Page 114 of Mine to Protect

The ground shuddered, dirt and bits of rock dusting my arms and back.

“Alta? Lady?” Cas called out with pure desperation in his tone. “Please be okay. Please. Oh God please.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out except a pained cry.

“I got you.” Tucking one arm beneath my shoulders, he carefully rolled me over, placing my back against the dirt. Even through my closed lids, a bright light shining above us singed my sensitive eyes. “Get a fucking ambulance. And we need a backboard.”

“Then don’t fucking move her, you damn moron.” Inside I smiled at the sound of Chandler’s voice.

Cas grumbled something under his breath that sounded like nothing but a string of creative curses.

Chandler came too. They both came like they said they would.

They saved me. In so many ways, Cas and Chandler rescued me.

* * *

Eyelids heavy,I strained to pull them open to find out where the stupid beeping was and why in the heck I was so dang hot. After several blinks to clear the haze clouding my vision, I quickly scanned the small hospital room, only for my gaze to stop on the man asleep in the chair beside my bed.

My muscles protested as I moved to run my fingers through his hair but stopped midair. My lips pressed into a thin line as I rotated both wrists in front of me, taking in the thick bandages encasing them. I didn’t want to know the damage beneath the bright white gauze, or think about the scars that would surely be left behind.

The steady throb of my shoulder drew my attention to the thick bandage covering my collarbone down to mid-bicep.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t your head she shot.”

Still staring at the bandage, I couldn’t help it as the corners of my lips pulled upward.

“Ah yes, what a lucky day it was.”

“You know what I mean.” A hot hand engulfed both of mine in a tight grasp. “Watching you fall into that grave while hearing her shot and Peters’s go off simultaneously….” I turned to face the man I loved, my heart hurting at the dark circles beneath his eyes, the hollowness in his gaze. “I can’t lose you.” His voice broke. Pulling a hand to the edge of the bed, he gripped it tight as he pressed his forehead against the top. “I love you, Lady, and I’d rather be dead than live another minute of this life without you in it.”

The tears that welled from his sweet, honest words spilled over to trickle down my cheeks.

“I love you too, Cas.” Slowly his head rose, his red-rimmed eyes meeting mine. “I do. I love that you love me for me, and I love that you make me feel safe, but more than anything I love the way you make me feel aboutmyself. You’ve shown me who I am again. The girl who was lost ten years ago, you brought her back to life. I never want to hide again, and with you, I never will.”

The sheets rustled beneath his hand as it slid up the bed to tuck beneath my head. Careful to only tip my head forward, Cas leaned close to press his lips against mine.

A light rap on the door pulled him away sooner than I wanted, which I let him know with the small pout I shot his way just before Chandler peeked his head through the door.

“You’re awake,” he said with a relieved sigh. “He was a bear to handle while you were in surgery.”

“Surgery?” My attention zeroed in on my shoulder. “What happened? The last thing I remember was Cas hauling me out of… well, you know.”

The two men glanced to one another. Chandler cleared his throat as he stepped deeper in the room. At my bedside, he again looked to Cas, who nodded.

“The bullet was a through and through, but they had to patch up your shoulder and clean it out. There was a ton of dirt and debris in the wound, and the docs didn’t want to risk infection setting in. The gel ice packs they put on your face calmed the swelling or you wouldn’t be able to see through either eye.”

“Damn Jerry.” My fingers curled around the blanket into a tight fist. “Did you find his body?”

“You mean what was left?” Chandler scoffed. “Yeah. Was he the one who did that to your face?”

I nodded. Looking to the crisp white blanket, I fiddled with a loose string. “Sarah stopped him from assaulting me. She said that was her one rule, no touching. What does that even mean?” I whispered.

Cas’s hand wrapped around mine, stilling the movement. “It means everyone has a limit to what they deem over the line. Rape, touching someone who didn’t want to be, was hers. We read her file, and it seems she’d been sexually abused since birth, which probably influenced her habits as an adult. As crazy as Sarah was, she knew that was a line she wouldn’t cross or allow her partners to.”

“Lance was her foster brother. She said she loved him, and they were a team.”

Chandler’s nodding drew my attention away from Cas. “It seemed they used Lance as a scapegoat. No one would ever admit he acted out, burned down houses, or hurt foster parents because they were abusing Rose.”

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