Page 4 of Bones
“Run!” he growled.
I didn’t move. His eyes narrowed in confusion as I stared into them. I could hear Wolf’s voice screaming at me.
Get the fuck outta there!
The few small broken pieces of me that still cared seeing a person in pain cut like glass under my skin. I could run and save myself, but if I did, he would die. I hissed through my teeth, but I moved forward, prying his hand away from the wound and pressing my own hands against his bloody stomach.
“Leave me,” he groaned in pain. “Run.”
His face paled, blood dribbling between his lips as he coughed. I’d seen death on people’s faces more times than I could count. Death had a way of revealing people’s true natures. Some people begged, some threatened, some tried to bargain. And this idiot I didn’t even know was dying andstilltrying to help me. I hated him for it.
He started trying to talk again, grabbing at my hands.
“Shut up, dumbass,” I hissed at him, pressing harder at his wound.
He cried out in pain, but his cry cut off as the familiar warmth spread from my chest down my arms and into his stomach. The bullet had gone clean through his gut. Normally a death wound, but not tonight. I could feel his body mending beneath my fingers, all the muscles and organs knitting themselves back together. His hand curled over the top of one of mine, squeezing gently, and I glanced up to see his eyes full of awe. The wound closed shut, leaving what I knew would be a fresh pink scar, and all the warmth left me.
My head spun as I sucked in a breath and shivered, chilled like I just jumped into an icy river. His lips formed a question, his voice hoarse and his eyes still lit up with amazement.
“Who—”
Time to go.
I jerked away. His hand fell back to his stomach, his fingers searching for a wound that was no longer there. I started to stand, listening for gunfire, ready?—
Something cracked into the back of my head like thunder, and everything went dark.
* * *
Angry voices cut through me as I regained consciousness. My head throbbed and I cracked my eyes open, a pained groan escaping through my teeth, and everything went silent. I blinked at the sky just starting to lighten into a pink dawn above me. Then the sky disappeared, blocked by three male faces staring down at me, and my heart seized in terror.
I rolled and they lunged. I managed to get to my knees but stalled when the world spun so violently that I thought I might be sick. Hands seized my arms and hauled me up to my feet. I kicked out, but strong arms banded around me, pinning both my arms to my sides. I threw my head backward, aiming for his nose, but I wasn’t quite tall enough. My throbbing head connected with his collarbone, and stars burst in my vision. Before I could recover, he yanked my upper body back while shoving his hips into mine, forcing me onto his knee. The more I fought, the more he leaned back, pulling me with him until just the tips of my toes touched the ground. I thrashed, but he was firmly centered, and I had no leverage. I gave up, helpless fury burning in my eyes.
A dark-haired man stepped right in front of me, and my panicked gaze focused on his face. He looked older than my twenty-two years, maybe nearing thirty. His dark eyes matched his unruly black hair. They snapped with angry golden sparks as he glared at me, reminding me of the dark grey chunk of flint I’d stolen to make my campfires. A long scar ran up his left cheek, stopping just underneath his eye.
“Juck’s secret weapon,” he said, his voice low and hard.
The roaring in my head threatened to swallow me. So the mercs had known. They’d known me, which meant somebody had talked. I thought I’d have more time, I thought I’d be able to get farther away?—
“Lot of stories make more sense now,” he continued, “like Juck’simmortality.”
I glared at him, and he glared right back. A giant muscled man shifted into view. He had dark skin and black hair buzzed close to his scalp. His arms crossed but despite his intimidating size, he met my gaze with a calm, steady expression.
“What are you?” the first man demanded.
I broke away from that intense gaze and stared stubbornly at the trees behind him. Gods, I’d been free for two weeks. Two. Defeat tasted bitter in my mouth.
“Mac!”
Both men’s hands twitched toward the guns on their hips as a young person came hurtling through the trees toward us, all gangly arms and legs.
“Trucks are moving out. Mercs,” he spit out rapid fire.
“Get to the rovers,” the black-haired man, Mac apparently, said. “Load up.”
He turned his back on me and stalked into the trees. The one holding me released me, dropping me back to the ground. He switched to holding my left upper arm, and I shot a glance up at his face to meet the brown eyes of the one I’d so stupidly healed. I glanced away, tensing further when Muscles stepped forward and grabbed my other arm and the two of them started dragging me along after Mac. I couldn’t see the town anywhere, just trees. I squinted up at the sky, trying to get a read on our location, but it just made my head hurt worse.
We stepped out into a clearing. Mac climbed into a fortified off-road vehicle with two seats in the front and a bench seat in the back, and it purred to life. A second one behind it already idled. My two guards dragged me up to the one Mac waited in and shoved me in the backseat. Released from their grip, I started scrambling over the seat trying to escape out the other side, but Muscles caught my ankle and yanked me back. I tumbled onto the floor of the rover but managed to kick out hard with my free leg as I fell. I caught Muscles in the chin and felt a sick sort of satisfaction when he swore and spit blood.
