Page 92 of Legacy's Call

There was a long, quiet pause on all the comms. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

He gritted his teeth and answered, “Hell no, Uncle Jacob. It’s the last thing I want to do, but it’smyresponsibility to see this mission through to the end. Once they’re safe, I’ll return. Whatever it takes isn’t just a motto to me. It’s in my blood. It’s my legacy, and I’ll answer that call every damn time.”

CHAPTER 25

Damn, she was thirsty. Fleur tried to peel her tongue from the roof of her mouth. It barely moved. She blinked and looked up at a metal-shielded lightbulb. That was different. Where was she?

“Hey.” Ronan appeared over her, and she smiled. Oh, this is a nice dream. If it weren’t for her tongue being superglued and made of sandpaper, she’d have been quite happy to go back to sleep. “Babe, can you open your eyes for me?”

Had she closed them?She lifted her eyelids.Man, when did they get so heavy?

“There you are. How are you feeling?”

She blinked at him and tried to talk, but superglue … She pointed to her mouth and croaked, “Water.” She hoped it was intelligible enough to understand.

When a straw appeared before her, she groaned in relief and drained the cup quickly. “More,” she begged, dropping her head back down to the soft pillow.Wait. Pillow?“Where?”

“We’re in Jordan in a hospital. We think Miller or Mathias gave you a shot of Ketamine. Your blood pressure was almost nonexistent when we found you.”

“Found me?” She frowned. “Miller …” Oh, fuck. She tried to sit upright. “He’s going to kill the staff.”

Ronan cupped her cheek with his hand. “Don’t worry. Everything is over. Both Miller and Mathias are dead.”

She slid back onto the pillow. “Dead? What happened? What about your brother, the teams? Oh, shit, Shelly?”

Ronan narrowed his eyes. “Everyone made it. Miller and Mathias were in business with Habib. No one had ordered the shutdown of your camp. Miller manufactured all of it because they wanted the land where the camp sat. They purchased it with the money they made trafficking the women.”

“Your convoy and the guys?”

“We were attacked. Wolf has the most serious injury. A grade-three concussion. He’s next door. Adil was able to get Shelly and Rana out of the camp. When he tried to get to you, he said he saw Miller with a gun.”

“He did. Miller threatened to kill him if I didn’t cooperate. They made me go down into a ditch. I think they were planning on selling me.”

Ronan nodded. “The fuckers buried you in a crate.” He took her hand in his. “I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life.”

“Buried me? Alive?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “They gave you a garden hose for air. Fuckers didn’t think it might collapse under the weight of the dirt. Shelly said if you’d been breathing normally instead of barely breathing because of the drug overdose, you might not have had enough air to last.”

She closed her eyes and then opened them again. “I’m kind of glad they drugged me. I don’t do well in confined spaces.”

“It was pure luck they didn’t kill you.”

She placed her hand on his and felt tape. She lifted his hand so she could see his palm. “Bandages?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing, a few blisters.Once you show up in a hospital, everyone seems to think you need your booboos fixed.”

“Is your brother okay?”

“He’s fine. Running things at the camp until I get back.”

She froze, and at that moment, everything coalesced into reality. All the fear, hatred, and emotions that had consumed her now flooded through her, and she began to shake. “Oh, God.” She lifted her hand to her mouth. “Miller and Mathias were going to kill everyone. They were going to have the militia surround the camp and have all the IDPs sorted and trucked out with the help of the ISIL.”

“That’s what we assumed. I’ll let Guardian know they were correct.” He moved onto the bed and pulled her into him. Her shaking stopped when he held her tight against him. “You’re okay. You’re safe. I promise you’re safe.”

“I know. I don’t know why I’m shaking like this.” She pushed into him and felt as he tightened his arms around her.

“Your brain and body are trying to come to terms with what’s happened.” His chest vibrated under her ear.

---