Author: Karen Lynch
Category: Paranormal
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/karen-lynch/page,17,468303-hellion.html
“That’s it for today, folks,” I said to the five kids and three adults who were practicing their stances with the new staffs I’d brought for them today. Beth and I had been taking turns giving the self-defense class at the wrakk, and we’d decided our students were ready to learn to use a weapon. Used properly, a staff could be as deadly as a sword.
“Can we take these home with us?” asked Jal, one of the Vrell boys.
I picked up my leather jacket. “Those are yours, and I expect you to practice with them at least an hour a day.”
He smiled broadly. “I will. Thanks!”
“See you in two days,” I called to them as I headed to the exit.
Over the last week, my days had fallen into a new pattern. Hamid worked with the Council team on the investigation, and I’d gone back to regular patrols. Nikolas had assigned me to a team with three seasoned warriors, and I followed Hamid’s rules and didn’t go off alone. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than the alternative.
Outside of our training, I didn’t see much of Hamid. After the night he’d walked me to my room, I’d realized I was getting too comfortable with him. That coupled with the things Sara and I had talked about made me see how much my feelings toward him had changed in the last few weeks. I’d gone from barely tolerating him to enjoying his company.
And I couldn’t deny my physical attraction to him was growing. I’d always found him incredibly sexy, but more and more, I’d been imagining what it would be like to explore every inch of his muscled body. I wanted to blame my increased desire on the bond, but I couldn’t lie to myself anymore.
Sara called me as I walked to my bike. “Are you still at the wrakk?”
“Just leaving. Why?”
“Perfect. Would you mind stopping by the grocery store on the way home. I’m dying for some Ben & Jerry’s, and we’re all out.”
“How much do you want?” I asked, laughing. I was used to her food cravings and crazy appetite. Two days ago, she’d eaten a bunch of bananas and a whole jar of peanut butter in one sitting. And that had been her midmorning snack.
“You are an angel,” she gushed. “Two tubs of Chocolate Fudge Brownie should tide me over until we can do a grocery run.”
I got to my bike and rooted in my pocket for my keys. “I’ll get four tubs, just in case.”
The sound of a van door sliding open drew my attention to the large blue cargo van parked on the other side of my bike. A lot of the vendors here used vans, so I didn’t pay much heed to it until a Gulak jumped out. He was quickly followed by five more, all carrying clubs and knives.
In a matter of seconds, I was surrounded.
“Jordan, you still there?” Sara asked.
I kept my eyes on the Gulaks. “Um, I may be in a wee bit of trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” Alarm filled her voice.
“The Gulak kind,” I answered flippantly as I reached for the sword strapped to my bike. “You might want to send in the cavalry for this one.”
I hung up and slipped my phone into my pocket. I couldn’t afford any distractions, and Sara knew where to send backup – if anyone was close enough to get here in time. Something told me these guys weren’t going to play around.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” one of the Gulaks said, and I turned slowly to find the speaker.
“Do I know you?” I asked, although I already suspected he was one of the Gulaks Beth and I had fought here a few weeks ago.
He sneered. “You don’t remember me?”
“Sorry. You guys all look the same to me.”
A laugh rumbled from him. “I’ll fix that. After I’m done with you, you’ll never forget my face.”
The soft scuff of a boot hitting a pebble alerted me to the first attack. I spun as a club swung at my head.
I ducked and brought my sword up, slicing a shallow gash across the Gulak’s stomach. If he’d been a vampire, that strike would have gutted him. Damn Gulaks and their scaly hides. It was enough to make him howl in pain and back off, but there were five more ready to step in and take his place.
My years of training had prepared me to fight against the odds, and I employed every technique I’d learned from Hamid. For several minutes, I held off my attackers, letting them feel the sting of my blade when they got too close. But they just kept coming, and I knew I couldn’t hold them back indefinitely. All it would take was one slip for them to get past my defenses. Gulaks were strong bastards, and they could do a lot of damage.
The first blow took me by surprise, even though I’d been waiting for it. The club slammed into the side of my knee so hard I could hear the bone crack. I struggled to find my balance as the sharp stabbing pain tore a cry from my lips.
The Gulaks didn’t waste time moving in, and the second blow was to my sword hand. My fingers went numb, and my sword slipped from my grasp.
I grabbed the knife sheathed at my hip with my good hand, but it was no match for six Gulaks with clubs.
The third strike shattered my cheekbone and made the world go black for several seconds. I hit the pavement hard, and my sight returned in time to see a club coming down in what, to my pain-addled brain, looked like slow motion.
The club slammed into my side, and I gasped as pain ripped through me. I tried to take a breath, but the fire in my lungs told me at least one of them had been punctured by a rib.
Blows began to rain down on me, and all I could do was cover my head with my arms. Not that it would matter soon. The viciousness of the attack told me these guys weren’t going to be satisfied until I was dead.
I was teetering on the edge of consciousness when an enraged roar pierced the fog of pain surrounding me. The sound pulled at me, refusing to let me slide into the dark abyss.
Shadowy shapes moved above me. I blinked, and my vision cleared enough to see the flash of a sword as it took the head off a Gulak. Hot blood sprayed my face, but I couldn’t move either of my arms to wipe it away. All I could do was watch Gulak body parts fall around me as ice spread through my body.
The coldness reached my chest, and I let out a slow rattling breath. So, this was what death felt like. I’d always expected to go out in a blaze of glory. This was such a disappointment.
Gentle hands touched my face, and I heard Beth’s desperate voice from a long way off. “Jordan, stay with me.” Then she shouted, “She’s not breathing!”
Someone knelt beside me, and even with the life draining from my body, I knew it was him. The touch of his hand on my throat sent a flicker of warmth through me like a beacon in a storm. My Mori was too weak to call to his, but we knew he was here with us.
Hands tilted my head back, and a mouth covered mine. Warm air flowed down my airway, filling my lungs. It hurt so much when they expanded, but pain meant I was still alive, so I welcomed it.
Over and over, he forced air into me, and with each push, I felt the coldness recede a little, until I could finally draw a breath of my own.
“That’s it,” he said gruffly, his face so close I could feel his warm breath against my cold skin. “Fight for it, Jordan. You’re too stubborn to give up.”
I pulled in a shallow breath and then another. As long as I didn’t take in too much at once, my lungs could handle it.
I tried not to think about the fact that I couldn’t move my arms or legs or open my eyes. And one side of my face was completely numb. After the blow I’d taken to it, that was probably a blessing.
I couldn’t speak either, something I discovered when I attempted to form words. All that came out was a garbled sound.
“Don’t try to talk,” Hamid said. “The healer will be here soon.”
“Can’t we give her gunna paste?” Beth asked.
Chris answered her. “We can’t take the risk of her choking on it. Xavier will help her.”
I think I passed out then. The next thing I remembered was being jolted awake as I was lifted into a van, strapped to a gurney. I knew Hamid was with me before I heard him order the driver to g
et us back to the command center.
“I’m going to give her something to help her sleep now,” Xavier said in a low voice.
The thought of going under again terrified me. I tried to move and cry out, but I was incapable of doing either. I hated feeling so completely helpless.
“You’re not alone,” Hamid said into my ear as a needle pricked my arm. “I’ll stay with you as long as you need me.”
Chapter 11
A beeping sound woke me. My eyes were dry and scratchy, and it took some effort to open them and stare at the white ceiling. Carefully, I turned my head to one side to discover I was in the medical ward at the command center. The lights were low, and I could hear nothing except the heart monitor I was hooked to.
I tried to lift one arm and then the other, but they lay on top of the sheet as if they belonged to someone else. My body should have healed itself.
Oh, God, was I paralyzed? Or maybe I really had died and this was my hell.
“Hello?” I rasped, fighting to keep the panic from my voice.
A chair creaked beside the bed, and Hamid’s face appeared above me. His eyes were dark with concern, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “How do you feel?”
“Can’t…move,” I said through gritted teeth. “What’s…wrong with me?”
“It’s just the drugs. You were in bad shape, and Xavier had to immobilize you to help your spine heal.”
I swallowed dryly. “How bad?”
He ran a hand through his hair as he listed my injuries. “Fourteen broken bones, including four ribs, fractured spine, punctured lung, ruptured kidney, fractured skull and cheekbone.”
“That explains why I feel like death warmed over,” I croaked.
A shadow passed over his face, and I realized what I’d said. I’d stopped breathing, and he had literally breathed life back into me.
“S-sorry.” I coughed. “Water.”
He held a cup with a straw in it to my mouth, and I drank greedily.
“More?” he asked when I had drunk it all.
“No.” I licked my dry lips.
He set the cup on a table. “Are you in pain?”
I took stock of my body. My head hurt, but from the neck down, there was nothing. Panic threatened to suffocate me again, and I had to remind myself it was temporary.
“No.” I stared at the ceiling so he couldn’t see my weakness. “How long?”
“A day and a half. Xavier said you’re healing well, but you’ll be in here for a few more days.”
“Great,” I muttered, already feeling the drugs pulling me down again. I fought against them.
“The more you sleep, the faster you’ll recover,” Hamid said. “I’ll stay with you.”
“You don’t have to stay,” I murmured, even though his presence soothed away the fear that clung to me. I tried not to think about what that meant.
He didn’t respond. I heard him sit, and though I couldn’t see him, I could feel him there.
I sighed and let sleep take me again.
* * *
The next time I awoke, sunlight shone in through the high windows and I could hear the murmur of male voices somewhere in the room.
I turned my attention to my body and made two discoveries. The first was that I could move my arms and legs. The second was that moving hurt like a son of a bitch. I pressed my lips together against the pain but a small grunt slipped out.
Hamid and Xavier appeared beside the bed.
“It’s good to have you back,” Xavier said with a smile. “Don’t try to move. I’ve started cutting back on the drugs to allow your Mori to take over the healing, but you’re not in any shape to move around yet.”
I grimaced. “So I’ve noticed.”
“Xavier will give you something for the pain,” Hamid said.
“Don’t need anything,” I lied. I coughed, and it felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest. I bit my lip to keep from crying out.
Hamid took my hand in his. “You’ve been through a lot. Crying does not make you weak. And neither does taking something for the pain.”
I scowled and tried to pull my hand from his. “I don’t cry.”
He smiled, and for a moment, I completely forgot the pain.
“It’s good to see you haven’t lost that stubborn streak,” he said.
I huffed and tried again to extract my hand from his. “Don’t you have something better to do with your time than hanging out here?”
“No.”
I turned my head to watch Xavier, who had gone to a cabinet and returned with a syringe of pale blue liquid. “What’s that?”
He injected the stuff into my IV. “Just something to help with the pain.”
“I said I don’t need anything.” I blinked as drowsiness hit me, making my words slur. “God damnit. I’m going to kick your ass when I get out of this bed. Both of you.”
Hamid chuckled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
My retort died on my tongue as I succumbed to the drugs.
* * *
It was dark outside the windows the next time I opened my eyes. I turned my head, expecting to see Hamid in the chair, but it was empty. There was no sign of Xavier either. I must be doing a lot better if they’d both felt it was okay to leave me here alone.
I tentatively moved my arms and legs and let out a relieved sigh when I felt no pain. The IV had been removed, too. Good. Maybe I could get out of this room now.
It was a struggle to sit up. The pain might be gone, but I was as weak as a newborn kitten.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stopped moving as a wave of dizziness hit me. I would have lain down again, but my bladder suddenly decided it needed emptying. Not to mention I felt like I hadn’t bathed in a week. I was also starving, but that could wait until I took care of more pressing matters.
I was a mess, but God, it felt great to be alive.
I managed to stand and started making my way to the bathroom in the ward, using the wall for support. It took a few minutes, but I got there. I didn’t have a change of clothes, but I found clean hospital gowns and towels in a linen closet next to the bathroom. Score.
The bathroom had a large walk-in shower stocked with shampoo and soaps. I let out a blissful moan when I stepped under the spray of hot water. I was in heaven.
The dizzy spell hit me the second I took my hand from the wall to stand on my own. I leaned against the tile, taking slow deep breaths as black spots floated before my eyes.
When my legs began to wobble, I swore in frustration. There was no way I was making it back to the bed without falling flat on my face.
I hung my head in defeat. Not one of my more brilliant ideas.
I didn’t register Hamid’s presence until the shower door opened. Before I could protest, he turned off the water and stepped into the stall.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed.” He wrapped an arm around me and bent to slip the other one behind my knees.
“I stink,” I whined as he picked me up. “I just wanted to get clean.”
He set me on my feet again, and with one arm around my waist, he reached out and turned on the shower. He moved us under the spray, unmindful of the fact that he was fully clothed, and began to lather my hair with shampoo.
“What are you doing?” I asked and then moaned when his strong fingers massaged my scalp. God, that felt amazing.
He didn’t answer as he continued his ministrations.
“This is a serious violation of rule number two,” I murmured, earning a chuckle from him.
He finished washing my hair and turned us so he could rinse out the shampoo. The arm around my waist moved, and his hand grazed the underside of my breast. Heat shot to places that should be nowhere near this man without several layers of clothes between us.
When he shifted us so he could shut off the water, my hand brushed against him and I discovered I wasn’t the only one affected by our close contact. Need coursed through me, and it was all I could do not to
turn around and pull his head down to mine. It was a good thing I was too weak to do much, or I’d be in serious trouble right now.
Hamid opened the shower door and lifted me out of the stall. Sitting me on the vanity, he grabbed a thick white towel and dried me off. He was tender, but surprisingly, there was nothing sexual in his actions despite what I’d felt in the shower. I studied his face, but he was as unreadable as ever.
Once I was dry, he helped me into a clean gown and used the towel on my hair. Then he stripped off his wet shirt and carried me back to the ward. Instead of laying me on the bed, he sat me in the chair and proceeded to strip my bed and make it up with clean linens. I tried not to watch the ripple of his muscles as he moved, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from him.
“You’d make a great nurse,” I said after he had settled me back in bed and adjusted it so I was sitting up.
He walked over to the neighboring bed and picked up a tray of food I hadn’t noticed because I’d been too preoccupied watching him. He laid the tray across my lap, and my mouth watered at the smell of chicken and alfredo sauce.
“Eat slowly. You haven’t had solid food in three days.” He went to the door. “I’ll be back soon. If I find you out of bed, you’ll be getting those bodyguards.”
“It’s not nice to threaten a patient,” I called after him.
My stomach growled painfully, and I dug into my meal. By the time Hamid returned, wearing a change of clothes, I’d cleaned my plate, and I was resting comfortably against the pillows he’d propped behind me.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked when he lifted the tray from my lap. I was surprised I hadn’t seen Sara and Beth by now.
He set the tray on the other bed. “They’ve been here a few times while you slept. I expect you’ll see them tomorrow.”
I couldn’t think of any other way to ask my next question, so I just came out with it. “Why are you here with me instead of one of them? Don’t they need you on the investigation?”
“They do, but you needed me more. Your Mori was weakened and in distress, and having mine close by calmed it. It’s common among bonded pairs.”