Chapter 29
29
RAE
N othing. I was nothing but a shell. Numbness settled into my soul, drifting away from my physical body hours ago. The pain in my shoulder seemed a distant memory as I sank deeper and deeper into despair.
Somewhere around me, metal groaned and screeched, followed by a string of curses, the voice sending a shiver down my spine. Yet I didn’t move from my spot on the floor. Didn’t run or hide or find something to use as a weapon.
Nothing. I was nothing.
Here, inside my cocoon of darkness, I was safe.
More gruff words reached my ears along with the pounding of boots that grew closer. A hard object slammed into my stomach, sending me rolling along the floor. The movement jolted my dislocated shoulder, pain and fire shooting down my arm and spine. I screamed, but nothing came out, only a push of air.
Fingers ripped into my hair and fisted. Out of energy and fight, I skidded along the metal floor, screws and sharp edges slicing into my exposed skin as he dragged me to the middle of the container and released me.
I crumpled to the floor and curled into a tight ball. The weight of his evil stare pressed into me, then vanished.
It was a trick. It had to be a trick. To get my hopes up, he left me alone again only to torture me. I curled further into myself and squeezed both eyes shut.
This was it. The end.
I wanted Alec. His fingers stroking through my hair, the commanding voice telling me it would be okay, and mostly so I could tell him I loved him. With all my heart, I loved him. I’d always loved him and never stopped all these years. More than anything I wanted him to know I died loving him.
My entire body trembled, the anticipation of what would come next so high my body physically quaked. Muscles burning, I held my tight ball, prepared for his next attack.
But it didn’t come.
Only… voices. New voices. Shouts, commands, and the steady thrum of machinery hummed along the metal in a soothing vibration. Closer and closer those distant male shouts grew. My heart hammered as I waited for the mirage of hope to vanish.
Only it didn’t.
The ridged metal vibrated under me in a slow beat. Steps, slow and steady, grew closer. A ragged voice tore through the darkness, a single word in a tortured voice stripping away the darkness.
“Sunshine.”
I sucked in a breath. Is this real? Is he really here with me?
A soft touch ghosted along my arm, sliding up my neck and caressing my cheek.
“It’s me. It’s Alec.” Peeking one lid open, I stared into the darkness. An enormous mass moved in the dim light. “You’re safe. I have you.”
The intense emotion in his voice broke through the dark haze, shattering the protective bubble I’d created for self-preservation. I shifted to see him only to hit my shoulder against his bent knee. A pitiful whimper crawled out my throat as I curled back into my protective cocoon.
“You’re hurt.”
Even with his features doused in shadows, there was no mistaking the pure fury in his tight tone. That boiling anger didn’t scare me. I was fucking grateful.
He found me.
But… something didn’t add up. My dehydration-fogged brain couldn’t put together what was off, but I knew deep in my gut something was.
“Come on,” he whispered, lips brushing against my cheek. “Let’s get you out of here before that bastard comes back.”
That’s it.
I clawed at Alec as he tried to pick me up.
He didn’t leave.
He. Didn’t. Leave.
That man was still here waiting for him.
“Rae, it’s?—”
His words cut off as his hands released me. I folded back to the floor. A flashlight rattled along the metal, shooting beams of bright light around the container until it rolled to a stop just feet away from where I lay. The shadows of two men danced along the wall. I watched in horror, not knowing who was who or who was winning.
I had to do something.
Bad arm tucked to my chest, I crawled toward the flashlight. Male grunts and cries of pain bleated through the container, sounding like an army of men instead of just the two. Fingers reaching, I stretched for the flashlight, only for it to roll just out of reach.
With a cry of frustration, I gripped the ridge of the metal floor and tugged my limp body forward. I nearly cried out in relief when two fingers wrapped around the cylinder handle. Rolling to my back, I swept the beam of light from one side of the container to the other, searching for Alec.
The light illuminated a man.
Alec.
Fist raised, he slammed it into the limp body pinned beneath his knees. Over and over that fist rose and fell. Dark drops rained around him with each punch, the man beneath him unmoving.
“Alec.” My voice was a mere rasp. His raised fists stilled. “Stop. Please.”
I wouldn’t allow him to kill that man, not for me, even though I wanted him to. Even with everything that happened, I knew without a doubt Alec would hold that death as a validation of the monster he believed roamed inside him.
That red-coated hand hovered high, trembling. Hard eyes turned toward me, squinting in the bright light. It all became too much as the last of my energy reserves depleted.
The flashlight clattered to the floor, sending beams of light to rotate around the container as my arm dropped to the ground. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, hauling me upright.
“Shh,” he murmured into my ear. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. Where are you hurt?” Pain laced his tone mixed with tenderness and relief.
A tearless sob rattled my chest. “Shoulder,” I rasped.
“You’re bleeding,” he whispered, stroking a finger along my sticky cheek. “Let’s get you out of here.” Alec’s massive body shifted, moving to balance on the balls of his feet to help me stand. “Put your good arm around my neck, Sunshine.”
I nodded, wrapping my sweat-slick arm around his neck and perching my chin along his shoulder. The discarded flashlight shone along the container floor, yet something was missing.
A dark puddle glistened in the light.
But where was?—
A silent scream tore up my throat when a shadow just outside the beam of light shifted. My ragged nails sliced into Alec’s back in warning at the glint of metal as it arched through the light, the knife’s razor-sharp edge angled for Alec’s back.
Without second-guessing myself, I pushed with everything I had, shoving my full weight into Alec and sending him toppling backward. As he tumbled to the side with a barked curse, I watched. Watched the tip of that knife, maybe the knife that was predestined for me, sink into my shoulder and slice through flesh and muscle.
Pain like I’d never experienced flared along my torso, burning and excruciating.
I screamed. It crackled around the container, covered immediately by the resounding boom of a gun. High-pitched ringing vibrated in my ears, erasing any other sounds.
Sprawled across Alec’s chest, I rested my cheek on his pec and sighed at the steady beat of his heart as it thumped against my skin.
A wet, sticky palm wrapped around my chin, tilting my face upward. Alec’s nostrils flared with each breath, his lips moving, though I didn’t hear a single word.
In fact, everything was silent except the ringing. And I was tired. So damn tired.
My attempt to pat his face ended up a hard slap. “You came,” I thought I said out loud.
Behind Alec, movement drew my hazy gaze. Charlie stood in the open doorway of the container, gun held between two hands with several other men heavily armed pouring into the surrounding area.
Still not a sound.
I felt them move, the vibrations along the metal tickling my skin, yet I heard nothing.
One man kicked the flashlight, sending light dancing around the container again. It circled before slowing and stilling. I blinked at the beaten, bloody face it highlighted. Eyes open, that dead stare somehow felt fixed on me, like he might pop up, ready to torment me all over again.
I trembled. From my head to my feet, every part of my body shook.
Then he disappeared. The container rotated. My mind swam with the quick movement as Alec hauled me into the air. Held against a firm chest, I soared through the door. Each of Alec’s steps sent shots of jarring pain through my shoulder, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before.
A heavy mist coated my face as we moved into the open air. I inhaled deep and tilted my face to the sky.
Free.
Really free. Not only from the container but from the horrors that had shadowed me for half my life. I wanted to leap from Alec’s arms and dance in the rain, but I could barely muster the energy to blink, much less fight the man clutching me to his chest like a lifeline.
A wave of euphoria washed over me, relaxing my muscles. With a sigh, I let my head slump back, dangling over Alec’s solid arm.
“Rae.” Alec’s desperate shout pierced through the dullness that crept over my thoughts. “Stay with me, Rae.”
My limp head rolled and bobbed with each of his hurried steps. Above us, a bright spotlight shone, following us as we moved.
“The ambulance is at the entrance. They couldn’t get back here because of the mud.”
Charlie’s voice was somewhat clear through the fog, yet I still couldn’t feel my injuries or my entire body. That thought made me smile.
“She’s still conscious, but barely,” Alec said above me. “Why’d you have to be the hero, Rae?” I frowned at the anger in his tone. “Hold her dislocated arm. We need to move faster or she’ll bleed out.”
That didn’t sound good.
A steady grip wrapped around my elbow, stabilizing my arm. That I felt. A scream scratched its way out my throat. Suddenly every cut, bruise, and bump flared to life.
“Fuck. Hold on, Sunshine. Hold on.”
Alec’s pleas continued as we moved. The pain turned to numbness, which slowly stole my awareness. One moment we were running, the next came loud arguing voices. Blinking at the harsh lights, I squinted to find a metal roof above where I lay.
Panic sliced through me, shooting my fight-or-flight instinct into gear. Something soft shifted beneath me as I shoved to a seated position, my eyes on the door just two feet away.
“Rae, calm down. You’re safe. Sunshine, you’re safe. I’m here.” I turned, dry eyes wide, searching for the owner of that soothing voice. “You’re on the way to the hospital. An ambulance. You’re in an ambulance.”
I nodded but stayed stiff.
What if this was a dream, and I was still stuck back in that container waiting for… waiting to die?
“Water,” I rasped. My cracked lips split with the small word.
“Not until we get—" an unfamiliar female voice started, but a bottle of water appeared in front of my face. “She can’t have that before surgery. We have her connected to an IV to help with dehydration.”
I turned pleading eyes to Alec, silently begging for the smallest of sips.
“A tiny one won’t hurt.” His words were soft as he smiled at me, but his commanding tone was a warning to the medic.
“Where’s all that blood coming from?” Charlie’s voice registered, but all I could focus on was the glorious water in Alec’s shaking hand.
Twisting the cap, he held it to my lips and tilted the plastic bottle. The first splash of cool water disappeared on my dry tongue. I sipped tentatively before dipping my chin to slurp down the entire contents.
“That’s enough.”
My pleading eyes turned to a glare.
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” he grumbled. He turned to set the water down, but a wince pinched his features and a barked, pain-filled curse filled the ambulance.
“You’re fucking kidding me.” I whipped my head, the ambulance spinning with the fast move, toward Charlie’s angry voice. “You dumb son of a bitch.” He slammed a tattooed fist against the ambulance door. “You didn’t tell us he got you too.”
I turned back to Alec.
Features tight with pain and face so pale, unlike I’d ever seen him. Rolling beads of sweat slipped along his temples and down his clenched jaw. With a grunt, he slumped forward, his arm slamming to the gurney.
“It’s fine. Take care of her first.” His slurred words were barely understandable as he continued to drop forward. His lids drooped. The hand holding onto the bed slipped, sending him crashing to the ambulance floor.
I screamed. Charlie cursed. The medic beside my head shouted.
Desperate to be beside him, to help him, I fought against the hold someone had on my good shoulder, keeping me secured to the gurney.
“I’m sorry.” Those two words registered half a second before warmth flooded my veins, making every tense muscle relax. I stopped fighting and slumped back against the stiff mattress. Blinks long and heavy, I stared at the shiny ceiling, unable to move as chaos erupted around me.
Tears leaked from the corners of both eyes as I listened to Charlie’s panicked voice begging Alec to wake up and the deafening silence that followed.