Page 30 of Under a Wicked Moon
“That wasn’t what I was going to say.” Antonio went poker-faced. “Given you work with angels. Isn’t no cursing one of God’s rules?”
Roman rolled his eyes.
“I’m going first. I’m in better shape to be the guinea pig.” She hip-butted Ky out of the way. “Plus, Rys and I have an understanding. He won’t kill me.”
“Sit.” The Volkinar pointed to the open door of the helicopter.
She perched on the lip, feet dangling off the ground. After removing her coat and raising her scrub top to give him access, she focused on the starless horizon. Cold air breathed over her skin. Too many muscles in her body hurt all of a sudden. “Let’s get this over with.”
His icy fingers probed her side but did nothing.
“B-b-be fast. H-hurry up.” Panic welled in her as flashes of things that had been done to her over the years slideshowed in her brain. She was seconds away from losing her mind and ending up screaming.
“Take a deep breath for me,” the Volkinar said.
She did the best she could, but it ended up choppy. She winced as she realized one of her ribs might be broken after the fall from the explosion. How had she not noticed?I’ll heal. I always heal.
“There’s a small object here.” The vampire pressed beneath her ribcage. The lack of pain meant the injured rib must be onthe other side. “I’m going to draw it through the skin but do a controlled heal as I do so. It’s going to burn a bit.”
She wrapped her fingers around the edge of the helicopter floor. As she squeezed her eyelids closed and braced herself, she started seeing visions. Flash. Strapped onto a medical table while the German used a scalpel to cut into her until she passed out from the pain. Flash. Some sort of fluid forced down her throat followed by retching and severe abdominal pain and welts, large ones that itched, but her hands were tied so she couldn’t scratch. All she wanted was to scratch the skin off her body.
She gasped for air in chugging gulps.
“Vivi… Look at me,” Ky ordered. “Vivi. Look. At. Me.”
She stared into his eyes.
“You got this.” He unhooked one of her hands from the edge of the helicopter. “You’re a badass.”
“Am I?” The question reached far beyond the fact a Volkinar was about to remove a piece of hardware from her.
“Yes.” He squeezed her hand. “Keep looking at me. I’ll keep you safe. I promise. I always keep my promises.”
Heat built on her side. A sharp burn tunneled through her skin. It felt like the pain channeled all the way to her navel. Instinctively, she leaned away from the searing throb, but it followed her.I can handle this.
Breathing deeply, she inhaled Ky’s scent and concentrated on the steady beat of his heart, audible to her sensitive ears.
She compressed her lips to hold in the scream that wanted out. When she felt like she couldn’t hold it in any longer, it stopped. A small hiss escaped her. She realized she’d been crushing Ky’s hand and let go. “Sorry.”
“Got it.” Rys held up a little piece of metal about the size of a jelly bean. “Not that bad, right?”
She ignored the vampire to stare at Ky, needing to warn him.“It hurts. A lot.”
“I’m fully expecting you to hold my hand, too.” A smile ghosted his lips.
She grinned back, her stomach doing all kinds of somersaults.
Chapter Ten
The helicopter dropped them at the private airport on the Russian side of the border. Its blades never stopped, and it barely touched asphalt for the few minutes before it was gone. During the short flight, the noise inside the craft had been so loud it prohibited conversation, which had been a relief. Ky spent the time disregarding his body’s complaints. Vivi sat as close and tight against him as possible throughout the flight, which served as a welcome distraction. While he stared out into the dark night rushing past, having her pressed into his side felt like heaven instead of the whole world against him. They were both alive and free of that prison. Banged up as hell. But, all in all, things could’ve been a lot worse.
Roman led the group into a small hangar and smiled when he viewed his plane. He loved the midsize jet. It served to hide their movement and helped them avoid large airports. Flynn used his hacking skills to mask their flights in databases. He also found it best from a security standpoint to use the plane as a place to set up mobile tech command for missions when he wasn’t needed in the action. Here, Flynn could hack into systems and do surveillance. If humans gave pushback on them parking or flying, the brothers used mental persuasion. Plus, there weren’t girls to sidetrack Flynn. When on missions, he tended to get in trouble with distracting women.
Roman pointed at Ky. “You and I. We need to talk in private.” He gestured him to follow into a small office.
Vivi nibbled on her lower lip, which was adorable.
“You’ll be fine with Flynn for a little while. If he drives you nuts, you know what to do.” Ky winked and envisioned her threatening Flynn with strangling him with his own dick.
