Page 134 of Addicted
“I’m fine,Eshgham,” I try to assure her, stopping short of rolling my eyes. Admittedly, losing blood is making me a little dizzy, but there’s not a great deal I can do about it right now.
“You’re missing a fucking finger, you are not fucking fine!” she whisper-yells back, and I have to bite my lips to stop from outright laughing at how adorable she is. The sight of her palelips has all the mirth leaving me in a rush, like a plug pulled to let the bath water out.
“I’ll sort it as soon as we get to the van, I promise,Azizam,” I soothe, unable to stroke her hair from her face as I’d like, my right hand still clutching the small knife. Placing the knife in my belt, I take out the handgun, switching the safety off as I glance once more out of the window, seeing nothing and no one other than the van a few yards away. “Right, I’m going to open the door, check that the coast is clear, and then come and get you, okay,Azizam?” She nods, her eyes wide, and I steady her against the wall before pushing the door open slowly.
Surveying our surroundings, I see we appear to be alone, which I’m hoping suggests that this was a solo mission for Afshin so there will be no fallout. I take one last look and then walk back into the barn, placing my arm around her waist once more before helping her out into the early afternoon sunshine; the high position of the sun telling me the rough time. Also, it’s hot as fuck out here, although it was hot in the barn and my body has acclimatized somewhat.
More slowly than I’d like, we make our way over to the van; an old, rusted piece of shit, which is good for us as it’ll make hot-wiring it much easier. I help a trembling Lark into the passenger side, my gaze darting around the abandoned farm, making sure there really is no one around, as I make my way over to the driver’s side and hop in, placing the gun in the cup holder between us. I laugh when I see the keys dangling from the ignition, fucking amateurs.
“What’s so funny?” she asks, her voice quiet which only makes my heart pound as I take in her ghost-white face, sweat glistening on her brow.
“They left us the keys,” I inform her, reaching over and, as carefully as I can, buckling her seat belt.
“Rookie error,” she wheezes, and my brows dip further, wishing that they’d left some water or food in here too. A quick glance in the glove box shows no first aid kit either, which is a pain as the blood from my finger continues to drip. Knowing that I need to bind it, I use the knife tucked into my belt to cut off some of my T-shirt, utilizing that to wrap around the stump tightly, hissing at the pain that is a sharp throb now that I’ve acknowledged it. Fucking Afshin. “You okay,JigarTalâ?”
“Fine,Koshgelam. Especially now that we’re leaving,” I reply, turning the key and heaving a sigh when the engine starts over, spluttering to life. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
“Sounds like a plan, Batman,” she says, her voice soft, and I glance over at her to see her eyelids fluttering. Panic makes my grip tighten against the steering wheel.
“Stay awake,Eshgham. Keep those beautiful eyes open,” I command, turning back to look at the dirt track before us, seeing what I’m hoping is a city in the distance. She makes a humming noise, and when I chance a look again, her eyes are closed and her head is resting on the seat. “Fuck!” I growl, knowing that without pain medication, she’s succumbed to shock and her injuries. “Just hold on,Eshgham.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“OKAY” BY CHASE ATLANTIC
AERON
Ipace the shitty hotel room we arrived at a couple of hours ago in Dogubeyazit after we read Tarl’s note. A fucking note, like a suicide note, telling us he had to get revenge for the death of his family and to look after Dove.
Only, when we went to Knox’s old room where he left her, Dove was no longer there, the window thrown open to the chill early morning air and no fucking sign of her. The security guards on my father’s property were all dead, the dogs too, and my father had been called away on a fool’s fucking errand; a disagreement between the two parties that we were meant to brokering a deal between. Only, those parties disappeared into the night like smoke, leaving us waiting for hours and telling me that clearly, the whole fucking job was a setup.
I think what hurts the most is that Tarl didn’t trust us to help, like he didn’t know that we would do anything for him, but he’s one of us and has been a part of us for more years than I care toremember. It smacked a little of Dove’s betrayal and my stomach has been in knots ever since.
“Where the fuck are they?” Knox grits out, pausing in his own pacing, so close to losing his shit, I’m surprised the room isn’t in ruins yet. Though, it will be if we don’t find them soon.
As it is, we’ve had to come to the last town on the Turkish-Iran border, and are waiting while my dad organizes visas for us to cross into Iran. We’ll head to Tehran, Tarl’s home city, and from there, well, fuck knows, but we will find them. Nothing else is acceptable.
Sweat makes the linen shirt I’m wearing stick to my skin, and although I fucking loathe the lack of air-con, I hate not knowing where my soulmate and chosen brother are even more.
I glimpse Jude just lying on the disgusting bed, eyes vacant as he stares at the ceiling fan which does nothing other than push hot air around the room.
“We’ll find them,” I say, Jude not even blinking, so I step closer to him. “Jude, I swear we will find them.” He slowly turns his head to me, and my jaw tightens at the hopelessness in his eyes.
“You read his letter, Aeron. He’s not coming back. And fuck knows what’s happened to Nightingale. If those people got hold of her…” His voice trails off as a tear slips down the side of his face, and not for the first time, I want to fucking skin Tarl alive, brother or no, for putting that sadness into Jude.
I can’t let myself think of the way I left her, angry at me for betraying her confidence, hurt by my lack of control, something that I pride myself on. If I think about it too much, anger being the last thing to pass between us, there won’t be a place on earth that doesn’t burn.
“We’ll find them,” I repeat, my tone hard and I turn to head over towards the window just as my phone rings. Taking it out of my linen pants, I look down, my heart racing when I see it’sfrom a foreign number with an Iranian code. “Yes?” I answer, bringing it up to my ear with trembling hands.
“Aeron?” Tarl’s voice sounds in my ear, and I swear if I didn’t have years of training, I would fall to my fucking ass at the sound of it.
“Where the fuck are you, Tarl?” I snarl, my voice biting, but shit, I’m equal parts relieved and enraged to hear him on the other end, my hand shaking as I clutch my phone like a lifeline. He chuckles, fucking bastard.
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” he deadpans, and my shoulders slump, releasing the tension that was giving me a headache. “Lark is with me, we’re with friends.” This time I do drop, my knees hitting the carpet hard as relief brings me to them.
“S–she’s, okay?” I stutter, the room behind me deathly silent.
“She will be,” he replies, not answering my question but letting me know that something isn’t quite right. He sighs after a moment. “I didn’t know they’d take her too, Aeron. I fucked up.”
