Page 37 of Burn for the Dragon
“Why not? I’ll go get my brother myself.”
“And then what are you going to do?” She wriggled in his hold, and he released her, hanging on to her hand when she would’ve walked away. “Before you think of smashing that monitor over my head next, you should know that Kohl is right outside that door. Even if you manage to knock me out—which isn’t likely—you won’t get very far.”
Everly pulled her hand away and walked around the desk to stare down at the camera feed. A tear escaped to run down her cheek and she quickly dashed it away.
Hawke pushed his hair back out of his face. He had no idea what to say or do to make her feel better. And maybe there was nothing he could say. The situation was what it was. And sometimes hard choices had to be made. All he knew was there was no way in hell he was allowing her to go after her brother alone so she could go off and get herself hurt…or killed. He’d known who Everly was when Hawke had mentioned her, but with him getting shot up with whatever the fuck it was Parasupe was injecting him with, that could all be different now. When Hawke saw him just forty-eight hours ago, he could still talk coherently. Not so much today. The gods only knew what condition his mind was in.
As though she knew exactly what he was thinking, Everly said quietly, “He’s my brother, Hawke. Wouldn’t you do everything you could to help Kohl?”
“That’s different.”
She laughed without humor. “It’s not different, and you damn well know it. What if it was Kohl stuck in that cell? Don’t stand there and tell me you wouldn’t try to get him out. That you wouldn’t try to help him no matter what they’d done to him.” She waited expectantly.
Hawke opened his mouth to deny it, but in the end, he knew she was right. “What do you want me to do, Everly? I can’t just walk in there and set him loose, even if I wanted to.”
“What would you do if it were Kohl?”
He shook his head. “I have no fucking idea.”
“But you would get him out.”
He scrubbed at his face. She had him there. He couldn’t lie to her about it. Letting his arms fall back to his sides, he said, “I would try.”
But she wasn’t done. “And what if it were Kohl who was out of his mind and couldn’t control his anger?”
Hawke didn’t even have to think about it. “I would put him down before he could hurt anyone. And I would mourn him with the respect he deserves.”
She stared at him for long seconds, and then she sank into the office chair and put her head in her hands.
Hawke went to her and gently pulled them away. When she raised her head, he saw tears were running silently down her cheeks. He brushed them away. “I’m sorry, honey. I wish I could tell you something different. But I’m not going to lie to you about what could very well turn out to be a very fucked up situation.”
She gave him a sad smile. “I do appreciate that. Even if I don’t want to hear it.”
He pushed a red curl back from her face. “We’re going to take out that fucking laboratory, and if we can save your brother, we will. But I will not allow him to hurt anyone. I will not allow him to hurt you. On that, you have my word.”
Chapter 18
Later that night, after the club closed down and Kohl and Devon went back to their temporary home, Everly sat at the empty bar while Hawke locked up and waited for Andrew to count the till, and then walked with him back down into the caverns. They passed a few other vampires who had been working that night, probably on their way to go feed. But they didn’t give Everly more than a cursory glance.
Still, staying in the middle of a coven of vampires wasn’t the most stress-free environment. She wished Hawke would stay with her, or let her stay with him, but she knew it wouldn’t happen. He didn’t even have to say anything, his body language said it all.
When they got to her room, Hawke hesitated in the doorway as Everly went in and switched on the bedside lamp. Her hand shook, and she tucked it into the pocket of her sweater though she didn’t know why she bothered. He never missed anything.
She stood there awkwardly, purposefully avoiding his gaze so he couldn’t say goodbye and leave her. But after a minute or so, he crossed the threshold and came to stand before her, and then she had to look at him so as not to be rude.
“Is there anything you need before I go?”
Everly started to shake her head, but then she stopped. “Would you stay for bit? Keep me company?”
He became very still, in the way she was discovering only vampires could. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Please? We can just talk.” She paused. “It’s just that I’m not really tired and I could really use the distraction.”
“Talk.” He made a face when he said the word like it left a bad taste on his tongue.
“Yes. Talk. Please?”
He turned his head away as he said something, and she didn’t quite catch it all. But it looked something like, “I’m not even supposed to be here with you.”
