Unleashing the Storm (39 page)

“Yeah,
I do.” He stared up at the ceiling and then back down at her. “I know why it
ended.”

“Am I
all right? Am I sick?”

“No,
you’re not sick. You’re pregnant.”

He
stood next to her bed and waited for the fallout.

PREGNANT.

Oh,
shit.

Shock
stole her breath, something she didn’t realize until her lungs burned and she
had to gasp for air.

“Kira?
Are you okay?”

Tom’s
voice, low and deep, soothed her almost as much as his hand rubbing her back.

“I
can’t be pregnant. I’m on the pill,” she said finally, and then felt herself
pale when she remembered the questions he’d had about her sleeping with someone
else. “You don’t think I did this on purpose, right? To trap you, or
something?”

“No.”
He pulled up a chair and sat beside her. “We know Derek tampered with your
pills.”

“Why?
Why would he do that?”

“To
get you pregnant for Itor.” He clenched his fist at his side. “I should have
caused him a lot more pain.”

“But
I thought they wanted me dead. To keep me from ACRO.”

He
exhaled and looked away. “Yeah. I guess we were wrong about that.”

Ice-cold
terror wracked her body at the idea that she could right now be the property of
a supernatural terrorist organization. And that she would be giving them a
child to do God-knew-what with.

A
child.
Joy, shock and fear streamed
into a big river of tears that spilled down her face. “This…this doesn’t change
things between us, does it? I mean, I hoped to have your children someday,
but—”

“You
did? You wanted kids? With me?”

“Of
course.” Ignoring the tug of the IV line, she laid her hand over his. “I mean,
I never thought I’d have them, because no man would want me for a mate. But you
know what I am, and you don’t care. Why wouldn’t I want to have your children?”

“Because
of what
I
am,” he said quietly.

“An
excedo…whatever? Meg explained that. Said you and a gob of other people here
are perfectly normal, but different. That you have an excess of certain traits,
sort of like how greyhounds are built for something completely different from
mastiffs, but they’re still dogs. She said excedos are like that. Some are
super-fast, like you. Others can hear better than cats. She said you’ve even
got one guy who has sonar like a bat. So if you’re fine with what I do, I’m
fine with what you do.”

“I
wasn’t talking about that.”

“Then
what? Your job? Bringing in people like me? Defending yourself and them when
you have to?” When he winced, she experienced a sharp zing of panic. “Oh, God,
you don’t want this, do you?”

His
gaze dropped to where their hands met. “Kira, I’m not going to lie and say I’m
thrilled, because right now I’m scared as hell. But we’ll handle it.” Lifting
his head, he stared at her so intently, she had to measure out a long, slow
exhale. “And never, ever think I don’t want it.”

Love,
big and mushy and nearly overwhelming, filled her until she couldn’t keep it
inside or she’d burst. “I love you, Tommy,” she whispered. He swallowed like he
wasn’t sure what to say, but she wouldn’t take it back even if she could. “I’ve
loved you since that day in the car, when you threw the hamburger away. No one
has ever cared about me enough to respect my feelings like that.”

There
was a tap at the door, and then Dr. Lavery, ACRO’s veterinarian, strode in. The
mildly animal-empathic brunette might be a medical professional, but she was
still a woman, and she cast an appreciative look at Tom. A low rumble vibrated
Kira’s chest, but it wasn’t until Tom squeezed her hand that she realized
everyone else could hear it.

Dr.
Lavery smiled. “Is everything okay in here?”

“If
by okay you mean that I just found out I’m pregnant and I have these weird
reactions to everything, then yep. Everything’s okay.”

“This
is the father, I presume?”

“Yes.”
Tom’s tone left no doubt that he was certain of it, and Kira felt a strange,
happy warmth surge through her. “How did you know?”

Dr.
Lavery unwrapped her stethoscope from around her neck and prepared to listen to
Kira’s heart. “Because she’s touching you.” She went silent for a moment as she
moved the bell around Kira’s chest, and then she glanced over at Tom. “I’m Dr.
Lavery. I’m a veterinarian, but I’ve taken the lead on this case. Dr. Brown
will consult.”

“Kira
said she’d seen a vet before, for a canine virus, but why does she need a vet
now?” Tom asked.

Kira
blushed as Dr. Lavery straightened to check her IV and said, “Because Dr. Brown
is male, and she bit him.”

Tom
coughed a little. “
Bit
him?”

Dr.
Lavery nodded and made a note on Kira’s chart. “Once the sutures are removed,
he should regain full use of his hand.” The vet cleared her throat, but the
amused twinkle in her eye gave her away. “Apparently, you’re the only male
she’s let near her since she arrived at ACRO this morning.”

How
humiliating. Especially because half the time she didn’t realize she was acting
out until it was too late. “Doctor, is the pregnancy causing this? Will it
stop?”

The
veterinarian peered at Kira over the top of her black-rimmed glasses. “Females
of some species turn on the males once they conceive, but it’s usually
temporary, so there’s no reason to think this won’t be temporary as well.”

“Good.
Because going out in public could be a little awkward if I’m biting and
growling at every man who looks at me.”

“I
don’t mind if you growl at them.” Tom flashed her a masculine, possessive smile
laced with heat. “But save the bites for me.”

Oh,
boy. She wanted to bite him right now. In the soft spot between his shoulder
and neck, while he took her hard. “I can do that.”

Dr.
Lavery cleared her throat again, and Kira felt her cheeks grow hot. She’d
forgotten she and Tom weren’t alone. He did that to her, made her focus her
attention so strongly on him that nothing else existed.

“No
biting, or anything…else, for a week,” Dr. Lavery said, and Tom groaned.

“Easy
for you to say,” he muttered. “Kira is ruthless when she wants something.”

“Oh,
thanks.”

Dr.
Lavery laughed. “Well, you’re just going to have to be firm and tell her no.”

“When
can she go home?”

Home.
She’d been a nomad for so many years that she’d
forgotten the meaning of the word. It sounded so good coming from Tom.

“Kira
suffered light blood loss from what we call a threatened miscarriage. Her
ultrasound appeared normal, though, and her hormone levels are high, so barring
a traumatic event, she stands a good chance of carrying this child to term.
We’d like to keep her overnight, and then she can go home in the morning, but
she’ll need to take it very easy for a few days.” The vet gave Kira a stern
look. “Can you do that?”

“It’ll
be difficult, but I’ll manage. I want this baby.” She bit her lip and glanced
at Tom. “I want a family.”

Ender
knew he was in the midst of the nightmare, but no matter how hard he struggled
to wake up, the scene played out in front of him relentlessly.

“Hey,
Ender, want a cigar?” Aces threw him a Cuban, and both men lit up under the
darkness of the Afghan sky.

His
Delta team had made it to the LZ two hours early, hung back and waited in the
foothills of the mountains along the Khyber Pass for their ride. Their
successful mission, taking down a small cell of terrorists as per a CIA order,
had taken them two weeks to complete. And now Ender and company looked forward
to R&R.

Damien
grabbed the cigar from Ender’s hand and lit it. “You’re getting slow in your
old age, man,” he said.

Ender’s
twenty-fifth birthday had come and gone during the past week, and he was about
to tell Damien to fuck off when he heard the pop of gunfire.

“Ender…”
Damien wheezed through a mouthful of blood, and everything after that happened
in slow motion. More enemy shots rang out from the cover of some scrub on the
ridge, and Damien screamed, clutching his chest. Ender pushed Damien down and
moved into position to cover him. Damien was still screaming—he’d been hit
badly, and then suddenly, he was on fire.

“What
the fuck kind of weapon do they have?” Aces shouted as he raced to put out the
blaze that had engulfed their teammate. As Aces approached, flames seemed to
erupt from Damien’s fingertips, and Ender swore the other man actually threw a
blast of fire at Aces, who dropped to the ground, shrieking and writhing.

“Damien,
no!” Ender shouted, scrambling away even as fiery bolts continued to shoot from
the man the team called Devil because of his dark good looks. And God, the
enemy insurgents, his own team—they were all burning except for Ender, whose
speed allowed him to outrun the flames. Choking on greasy smoke, he crouched
behind a rock, M24 sniper rifle in hand, useless against the blazing carnage
and suffering.

Ender’s
mind screamed that this couldn’t be happening, but the sounds, the smells, the
blistering heat on his skin told him otherwise. Impossible situation or not,
men were dead or dying, and Damien was still lighting up anything that moved.
Tightening his grip on the rifle so his hands wouldn’t shake, Ender killed
Damien and then put a bullet into each of his team members as they twitched in
the throes of death.

Then
they were all dead and he was standing alone. He’d been screaming internally,
his own pulse pounding in his ears so loudly it almost drowned out the sounds
of the C-130 crashing into the ground below him.

As
always, Ender never got farther into the nightmare than hearing the plane
crash, never relieved the part where he’d dragged Dev, kicking and screaming,
from the burning C-130.

Instead,
he woke up drenched, screaming and shaking, standing in the corner of his
basement, holding an M16 pointed into the darkness. Ready to kill.

With
trembling fingers, he checked to make sure he hadn’t fired any rounds,
discovered that he hadn’t even loaded the gun. He could lock and load in his
sleep, but thankfully he hadn’t taken his training that far.

He
sank to the floor, back to the stone basement wall, ran his hands through his
hair and wondered when this would stop.

His
chest tightened. He needed to get out of here, go running, burn off all this
worry and tension. But his legs were still shaking, and his body wasn’t
functioning well. This kind of physical weakness had never happened to him, and
before he’d gone to bed he’d tried to force down some steak he’d bought on the
way home from the hospital.

Every
bite made him think of Kira. The woman pregnant with his child, who expected
them to make a life together and be one big, happy, special-ability-type
family.

How
was he supposed to keep them safe when he was sleepwalking with guns, when
he
was the danger?
Hi, kiddo, don’t worry—Daddy’s a killer, but he won’t hurt
you.

No,
he couldn’t be sure of anything. He had the nightmares for a reason—to remind
him that he was, and always would be, better off alone.

THE
MOMENT TOM ENTERED KIRA’S ROOM in the morning, she flew into his arms. She must
have caught him by surprise, because he rocked back as though she was too
heavy.

“Sorry,”
she said, as she wrapped herself around him. “I’m a little excited to see you.”

He
held her tight, like he didn’t want to let go. She knew the feeling. “Tom?”

“Hmm?”

His
hands stroked her back through the scrubs she’d been given to wear home, and
she sighed against his neck. “I know you’re worried about all of this, but
you’re going to be an awesome dad.”

His
body went so taut she could be hugging a board. She backed out of his arms.
“You look terrible. I told you something was wrong, that you were getting sick.
You should see that doctor I bit.” When she felt his forehead for fever, he
gently grasped her wrist and moved it away.

“Kira,
we need to talk.”

“Okay.
But let’s do it at home.” She grinned like an idiot, because she finally had a
home, for the first time in her life.

He
took her hand and led her out of the clinic and into the cloud-filtered
sunlight, his tense silence breaking her mood a little. Obviously, whatever he
wanted to talk about was important, and as they walked along the sidewalk
toward the little duck pond, she couldn’t take the quiet anymore.

“Dr.
Lavery said Luke arrived last night. She put him on an IV, and Zach talked to
him, got him to eat a little. So it looks like he’ll pull through. I can’t
thank you enough, Tommy. The rest of the animals will be here in the next
couple of days.”