Page 18 of Revenant

How can I do any less?

“I want you to promise me something.” The softness in his expression turns harsh, like he already knows what I’m going to ask, and I quickly forge ahead before he can interrupt. “If thingsgo wrong, I want you to promise me that you will grab Jaceson and get out.”

A massive scowl darkens his face, and I swear his body looks like it’s bulking up as he stalks toward me. I would normally cringe if anyone else glowered at me in such a way. Gunner is different. He would die before he ever lifted a hand to hurt me. Before he can protest, I push up on my toes, slip my hands behind his head, and drag his mouth to mine.

The taste of him has me groaning, and I deepen the kiss, starving for more, like I didn’t have an orgasm not ten minutes ago. Apparently, just like with the guys, one isn’t enough. As I reach for him, wanting more, he tears himself away with a curse.

Panting hard, he buries his face in the crook of my neck, his body shaking. “I’ll do anything for you, but please don’t ask me to make a promise I can’t keep.” His grip tightens around me, and my feet leave the floor as he drags me closer. “I won’t survive leaving you again.”

Heart breaking, I wrap my arms and legs around his large frame as much as I can physically reach. Tears burn my eyes as I force words past my tight throat. “Even if getting captured means they’ll use you against me? Even if leaving me means you will survive and get another chance to come back for me?”

Before he can answer, a chime fills the hallway, and he reluctantly releases me, sliding my body down his front. “That’s the bell for lunch. They take attendance, so you have to go.”

His hands flex on my hips, as if he’s struggling to release his hold. Then he sighs heavily, his body deflating, and he takes a minuscule step back. “You leave first. I’ll wait here for a moment, then follow.”

A lump forms in my throat at the idea of leaving him, and I am suddenly terrified that once he’s out of my sight, I’ll wake up and realize this has all been a dream. With a shaky breath, I forcemyself to shuffle toward the door. It’s only when my hand lands on the knob that I realize he never answered.

I look at him over my shoulder, not caring that I’m pleading. “Promise me.”

Hardness glints in his blue eyes, and he snorts, shaking his head almost pityingly. “Princess, maybe you are crazy. There is no way in heaven or hell that we would ever leave you again. We either leave together as a family or stay and fight.”

Damn if my heart doesn’t jolt against my ribs at his fierce promise.

I nod hesitantly, almost giddy at the idea of being part of their family. Before I lose my nerve, worried I won’t be able to leave him if I stay longer, I yank the door open and dash into the hall. Forcing one foot in front of the other, it doesn’t take long for me to find my way down to the dining hall.

The only thing stopping me from rushing back to Gunner is the thought of seeing Jaceson again. Tiny carnivorous butterflies have taken up residence in my stomach, swirling and dipping until I’m worried about being sick, both excited and nervous to see him again.

The way we left things still haunts my nightmares, and I can’t help but obsess over what would’ve happened if I hadn’t been taken. I remember the police shoving their way into my house, I want to say it’s the same kind officer who rescued me from my father, but my memories of that time are blurred. I remember the orderlies forcing me to strip out of my shoes and jewelry.

My mind rebels at no longer being treated as a person but a thing. I thought I had put that life behind me, and I’m infuriated and mortified at the way they looked through me, like I’ve ceased to exist as a person. I didn’t realize how much my life has changed in the last few weeks. Before leaving my father, I didn’t understand that there was a difference.

The blinders are off, and I can’t go back to that way of thinking. As the orderlies march me down the stairs, I struggle to banish the sickening dread churning in my stomach.

The sight of the gurney in the kitchen has panic spasming in my chest. Before I can protest, a sharp pinch in my neck turns the world around me blurry. Harsh words fill my ears, but they’re muted, like I’m hearing everything from underwater.

Then there are only dark shapes moving in shadows.

I swear I heard the guys calling for me, but I’m trapped in my own mind, the whispers of the spirits filling my ears with their madness and drowning out everything else.

Now, three months later, my cheeks heat at the thought of the guys witnessing my humiliation. If they didn’t think I was crazy before, nothing shouts insanity more than being strapped to a gurney and carted away.

I’ve worked hard the last few months to master my abilities. I’m getting better, but my control isn’t perfect. Since my abilities continue to evolve, I doubt I’ll ever master them completely. While part of me wants to distance myself from the guys for their sake, I’m honest enough to admit that without the guys to keep me focused on the living, my hold on my sanity will eventually slip until I turn as batshit crazy as my psychotic mother.

As I approach the courtyard, the sounds of voices increase, and my steps automatically slow. Nothing like throwing me to the wolves on my first day. I’ve never met others with special abilities like mine. I fear it will be like trying to stick two feral dogs in a kennel and expecting them to get along because they’re canines.

If the doctor has been treating the other patients as test subjects, ingratiating myself with them will be like trying to pet a porcupine without getting stabbed. The best I can hope for is to be ignored. If they really do have special abilities, I’m fucked. The doctors won’t ever let me go without prying every last secretfrom my head. Once they learn what I can do, I’ll either be brainwashed into becoming one of their little minions or dead on some slab.

I edge into the room, quickly scanning the area, mentally noting the exits and the guards—and trying to be as subtle as possible as I search for Jaceson. I still can’t believe they came for me after all this time. Though Jaceson might be quiet, he’s as wild as his brother, just in different ways. He loves the outdoors, the freedom of speeding down the winding highways with the wind tearing at him. He’s not constrained by polite society.

He’s unapologetically himself, and I love that about him.

He makes me feel brave, like it’s okay to be different.

The back of my throat aches from the realization that he would willingly give up his freedom for this underground hellscape.

There are around two dozen patients, and I stop dead in shock. For some reason, I just assumed I was a freak of nature. One of a kind. I’m not sure how I feel, knowing there are others like me in the world.

While part of me is relieved not to be alone, a bigger part feels threatened.

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