Page 8 of Guarded from Corruption

So that’s all good, which is a jarring difference from the last week of my life.

But my main focus since I was abducted—my only focus—has been escaping. Now that I’m safe, I don’t have that focus to keep all my other emotions at bay. Which means they’re all crashing into me, a hurricane of fear and confusion and anxiety and shame.

I feel brittle, like the slightest bump will shatter me.

But not now. Not here. Not when I’m about to meet some of Niall’s team. Not when I know I’m going to be expected to tell them everything, even the things I desperately don’t want to relive.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m glad Niall’s carrying me. Not just because of the protesting muscles in my legs, but because it makes me feel safe.

Niall won’t let anyone hurt me. It’s a certainty I know bone-deep.

“Are you okay, Jade?” We’re still in the garage, and Niall’s looking down at me with a concerned expression. “If holding you is too much, I understand.”

Despite everything that happened, I’m not worried about Niall touching me. It’s more the feeling of weakness I don’t want. After being restrained, unable to walk, to go anywhere on my own, being locked inside a room, poked and leered at and?—

My chest goes tight again, and I have to remind myself to breathe.

In my silence, the worry lines across his forehead grow deeper. “Hun. Tell me what you want. Whatever it is, I’ll make it happen.”

“It’s not too much.” Swallowing hard, I admit quietly, “I’m just scared. Not of you. Just...”

“Ah, Jade, it’s okay.” Niall gazes down at me, his twilight-blue eyes darkening in empathy. “It’s okay to be scared. But I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The kindness in his expression is nearly my undoing.

It’s such a contrast to how I was treated before, after those terrible days of cold cruelty and oily depravity, it takes all my willpower to keep from sobbing into his shirt.

He stares at my face for a second, his brow wrinkling at something he sees. Then he says, “Okay. We’ll take the outside path to the house. Is that alright?”

My throat too thick to speak, I just nod.

As we exit the garage and walk toward the expansive ranch house, Niall explains, “So we have a main area in the center where we do all our Blade and Arrow business. Conference rooms. A reception area—I just painted that yesterday. Offices. Secure storage. A gym. And we’re working on getting a community room set up; a place where we can hold small events in the future.”

Any other time I’d be firing questions at him, because I was listening when he told me all about the renovations, and the place really does look interesting. It’s a huge brick ranch with two large wings extending from a central hub, and it looks to be at least five thousand square feet. Several patios and porches are tucked into little nooks along the front of the house, with oak trees casting some welcome shade against the rising heat of the day.

When Shea told me about Niall’s new job, I imagined him working out of some building in the city. This is much different, and infinitely more welcoming.

When we get close to the front door, Niall says, “My teammates are all here, since we’re not officially open for another few weeks. Rhiannon and Dante will probably be waiting for us, since they were both team medics.”

Almost as if he summoned them, the door opens to reveal a man and a woman standing in the doorway. The woman is slender but obviously in shape, with a long, brown ponytail and bright green eyes. The man is about as tall as Niall and just as muscly, with thick, dark hair and kind eyes.

As soon as they spot me in Niall’s arms, their expressions shift from concern to outright worry.

The woman—Rhiannon, I assume—gives me a reassuring smile very similar to the one I give my nervous patients. Then her gaze shifts to Niall. “The clinic’s all set up. Dante or I can examine Jade, whoever she chooses.”

Dante dips his head at me. “Hi, Jade. Rhiannon and I are both medics. So we can take a look. Get you feeling a little better.”

Little flutters of fear erupt in my stomach. A belt wraps around my chest, tightening.

Irrational thoughts start spinning through my head—what if they make Niall leave, what if they call 911 against my wishes, what if they drug me, what if they’re actually involved in all this…

Gray dots start to float across my vision. My pulse jackhammers in my head.

“Hey,” Niall murmurs. “I told you, it’s okay. I trust them.”

“Don’t leave me.” It bursts out, strained and desperate. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

I’m ashamed of my weakness, but I can’t help it. Fear is beating at me, I’m a second from losing it, and the thought of losing the only person I trust…

---