Page 1 of He is… Creed: Part Three

Chapter One

Addie

I don’t call for help for Creed.

At this point, I simply don’t know who will kill him or help him, and so I comfort myself with my knowledge that he will heal. GTECHs survive. Their bodies defy all odds. But as time passes and his illness does not, I fret over my next action.

But it’s hours later now, and he’s still passed out on the bathroom floor while I huddle up next to him, holding a cool rag to his head, scared for him. I don’t want to care about him, but I can’t deny that I do. I’ve seen the GTECH healing process many times and documented the process, which ranged from tingling skin as a small cut healed to violent muscle spasms for more intense injuries. But never, ever, have I witnessed the kind of torture Creed’s body is putting him through. He’s burning up with fever, his muscles jerking and spasming just beneath his skin.

I rest my head on his chest, listening to the thundering of his heart. How much more can it endure? What if the bullet had been poisonous?

Sitting up, I decide I should call for help. Caleb is a good man. He won’t kill Creed. Cellphone, I think, grabbing Creed’s phone again. But as I stare at the call log again, as I stare at Caleb and Julian in his history, I pause. The fact that he called Julian right about the time he cornered me in the public bathroom sits all kinds of wrong. He had me talk to Caleb on the phone, but what if it was really Julian?

Suddenly, Creed sits up, and I gasp at this unexpected action, certain he was about to grab the phone before I use it. Instead, he’s on his knees, and a moment later, he’s hugging the toilet and throwing up. I’m on my knees now too, and with this development far from a positive one, I’m back to considering that call to Caleb.

Call for help, or wait it out?

I watch helplessly as Creed throws up over and over, so sick—too sick. I heard Lucian clearly state that Creed is no longer with Zodius, but what if it’s a setup? What if he hasn’t left Julian at all? That alone should drive my readiness to call Caleb, but Lord, help me, it doesn’t. Because no matter how good a man Caleb is, he’s a soldier and a leader. And what will he do to Creed if he’s still Zodius? And more importantly, why do I care?

Creed’s body crumples onto the floor and passes out again.

Chapter Two

Creed

I blink awake with a jolt, unsure of my surroundings—unsure if I should be fighting. I groan against the ache of my body and yank myself to a sitting position, only to realize I’m on the bathroom floor, and so is Addie. I grab her, checking her for injuries. “You’re okay?”

“Yes. Easy,” she whispers, her hand going to my chest, where I can feel the light spasms of the healing sickness.

The scent of her—soft, female, deliciously Addie—insinuates into my nostrils and draws me back into the present. Memories rush over me. The attack, the bullet. Hugging that damn toilet while Addie soothed me by just being present. “How long have I been out?”

“About six hours,” she says.

“Damn,” I murmur, scrubbing a hand over the back of my neck. I need to call Caleb. I reach into my pocket for my phone, but to no avail.

I intend to push to my feet when Addie grabs my arm. “You were sick like I’ve never seen a GTECH sick before, Creed.”

“I’m fine,” I assure her, touching her cheek. Damn. “The healing sickness has been getting worse for a lot of us. But once it’s over, it’s over.” This time, I stand, feeling on the mend. “I’m nearly healed, just weak and in need of food.” I offer Addie my hand to help her up.

She stares at my hand and then, in rejection, pushes to her feet on her own. Damn it, we’re still there in that shitty place where she doesn’t trust me. “What’s the cause of the reaction?” she asks, her face pale, dark shadows etched beneath her eyes. “It was bad, Creed. I was afraid your heart couldn’t handle what your body was doing to you.”

“The doctors don’t know the cause, but they’re working on it. The best they’ve come up with is an extreme vitamin C deficiency that is much more severe during the healing process.” I pat my pockets. “Have you seen my phone?”

She stares at me a moment too long. “Nightstand, charging.”

I exit the bathroom, grimacing at the sight of the blood all over the bed—a mess I’ll have to deal with before she checks out of the room.

Snagging the phone, I glance at the clock, noting the early six a.m. hour. I was about to hit the autodial for Caleb when Addie calls out, “Which brother are you calling?”

I freeze in place, a muscle ticking in my jaw at the accusation dripping from her tone. I turn to face her, narrowing my gaze on her pale features. She appears fragile in an inexplicable way, so easily broken when she is normally stronger than anyone I know. “What does that mean, Addie?”

“I told you before you passed out. I was going to call for help, but I saw both Caleb’s and Julian’s numbers in your phone. I wasn’t sure which one would help you and which one would kill you.”

I inhale at the implications of her words, anger burning in my gut. She knows me. On the most basic level, the lifebond we share allows her to know me as no one else. And still, the accusation. “Maybe you should have just killed me yourself while you had the chance.”

“Maybe I should have,” she spouts back. “You called Julian the night you visited me. The night we—you know—in the restroom. Yet you told me you’d left Zodius. So, who was I talking to on the phone? Julian or Caleb?”

I’d offer up an explanation, but there’s nothing I can say to her that will cut through the anger in her that my seeming betrayal created. I punch in Caleb’s autodial number and offer her my back.

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