Page 24 of Raven Blackwood
Without Grace to tend to, the wait would have been excruciating. I was too scared that something would go wrong to worry about Raven. My other fear was that he wouldn’t find Zach.
But as I watched and waited, his familiar form appeared in the hatch opening. He was so thin, worn, and weary. Every step down the ramp was an effort. Yet, he managed a tired smile when I spoke his name and threw my arms around him.
“Brother, I missed you so much.” I hugged him, patting his back. “You’re just in time. Gracie just delivered your son. She is inside, waiting for you.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, and so is the baby. They are in your room.”
“Thank you so much for taking care of her.”
Zach withdrew and headed into the house. Then Raven was beside me, and I turned into his arms, feeling suddenly drained.
“Is it over?” I asked, pressing my cheek against his solid chest.
“Not until we take Jenkins down.” He kissed the top of my head and lifted me into his arms. “Let’s get you into the house. I can see you’re exhausted.”
“I am, but I feel much better now,” I murmured, snuggling against him. How did I ever live without him?
Chapter Fifteen
Raven
Hannah had fallen asleep by the time I carried her into the house and our bedroom. I gently laid her in our bed, took off her boots, and covered her with a worn blanket. I stood over the bed, just watching her sleep for several minutes.
Although I wasn’t tired, I wished I could lie down at her side and just hold her while she slept. I always knew I would love her when I found her, but I never fathomed how much or how deeply she would become ingrained within my soul. I’d spent years imagining what my life with her would be like, and now, I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without her.
Finally, I leaned down and kissed her cheek, then forced myself to turn from her sleeping form and walk out of the room. If we were ever to have the kind of life I dreamed of for us, I had to finish what I started and stop Jenkins once and for all.
Hannah’s brother Zach met me in the living room as I was about to leave the house.
“Raven, I want to thank you for what you’ve done for me and my sister. I know you’re going after Jenkins. I want to help.”
“I understand that, Zach. But you are in no condition for a strenuous mission. You have been starved and tortured for weeks. You need time to rest and recover, and I am sure that Grace needs you here. My team trained for this. I have a dozen other ranchers to back us up. I’ll get you Hannah’s com tablet so you can contact me if you have any problems here. Hannah has been up for twenty-four hours without sleep, so if you could keep an eye on things while I’m gone, that would be a great help.”
Zach hung his head for a moment, then looked up to meet my gaze. “You’re right; I’m not really up to it. I’m just so mad at what they’ve done to our lives. I want to make them pay!”
“As do I, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” I assured him. Then I went back into the bedroom to get the comm tablet for him. Some of the ranchers were going to stay behind to keep watch over the ranch while we were gone. However, with Hannah sleeping, I wanted to make sure someone couldcontact me if there were problems.
“Do you want to see the baby?” Zach asked as I handed him the tablet.
I’d seen babies before, but this one was special. Hannah delivered him, and I’d watched Grace struggling to hold herself together, pining for her husband. These were two strong women.
Zach led me quietly into the room. Grace and the baby were both sleeping. She was in the bed, and their son was in his cradle beside it. He was such a tiny little thing. I could only imagine having one or a few of my own someday.
“You’re a lucky man. They are why you need to stay here and look after things. Tell Hannah I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I left the house thinking about the future offspring Hannah and I would have together. They were more than worth fighting for.
The sun was barely cresting the horizon when my team gathered outside the ranch. The rest of my cyborg unit assembled in the front yard—Sgt. Daken Rowe, Phoenix Blaze, Steele Nova, Orion Storm, and Trinity Vega. Each of them was battle-tested, dangerous, and eager for some action.
Tom Barrows and eleven other displaced ranchers stood alongside them, rifles slungover their shoulders. Their faces set with determination. They had lost too much to Jenkins to sit this fight out.
“We’re taking the town back today,” I said, my voice carrying over the small crowd. “Jenkins’s men won’t give up easily, but we’re not giving them a choice. Our team will go in first and neutralize the bulk of his gang. You wait at the edge of town for my signal before moving in. We use stun settings where possible. We want them alive to face justice.”
A round of nods met my words. No one wanted a bloodbath—not if we could avoid it.
The ranchers rode their horses, and the rest of the team took the massive transport while I rode my sky-cycle into town. We figured that we would have things under control by the time the ranchers arrived by horseback.
