Chapter 18 #2
Giving a nod, Maya pushed up onto her tiptoes and brushed a quick kiss to his lips, then she took off up the stairs.
As much as she wished that it wasn't just Thunder alone downstairs, she understood why the rest of his team couldn’t be there.
If Dr. Gardner was there, they’d move in and capture the man, but if he wasn't, their only chance to get to the man was to allow themselves to be abducted.
No one, especially not the man responsible for the enhancements, would believe that a team of normal men could catch and contain the six powerful Delta Team men. But maybe they’d believe they could catch and contain just one of those men.
As she found the room that was hers and rushed inside it, it wasn't lost on her what a risk Thunder was taking. She’d learned what Whitney had first contacted Delta Team to warn them about.
If Dr. Gardner got his hands on Thunder and the others, he planned on undoing the enhancements he’d given them, and then studying them before re-injecting them with the drugs.
According to Whitney, she didn't believe they could survive that.
So Thunder was putting his literal life on the line.
The thought of anything happening to him …
Heck, she could barely think about it and breathe at the same time.
Letting the door automatically lock behind her, thanks to the one the guys had installed when they first came to this house five days ago, Maya headed for the bed.
Dr. Gardner didn't know that in the two weeks since she’d been rescued, she’d come leaps and bounds toward recovering the person she’d been before she was abducted, so they hoped he still thought she was nothing but a pliable, broken toy.
To keep up that charade, her role was to simply do nothing.
Pretend she was afraid, which was not at all a stretch since the thought of Master getting anywhere near her again was absolutely terrifying, second only to her fear for Thunder.
Follow the same instructions Dr. Gardner used to give her, and act like the guys had been keeping her locked up because they knew she was a valuable tool to try to get their hands on the man they hunted.
Still, even though she knew what to do, even as she agreed to do it, even though she thought she was prepared for what it would be like if Dr. Gardner took the bait and followed the dark web trail the guys had left for him, when the sounds of gunshots echoed through the house, Maya realized she hadn't really known anything.
Although she had no weapon, she had to fight against her instincts to get back out of this bed and go downstairs to watch Thunder’s back.
It didn’t matter that she had no skills that would actually help her do that, she just hated the idea of him alone so much that she wanted to be there for him. Like he’d been there for her.
But even if she gave in to the temptation, she couldn’t get downstairs to him. The automatic lock was set to engage the second the door closed and could now only be opened from the other side.
Which meant her only choice was to fulfill her role.
Lie in the bed, dressed in baggy sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt, both of which belonged to Thunder.
Having them wrapped around her wasn't quite as good as the real thing, of course, but it did make her feel closer to him.
More than that, Maya was pretty sure it was the only thing keeping her sane.
As long as she was wearing his clothes, Thunder was close.
A couple of tears still leaked free as things went suddenly quiet.
Eerily quiet.
The kind of quiet that made her worry that Thunder had been killed.
No. They won't kill him.
If Dr. Gardner is there, Steel and the others will come. If he’s not, whoever is here will have orders to take Thunder to Dr. Gardner. The man wants Thunder alive, that’s where his value lies, so he’s not dead.
The pep talk didn't really do much to assuage her fear, and when she heard footsteps thudding up the stairs, that fear skyrocketed.
It wasn't Thunder coming.
She knew that with absolute certainty because if it was Thunder, he would have called out something so she knew that they had Dr. Gardner in their custody, and she didn't have to worry about anything.
But there were no comforting words.
None.
Just the sound of multiple sets of boots thumping on the stairs.
People were coming to get her.
As much as she tried to retreat to that place in her mind, she couldn’t quite enter it. Not the way she had before. It was like she could see her beautiful unicorn, but there was a large chasm between them, and she didn't know how to get across it.
Because she didn't want to get across it.
Didn't want to hide inside her mind anymore.
Back when she was Master’s prisoner, that place was safe, special, it was where she felt comfortable, better than in the real world. But now the real world was better, because the real world had Thunder.
Down the hall, a door slammed open. She could hear it bang against the wall.
Then another door was flung open.
And another.
Next, someone rattled the doorknob to her room.
“This one’s locked. Must be where they were keeping her,” a voice called out. She’d never heard the voice before, but she knew from Thunder that Dr. Gardner regularly put out requests on the dark web for mercenaries to do his dirty work for him.
That had to be who these men were.
If they were here, it meant Thunder had been incapacitated.
Not dead. Remember, he’s not dead.
Again, that pep talk didn't work, and when someone on the other side of the door fired a shot at the door, it took all her efforts not to scream.
The old Maya wouldn't have screamed. She would have just lain in her cage, presented in the way she’d been taught, and wait for her Master to do whatever he pleased with her pliant body.
So when the lock was blown off, and the door swung open, she shifted on the bed.
Bent her legs so her heels were tucked up against her backside and spread her legs wide.
At least she was wearing clothes, so she wasn't bared to these strangers, and that made it a teeny bit easier to keep her expression blank and wait.
“Ha, she did exactly what he said she would,” the man who she’d heard before said as four men dressed all in black stepped into the room.
“Boss will be glad to get his toy back unharmed,” someone else said.
Actually, Dr. Gardner wouldn't be glad to get her back at all. Because she wasn't his toy any longer. Now she belonged to herself, and she had people in her life who would fight for her. Maybe Thunder had been temporarily incapacitated, but as soon as they got to wherever cowardly Dr. Gardner was hiding, he and the rest of his team were going to make Master wish he’d never decided to play god with other people’s lives.
“Pack her up and let’s get out of here,” a third man said. “We don’t know when the others will come back, and we don’t want to be here when they do.”
As one of the men came toward her, Maya felt a deep-seated satisfaction in knowing that these men were scared of Delta Team. That Master was scared of them. They were a terrifying opponent, and they were on her side.
Dr. Gardner didn't stand a chance.