Chapter 29 Jackson
JACKSON
My body screamed in agony as I slipped in and out of consciousness.
There were strange flashes of lucidity, though.
The sound of my heels dragging on stone.
Shyanne grunting and cursing. Heavy breaths of exertion.
And what I thought sounded like Christian’s voice.
After that, I slipped into the darkness of my mind.
Even my dragon was too tired and hurt to do more than mewl sadly within the shadowy recesses of my head.
There was the strange sensation of falling… or maybe floating? Regardless, along with that sense of weightlessness was the constant burn and sharp agony. When the dark swirling gloom swallowed me whole, it was with blessed relief that I sank in and fell unconscious.
Darkness, complete and impenetrable. I could sense I was in a large room, but I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were shut, and even though I wanted to open them, I was afraid. It made no sense.
“Son? Are you okay?”
“Huh?” I grunted, my eyes still closed, unable to open. The threads of unconsciousness wrapped tight around me, keeping my eyes shut against my wishes. That voice was familiar. Where did I know it from?
“Are you okay? I’m worried about you.”
No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to open my eyes. The fear was too great. That voice was masculine and familiar.
A strong, warm hand pressed into my chest. “You’ll be all right. You have to be,” the voice said. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon.”
Sadness and love overwhelmed me.
“Dad?” I opened my eyes—
—and tried to sit up, but couldn’t move. Everything hurt. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this awful. My body felt like it had been used as a punching bag as well as a sharpening stone. I had to look down to make sure I hadn’t been skinned alive.
My body was whole, and the cuts and lacerations were already mostly healed, but that didn’t help the fact that I felt as if I’d been dragged behind a train for a few hundred miles.
Slowly, trickling back into my mind as if from a dream, memories returned. Kidnapping Bryn, the bomb, the fight in the mansion, the final battle with Joseph… and—
My eyes snapped wide, and a heavy lump formed in my throat. My sister! We’d done it. We’d saved her. I could remember it all now. Her hatching, the warmth of her body against my chest. My eyes burned as tears of happiness and relief burned my eyes.
The door opened. Light streamed in from outside, and I realized I was in my bedroom. The confusion I felt at finding myself in a place familiar yet unexpected caught me off guard. Shyanne peeked in from the hallway, an anxious look on her face that gave way to relief when she saw I was awake.
“Oh, God,” she said, hurrying toward me. “Jackson? How do you feel? Are you okay?”
She took my hand. Her warmth radiated through me and helped push back the agony I was in.
Nodding and swallowing back my tears, I said, “Yeah.” My throat felt raw. “I’m… I’ve never fought another alpha before. That was… Fuck, it was rough.”
“I thought you died at one point,” Shyanne said, her voice shaking, eyes watery with unshed tears. “I couldn’t wake you up, and you weren’t healing as fast as I thought you should.”
I tried to sit up, but pain lanced through me, and I grimaced.
“We heal fast, but fighting another shifter is always worse.” I swallowed hard, my throat raw and dry. “Water?”
Shyanne grabbed a cup and glass pitcher from the nightstand and poured me a drink. When the water hit my tongue, I moaned in relief. Nothing had ever tasted so good or refreshing in my entire life. Draining the glass, I handed it back to her.
“Thanks.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Shyanne put her hand on my leg, her face tight with worry. “Some of us were worried you might not make it. Even when I got you home.”
“I think so. I nearly did die fighting that bastard. Nothing I did hurt him,” I said. “He was like a mindless monster.”
Memories of the fight came flooding back.
I’d been stronger and faster than Joseph, but nothing I’d done had slowed him down.
Feints and dodges that would have thrown most opponents off had done nothing.
He’d come on like a freight train with no fear for his own safety.
It was almost like a human trying to fight off a semi-truck.
I’d held him at bay, but at great physical expense.
Shaking my head, I looked at her with renewed interest.
“Wait,” I said, another memory flashing through my mind—my heels dragging on stone.
I frowned. “Did you carry me out of there?”
The worry on Shyanne’s face melted away, and she gave me a wry smile. “You know, you are heavy as shit. I had to drag your six-and-a-half-foot tall ass over half a mile through those stupid tunnels. Took me almost three hours to find another exit. My freaking back still hurts.”
I put my hand on top of hers. “Thank you. You should have just left me, though. Should have gone for help and come back.”
Her face grew stern, brows furrowing as she glared at me. “Absolutely not. There was no way of knowing if there were more of those assholes prowling around down in that fucking bunker or whatever it was.”
“True,” I admitted, though I had to believe that if Joseph had any other men down there, they would have run for it. Even a guy like Joseph didn’t have unlimited resources. Christian and I had fought off at least two or three dozen men throughout the night. That had to have depleted his numbers.
“Once I found the exit, I called Christian,” Shyanne explained.
“I didn’t know who else to call for help.
He’d already returned and was trying to dig through the burnt-out house to get to the stairwell when I got ahold of him.
He came in a car, and we brought you here.
Your…uh, your mom was really worried about you. ”
Mom?
I sat up, which sent a jolt of pain through my body, but that didn’t matter. My mother? My sister?
“Is she here? My mother?”
Shyanne nodded, a hopeful smile spreading across her lips. “She’s here. Do you want to see her?”
“I do,” I said, and I’d never meant anything more in my entire life. “Please?”
She gave my hand a quick squeeze, then went to the door.
After a few quick murmured words, she pulled the door open, and people filed in.
Christian and Bryn, who had a shit-eating grin on her face, and Mom holding my beautiful baby sister.
The backs of my eyes stung as they all moved to circle my bed.
“My brave boy,” Mom said, putting her free hand on my cheek, her smile warm and gentle. Then she slapped my cheek.
“Ow! What the hell, Mom?”
She leveled a finger at me. “You should have told me what was going on. Now that I know you aren’t going to die, I can chew your ass out like a mother should.”
I rubbed my cheek. “You were already so stressed. I didn’t want you to worry. I had it under control.”
She snorted a laugh and bounced the baby on her hip. “Oh, yeah. Christian and this young lady filled me in on how you had it under control.” She rubbed Shyanne’s shoulders lovingly. “Dear, you were a sweetheart to help him. I can’t thank you enough for getting him back to us.”
Warmth and love spread through my chest, even as my cheek stung.
She was right, though. If the tables had been turned, I’d have been irate if Mom had done all this without telling me.
That hadn’t set in while I’d been going through it.
Now that it was over, it was easy to see how horrified she must have been when the story had been relayed to her.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re right. I should have told you. I didn’t—”
“Want to stress out the grieving mother?” Mom said. She gave me a sad smile. “I understand. I…wasn’t mentally where I needed to be but…” She ran a finger across my sister’s cheek, eliciting a giggle. “I’m good now.”
“What’s her name?” I said, gazing at the baby. “Did you pick one yet?”
Mom glanced around at the others, then back at me. “I was waiting until you woke up.”
She handed my sister to me, and I suppressed the wince and groan of pain that threatened to spill out of me as the chunky baby settled against my chest.
“I had a lot of names picked, but…” Her eyes misted over, and her lips trembled for a moment before she got herself under control.
“After Christian and Shyanne told me what you did for her… I had to choose something else. She should be named after the man who brought her home. Meet your new sister, Jackson. Her name is Jacqueline.”
She’d named her after me? Why do that? Still, emotion overcame me.
The relief that it was all finally over, that I had my family back, that this small wonder sat here in my arms, alive and well.
It was too much. The tears flowed freely as I squeezed my sister, hugging her for all she was worth, enjoying the heat of her body against mine.
For her part, Jacqueline appeared fine with the attention, and she lay her tiny head against me.
“How are you doing, Sweep?” I said, looking at Bryn through tear-blurred eyes.
Bryn shrugged. “Good. I guess. Mom and Dad are even more mad at Christian than your mom is at you, though.”
I could imagine. It was the only way to make sure the plan worked.
Had the entire family been privy to what was going on, Joseph’s spy might have figured it out.
There was no way to fake the anger and fighting that took place in their house.
It would probably be a while before Mr. and Mrs. Bauer were cool with me again, but that was fine.
I could rebuild that trust. Their daughter was alive and well, and that was all that mattered.
“Yeah,” Christian said. “You’ll never believe the look on their faces when I told them what was really happening. I was sure Dad was gonna slug me.” He snorted a laugh. “My little brother did slug me, actually, but we’re good now. For the most part.”