Chapter 12 #2
“Lion is alive, Kate. Hear me. Lion is alive. Alive. He has a concussion, passed out, but he was awake when we found him, trying to get to you. Once he found out you and Ariella were okay, he passed out again. But he is alive, and he is going to be okay. Are you hearing me?” Voodoo demanded, his voice gentle yet demanding attention, forcing her to listen.
“Alive?” she managed to croak. Was it possible that everything she’d ever wanted hadn't just slipped through her fingers for a second time?
“Alive,” Voodoo repeated. His hands on her face shifted, one dropping to her shoulder, the other pressed against her neck, and it took her a moment to realize he was checking her pulse.
“You need to calm down. I know that’s asking a lot considering the situation, but I'm worried about your broken ribs puncturing a lung.”
Puncturing a lung probably should be a greater concern than it was. All Kate cared about was that Leo and Ariella were alive, injured but not dying. She hadn't lost either of them today.
When she nodded to let him know that she understood, he gave her a tight smile, encouraging, but at the same time, she could read the strain in it. They were all hurting, all shaken, all wondering what happened next, if they were being hunted, if they would have time to get someplace safe.
Before she could say anything, a howl of anguish suddenly sounded from somewhere nearby. Kate stiffened, but Voodoo gave her shoulder a quick squeeze of reassurance.
“That’s Steel,” he told her, and she relaxed a little, hearing they weren't under attack.
“Rose,” Cassandra whispered, and they all realized that the stunning redhead was the only person unaccounted for.
Was it possible that while she hadn't lost her heart today, someone else hadn't been as lucky? The pain in Steel’s voice had been unmistakable, and there was only one reason she could think of that he would sound that way.
As though they were one, they were all on their feet and moving. She’d thought she’d lost Leo, but she hadn't. Maybe there was a chance to ensure that Steel didn't lose his other half either.
Once outside the wreck of the private jet, it didn't take them long to spot Steel. He was on his knees beside one of the wings of the plane. It was broken off from the main body of the plane and lying on the ground.
Beneath it, she could see a pool of red.
Different than blood.
Hair.
Rose’s hair.
The woman must have been trapped beneath the wing.
“Help,” Steel ordered, his voice cracking, sounding nothing like the man she had slowly been getting to know.
Still, the order seemed to carry the same weight as it usually would have because everybody sprang into action.
Blade and Dragon, who had brought Leo out with them, carefully lowered him to the grass, and she tried not to panic at how still he was.
Maya still had Ariella in her arms, and she stood beside Leo, setting the little girl on her feet.
Ariella immediately dropped to her knees beside her father and took his much larger hand in her small ones.
Everyone else gathered around the wing. Kate, torn between helping Rose and staying with her family, in the end, she decided Leo would want her to help because this was his family every bit as much as the people who had raised him.
“I can't hold the wing up and get her out at the same time,” Steel explained, his hand almost convulsively stroking Rose’s head.
The woman was just as still as Leo was, and Steel was also streaked in blood, his clothes dirty and torn, the look of fear on his face speaking more than words ever could about the depths of his feeling for the trapped woman.
“We’ll get her out,” Thunder soothed.
As though sensing that Steel had a very tenuous grasp on his sanity right now, Voodoo stepped in and took over organizing the situation.
“Steel can do the heavy lifting. Blade, Thunder, and Dragon can help, but focus on keeping the wing steady and checking for any broken bits that might fall onto her. Cassandra, Whitney, Indigo, and Maya can all help me pull her free, moving her as little as possible. We don’t know how seriously she’s injured, and if there’s spinal damage, I don’t want to make it worse.
I’ll keep her head and neck steady, if the rest of you take an arm or a leg each and try to keep her arms close to her body, and her legs together. ”
“What about me?” Kate asked, hovering close as everyone moved into position.
“Can't risk you puncturing a lung,” Voodoo replied. “You can help by watching the wing, telling the guys if you see it breaking, so they know where to hold it so nothing falls on Rose.”
It didn't seem like much, but she wasn't going to argue. Everyone had to walk away alive today, or she was afraid this family would fracture forever. It didn’t matter how small her part was, she’d contribute, and try to make up for causing all of this.
“On three,” Steel said, taking control back, even if it seemed like he was clinging desperately to it. “One. Two. Three.”
Like clockwork, everyone acted as one.
Steel lifted the broken wing, the other guys steadying it, while Voodoo and the girls dragged Rose backward until she was out from under the wing’s weight.
“Got her,” Voodoo told the others, and they lowered the wing back down. Then, Steel was moving to his girl’s side, dropping to his knees and grabbing Rose’s hand.
Steel wasn't the only one who couldn’t stay away from their partner for a single second longer.
Dragon scooped Cassandra up into his arms, Thunder pulled Maya against his chest and nuzzled at her neck, Blade wrapped his arms around Whitney and buried his face in her blonde locks.
Indigo hovered close to Voodoo who was skimming his hands over Rose’s body checking for injuries, and Kate turned back to her family.
Family.
The word sounded good in her mind, and she couldn’t wait to say it out loud. Couldn’t wait to embrace it and everything it stood for.
“I love you, sweetie-pie,” she whispered as she knelt beside Leo and hugged Ariella close.
“Love you too, Mommy,” Ariella whispered back.
Holding onto her daughter with one arm, her free hand stroked Leo’s forehead. “Love you, too, my Leo Lion. Always and forever.”
By some miracle nobody had died today. No one had lost their other half. They were battered and bruised, but thanks to Thunder’s flying abilities, he’d managed to get the plane down to the ground without killing anyone.
There really was no other way to describe it but a miracle. When Thunder had issued his warning, Kate had truly believed she was kissing Leo for the last time, holding her daughter for the last time, about to take her last breath.
But she was still alive, and so were the two most important people in her world.
“Voodoo?” Indigo’s wobbly voice suddenly drew everyone’s attention.
“Indy? Honey?” Voodoo asked, panic in his voice as he turned his attention from Rose to Indigo.
“Something’s wrong,” Indigo managed to whimper as she pressed her hands to her stomach, and then the next thing they knew she keeled over.