Page 5 of The Villain

She wasn’t heavy, but the weight of my guilt was. She was in danger—had been in danger. And I hadn’t been here quick enough to stop it.The second time I’d failed her.

Taking Athena anywhere on my bike wasn’t an option. She wasn’t conscious and almost definitely concussed; it was too dangerous. So,I headed toward an old man standing by his pickup truck; he was wearing an Armysweatshirt, and therefore my best bet.

“Are you alright, son? What the hell?—”

“I need to borrow your truck. I need to get her to the hospital.” I went to the passenger door and opened it, placing Athena in the front seat before he even had a chance to protest.

“Someone called an ambulance?—”

I hooked her seat belt and then faced him.“It’s not enough, soldier.” I addressed him low so only he could hear. “I’m Special Forces, and I have to get her out of here. Her life is in danger.”

Instantly, his spine straightened, duty transforming skepticism into steel. His chin clipped. “Of course?—”

“I’ll return it,” I promised as I took his keys.

Ignoring the pound in my own head, I went to the driver’s side and got behind the wheel. For being at least two decades old, the pickup moved with surprising pep as I put my foot to the floor.

Chapter Two

Dare

It’s only been one day, but I missed you too much not to write. Last night, I laid outside on a blanket and watched the stars. I thought it would help to look at them and know you see them, too. So far, it’s not working like I hoped. – Always, Athena

“You know her.”

I glared at the man who’d been by my side during the hardest times of my life. Dr. Rorik Nilsen.

Rorik had been the medical attachéassigned to our Special Forces unit—the sixth member of our team. After our final—failed—mission, he’d returned and became a medical examiner for the city for a good couple of years before taking a private contract with a local security firm, Covington Security, as theiron-site doctor and medical consultant. He consulted on cases and did things like this—patching up the team, friends, and anyone else brought into his domain.

“Did her test results tell you that?” I ground out, dragging my stare back to Athena, who lay unmoving in the hospital bed, tied and tethered to a dozen machines inside the medical bay at Covington.

I felt Rorik’s sharp stare flay me open before he replied calmly, “No. The way you look at her does.”

Instantly, I turned to him. His cold blue eyes glinted as though with one look, he’d cut right to the center of my secrets and saw what—who—Athena had been to me.

“It was a long time ago.”

“Ghosts don’t age.”

My jaw locked, barricading my protest rather than opening a can of worms.

Rorik had reconnected with his high school sweetheart a few years ago—over an autopsy table no less—and their former spark rekindled into the kind of flame Harm and Rhys had found. I wasn’t about to encourage him to find any similarities with my situation because they were nothing alike.

“No, but people do,” I rasped, my fist balling against my side as he took the last vial of blood from her arm.

People aged. Things changed.And some things would never be the same.

“Why don’t you sit?”

And why don’t you go back to figuring out why she’s not waking up?I swallowed down the rude response, knowing he was doing everything he could for her. For me. And all at the drop of a hat.

I’d given him only a few minutes notice that I was on my way to Covington with an emergency. They had a state-of-the-art medical bay, and I wasn’t about to take Athena to the hospital.I didn’t trust them—I wouldn’t trust anyone else with her except Rorik.

“I’m going to run her labs and check on her scan results. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I managed a grunt just as the door swung shut behind him, its haunting swish sweeping away the last distraction that buffered me and the unconscious woman from my past.

Athena.

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