for each other was
clear.

“What’s not to
like?” Gaius asked with a grin. He hugged Emily from behind, pressing a kiss to
the woman’s temple as he rocked her back and forth. “She’s awesome.”

Oh,
by the gods, now we’ll have to listen to him spout off about all her attributes
and all he loves about her. Feign exhaustion, please. Anything to keep him from
talking for the next four hours.
Hector shot her a pleading look.

Riley just
grinned. “The bond that ties the two of you is impressive. It’s thick. Can you
pull on her abilities the way I was able to let Hector pull on mine?” She was
curious.

Emily’s head
cocked to the side as she spoke. “No. At least not that I know of. We haven’t
tried to do anything like that.” She looked back at Gaius and shrugged. “I
think we should, though. It would be nice for him to be able to touch a weapon
and see through the killer’s eyes so that I didn’t have to. I hate my ability.”

Riley’s nose
wrinkled, and she nodded. “I can understand why. Mine is bad enough. Seeing the
truth of all things can drive you to madness.”

“I happen to
like your ability,” Hector said. He eased onto the edge of the bed, lifting her
hand to cradle it against his chest. “We do need to work with it, though. The
more I was concentrating on what I was doing, the more I lost focus on keeping
our link open.”

“You’ll need to
train with it as with anything,” a new voice said.

“Mercury. Didn’t
expect you down here,” Gaius replied.

“I thought I’d
come and say hello to the newest addition to our dysfunctional, and more than a
little crazy, family.”

“Riley, this is
Mercury. The first of the guardians, the oldest, and our leader and mentor.
Mercury, this is Riley, the keeper of my heart and soul,” Hector introduced
with a smile for her.

“A pleasure,
Riley. We’ll get to know one another better when you’re up for it. Right now, I
think you need to get some more rest. You’ll tire easily for the first few
days,” Mercury commented.

Riley smiled up
at the large man and nodded. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She sighed. “Rest
does sound good. I don’t think I could turn that down at all.” She looked to
Hector again before turning back to Mercury. She frowned. He was surrounded by
light, and it was truly an odd thing to see. “I had to make sure that my Hector
was with me for the rest of time. I’ll let you talk him out of being upset with
me, if you please.”

“Yes, that might
take a little doing,” Mercury said. “He was fit to be tied these last two days
while you slept blissfully unaware. Be grateful. He pulled out some language I
haven’t heard in too long. Most I hope to never hear again. For now, sleep and
heal. You have your entire lives to get him out of his pique.” Mercury tipped
his head to her in an informal bow and left the room. “Gaius!” he bellowed
after.

“Shit,” Gaius
muttered. “Come on, sweetheart. You need to get some rest too. And I need to
see what has a burr up his ass,” he said under his breath.

“I heard that,
Gaius. Training room, five minutes.”

“Fuck me,” he
grumbled now.

Riley watched
Gaius and Emily leaving. “He loves her like crazy. The thread that binds them
together is as thick as my forearm. Amazing.” She turned to look at Hector and
asked, “Will ours grow to be that size?”

“You tell me.
You’re the one who can see the threads, Riley. You said in the beginning it was
barely there. What does it look like to you now?” He was running the fingers of
his free hand up and down her arm as he held her hand tight to his chest.

“It’s much
thicker. It’s the size of, maybe, two fingers now.” She pulled him closer. “I
think it will get bigger. I think it will grow thicker. We’ll soon have a very
large bond, one that nothing will be able to compare to.”

“We already have
a large bond, sweetheart, but I think it will strengthen and grow through our
time together. Now, you should get some sleep. I’ll stay with you, because I’m
still trying to come to grips with what you did and will not be letting you out
of my sight any time soon.”

“I’m good with that.” Riley
smiled up at him. “How about you climb into bed with me? I want to feel you
holding me.” She felt better with him touching her. “And were they right—have I
been asleep for two days?”
No wonder he’s
a basket case.

“Two days, nine
hours, fourteen minutes,” he answered. He let her hand go as he slid off the
bed to sit in the chair and bent over to unlace his boots. “It’s been a very
long two days.” Standing a moment later, he slid in beside her, carefully
moving an arm under her head and picking her hand up to hold it to his chest
again.

Riley shifted
with a small hiss of pain and nestled up against him. “This is so much better.”
She yawned, closing her eyes and letting his heat envelop her. “No more. I’m
here for the rest of time now,” she told him quietly.

“Damn right, you
are,” he muttered against her hair. “I want you to sleep for me, though, Riley.
As much as I hate the thought of you closing your eyes again, you need the rest
to recover properly.”

She nodded. Then
a thought occurred to her. “I need to contact my attorney to make sure that my
mother won’t be able to touch my money.”

He lifted his
head to press a kiss to her cheek. “We can do whatever you want. After we have
a meeting to discuss putting in a couple new roads. I think we’re all tired of
the ambushes on our only way of getting here. Even if it’s just a plowed
path—we can make it work, change up our routines, keep them from harming any
more of our women.”

“Good idea. Maybe
put in a landing pad too. I have a helicopter that we could bring here.” It was
a company Blackhawk, one that her father had purchased and ensured would be
updated with the newest, even after his death. “Just a thought. I’m willing to
do whatever I need to in order to help you and your friends.”

“There’s a spot
that might work. I’ll show it to you when you’re ready. We currently use it for
when we feel like having a barbecue, since it works as a patio. I think it
might be large enough for a landing pad, and the monsters couldn’t get near it
since it’s within the shell of whatever magic still protects us from detection.
It would be a much more secure manner of bringing the women in. Never even give
the evil ones a chance at them.”

“Exactly. And
you can pull in on the military contracts that are with the Jensen Corp so that
you could get more than just yourselves for protection. Maybe fencing, guard
towers, and such?” She knew she was getting ahead of herself. “Perhaps hiring
in people to protect the fences?” Another yawn. “Did I get more drugs?” Her
words were now sluggish and low, quiet as she dropped closer to sleep.

“We don’t need
fences, or towers,” he said with a chuckle. “You did get more drugs. Just
something to let you relax enough for sleep. There are some painkillers in
there too. But they’re beginning to wean you off now. No more drugs for sleep
after tomorrow.”

She yawned
again. “Thank you for sleeping with me. If someone tries to give you trouble,
tell them to bugger off, that I need you.” She was petting him now. “Rest well,
my guardian.”

He pressed
another kiss to her skin, his arm rubbing lightly over her back. “Let go and
sleep now. Tomorrow is another day, and I plan on kidnapping you in a
wheelchair to show a little of your new home.”

“Good.” She
nodded. Being in her lover’s arms, she fell into a deep sleep.