The Saving Angels Series: Books 1-3 (28 page)

Mark smiled slightly embarrassed. “That’s why James pointed the gun at your head. They don’t trust me; he thought I would rush him even with him holding a gun. They have tried to weaken me, but the more time that passes, the more frequent the rage comes on. I think I scare them,” he said with a smile as he bent the metal of the bed as close as he could back to its original position.

I sat on the edge of the now rickety bed as he held my hand. I filled him in on my morning excursion; making it outside of the building and discovering that we were being held at some kind of storage hangar for airplanes. I then told him about finding the phone, but being cut off before I could tell Sam more about our location.

“I’m proud of you, but I can’t believe you put yourself in that kind of danger, you should have fled as soon as you hit daylight.”

I looked at him with disbelief. “You think I would have left without you? I told you before, I can’t live without you. Would you have left me?”

“That’s different. I’m the guy, it’s my job to protect you, and in case you missed it, I’m doing a lousy job of it. You’re out there trying to find a way out for us while I sit in here cooling my heels,” he said with barely controlled frustration.

I placed my hands on his chest to neutralize his anger. “We may only have a few hours left. I don’t want to spend them in anger and frustration. I want us to make the most of our time together,” I said in a pleading voice.

Mark rested his hands on top of mine. I could feel the heat of his body. I felt a light blush approach as I thought of how alone we were. I was suddenly filled with the feeling of wanting to be with him as much as I could be. I had always said I would wait until marriage, but what if they did kill us tonight. We would never discover the true feeling of being together in the fullest sense.

I looked up and could see the same thoughts mirrored in his eyes as he reached the same conclusion as me. He leaned forward and placed his warm lips on mine. It was like being lost in the desert and finding an oasis waiting for you. I locked my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Drinking greedily, I took everything his kiss had to offer. I felt more in tune with him than ever before. I opened my mind finally finding the key and our thoughts merged. The kiss deepened and without even realizing it I was lying down with Mark sprawled on top of me. My lips parted as he deepened the kiss even further. My thoughts were wrapped around Mark’s as we discovered the joy of each other’s lips. We had never kissed this intensely. I saw his desire in his thoughts mirrored my own.

Mark left my lips and found his way to my neck. I leaned my head back as his lips found the pulse in my neck.

“I hate to break-up the love fest,” a snide voice said behind us.

It took us a few moments to return from the place we had journeyed to with the kiss. Finally, we realized we were no longer alone. Mark pulled back and looked behind him. I looked over his shoulder and saw James standing in the doorway.

I should have been embarrassed that he caught us in such a compromising position, but I didn’t. Instead, I felt disappointed that we were interrupted. I knew I told my mom I wanted to wait, but that was before all of this. Besides, half the girls in my old school had already done it numerous times; I was one of the few that had waited. This was probably the last time we would ever be together and we had been interrupted.

My mind picked up Mark’s thoughts and I saw that he was disappointed also. How ironic that we had figured out how to read each other’s thoughts when it was too late.

“Get up,” James said, pointing the gun at us.

I sat forward and felt something dig into my back. The screwdriver, I had forgotten about it. I spent half a second trying to figure out how to send the signal to Mark until I realized he already knew. I felt his hand slide into the back of my pants and dip below the waistband.

“I don’t want to distract you,” James said pointing the gun at us.

By the time we were on our feet, Mark had successfully stashed the screwdriver in his pocket. His pants were baggy enough with oversized pockets, that the screwdriver was almost completely concealed.

James kept the gun pointed at my head. He was smart enough to know that Mark would not risk my life that way. We shuffled out the door and made our way down the rest of the hallway and into the lab.

Amanda was in the corner with Mark’s dad.

Mark paused, willing his dad to look our way. If he was reading our thoughts he gave no indication. I couldn’t help wondering if he would still destroy us. Hadn’t we given him what he had strived for? We had shown him we could become stronger.

He approached us as Mark and I passed our thoughts back and forth.

Focus. We have to block him out
, I thought to Mark.

The connection was unlike anything I had felt before. I could feel Russo inside my head, probing my thoughts. I concentrated as hard as I could to push him out and could tell by his expression that it was working.

“Impressive, both of you. It’s a shame I can’t trust you enough to let you live. You may have indeed been useful.”

He snarled as my smile turned to dread. I guess that answered my previous thought. We were now just a liability.

“Get on the tables please. My time with you is finished,” he said waving a hand toward James as if to get his point across.

Mark made a half movement to step in front of me, but James pressed the gun to my head to stress the point that they still held the upper hand.

Mark looked indecisive.

Should we try to fight
? His thoughts flashed in my mind as he ran the scenario through his head. He was strong, but there were just too many of them.

“Don’t even think about it, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in her head,” James said as if he understood what Mark was contemplating.

Mark approached the table and looked back at me. It seemed crazy to give up without a fight, but he could not bear watching James carry out his threat.

I looked at Mark and could see his body tensing as his thoughts filtered through my mind. I knew he was ready to make his move when a grim smile flashed across his face.

If we were wrong we would be shot, but if we didn’t fight, we would die anyway
, Mark’s thoughts hit my mind.

I simply nodded my head slightly in agreement as Mark palmed the screwdriver that was hidden in his pocket.

My own body tensed waiting for Mark’s signal.

When I move, run. I can take them on if I don’t have to worry about them harming you. You are more delicate than me. Just run
! Mark’s thoughts filtered through my head.

I trained my eyes on Mark, waiting for him to make the first move.

In one swift movement Mark plunged the screwdriver into James’s leg, dropping him to his knees. Mark did not pause. He took his fist and rocked James on the head, sending him falling backwards to the floor.

I watched in horror as the gun in James’ hand went off.

My blood roared in my ear as I watched Mark crumble to the floor. Darkness threatened to engulf me, but I fought it back. Mark needed me. I rushed to his side and laid my hand on his face, willing him with my mind to respond.

I sobbed as I felt hands dragging me away from the only person who made me whole.

I felt the room begin to spin as my insides caved in. I didn’t even see the waves of emotions come on as they no longer held any meaning. The spinning of the room took over and I welcomed the blackness with open arms. My life had lost all meaning.

I was pulled out of my blissful darkness by a loud crash.

I turned my head toward the noise and was surprised to see a vehicle barreling toward me. I tried to move out of the way, but realized I was tied down.

My eyes began to focus as several things happened at once. The vehicle screeched to a stop inches from me as the individuals that surrounded my bed began to scatter. I was surprised that they were wearing surgical garb.

My mind tried to wrap around everything that was going on, it was like I was watching a movie from a distance. I looked around in horror as I discovered that the masked goons were interrupted just as they were going to start hacking into me.

The crack of gun shots echoed in the room as James shot at the van, shattering the windshield into a thousand pieces.

The driver of the van stepped out of the vehicle holding a gun in his hand. He used the open door as a shield for his body. I was surprised to see that it was Bruno.

“I called the police and they’re on their way…” His words were cut off by a new wave of gun fire.

He returned the gun fire, shooting James dead in the chest. He kept firing until his gun was emptied.

Police sirens blared in the distance sending everyone scattering and within seconds the room cleared out.

Russo spotted me in his rush to leave the building; the madness in his eyes was evident. He raised a gun and aimed it at me.

I did nothing to protect myself. I welcomed whatever he wanted to do. I was disappointed when he lowered the gun and fled from the room. I turned and saw that Bruno had a gun pointed where he had stood.

Bruno rushed to my side and didn’t bother undoing the restraints he simply pulled a deadly looking knife out of his boot and cut the straps. He threw me in the van and I landed on the floor of the van in a heap. I had no idea what he was going to do with me nor did I care. I closed my eyes and tried to block out all thoughts of Mark. I could no longer feel my heart. It had broken into a million pieces and was gone.

Suddenly I was startled as something heavy landed on my right leg. I opened my eyes as Bruno threw the van in reverse and tore out of the warehouse. I could hear the sirens in the background getting louder, but as Bruno drove away they became a distant sound.

My eyes finally focused on the heavy weight on my legs. I gasped when I saw that it was Mark. Bruno had grabbed him before we fled from the building.

I cried at the sight of Mark’s body. Why would Bruno do this to me? I could not bear to look at Mark’s lifeless body.

“He’s still alive,” Bruno told me. “I felt a faint pulse before I grabbed him.”

I pulled my legs out from under Mark and kneeled at his side. I put my shaky fingertips to his neck and wept with joy when I felt the faint pulse under my fingers.

My hands became frantic as I searched for Mark’s wound. I pulled up his shirt that was soaked in his blood and found the wound. Darkness threatened to pull me under when I saw the blood flowing out of the wound but, I fought it back.

He needed me and I was not going to let anything get in the way of that.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked around franticly for something to staunch the bleeding. The van held the same equipment that had been in the lab. My scan of the interior told me there was nothing in the van that would help Mark.

I did the only thing I could think of, placing my hand over the wound to try and stop the steady flow. His warm blood ran between my fingers. I cried silent tears as I felt his pulse growing weaker.

“Please hurry,” I pleaded to Bruno in a broken voice. “He’s slipping away,” I said with a broken sob.

“The hospital’s right up the road,” he said.

I felt relief at his words as he began to slow the van down. I looked up thinking we were at the hospital, but to my dismay we were parked on the side of the road.

Bruno jumped out and jogged around the vehicle and opened the door.

“Why are we stopping? We have to hurry he’s dying!” I yelled at him in a hoarse voice.

Bruno stripped off his shirt and pushed it under my hands that were still pressed over Mark’s wound.

“I can’t take you the rest of the way, there will be too many questions. Drive the rest of the way, its right up the road. Tell the doctors that you were walking on the beach when some thugs jumped out and robbed you and shot your boyfriend.”

I looked at him in confusion.

“I don’t know if any of this talk about angels is true, but you didn’t deserve any of this,” he said as he turned to run away.

“Wait!” I yelled. I threw my arms around him and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you.”

I watched him for a brief moment as he jogged away and then adrenaline took over. I raced to the driver’s side and threw myself into the driver’s seat. I slammed the vehicle into gear and flew down the road. I hit the hospital parking lot going ninety and did not stop until I reached the emergency room.

I tore into the E.R. yelling that my boyfriend had been shot and was dying in my car. Several doctors rushed after me as I raced back to Mark.

Within moments they had him on a stretcher and had started C.P.R. I watched as they searched for a pulse. I fought to hold onto his hand and begged them to save him as they raced him into the hospital.

I felt a nurse tugging on my arm trying to pry me away from him, but I fought her off. I was not letting him go. I knew that as long as I continued to touch him, he wouldn’t die.

I felt the sharp pain of a needle being plunged into my throat. I felt my hand slip away from Mark’s and tried to call out, but it was too late. I didn’t get a chance to tell them how important it was for them to save him. That I could not survive without him.