Page 32 of Guarded from Havoc

“Traps?” Cole tenses. “Who’s dead?”

“Traps. Deadly ones.” After an ominous pause, Erik adds, “And cameras. Watching the whole thing.”

Rylan bites out a series of low curses.

“We need to check this place out,” Erik continues. “But first, I need to get Tatum to the hospital. She was knocked out last night. I’m assuming she was drugged, like I was. And… I just need to get her out of here.Now.”

Cole jerks his chin at Erik. “Of course. Getting you guys checked out is the most important thing. We’ll bring you to the mainland. One of us can drive you to the hospital while the rest of us check things out here.”

I belatedly realize I’ve been watching this whole conversation without saying a word. So I give myself a quick mental shaking and say, “Hi. I’m Tatum Golding. And, um… thank you for coming. To rescue Erik. And me.”

Gah. I sound like a complete idiot.

“Tate.” Erik glances down at me, his lips hinting at a smile. “I suppose my last name might be nice, too. I’m Erik Rivers. Thirty-eight, from San Antonio, Texas, but originally from Kingston, New York.”

“Hi.” My heart does this weird skipping thing. I smile as I reply, “Tatum Golding. Thirty-four. Originally from Cooperstown, New York. It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“Same.” With his arm still around me, Erik nudges me forward. Away from the awful woods and towards the waiting boat, where a tall, blonde man stands at the wheel. “How about this, we’ll go to the hospital and then see about those sandwiches? We might have to take a rain check on the home-baked cookies, but I bet we can find some chocolate chip ones that’ll work for now.”

As I look into Erik’s amber eyes, my heart skips again. “Yes. I would really like that.”

CHAPTER 6

ERIK

“We’re goingto find the sick piece of shit who did this.”

Dante’s expression is thunderous, and from the way his hand keeps flexing, he looks seconds from punching something.

“This is top priority,” he continues. “All other cases are on hold until we figure out who’s behind this. Both teams. For someone to fucking attack you while you’re on vacation, abduct an innocent woman?—”

“We don’t know Erik was the target,” Niall interrupts. As Dante opens his mouth to reply, Niall adds quickly, “Of course it’s the most likely answer. But we don’t know for sure. It could have been directed at Blade and Arrow in general, and Erik was just the easiest target. Or?—”

“Easy?” I grit out, my temper flaring. “There were four fucking men in my cabin. All armed. I could have taken three, four if I’d had my weapon, but Tatum was there. They threatened to shoot her if I kept fighting. One of them had a gun?—”

Shit. Tatum’s asleep not fifteen feet away from us. Just inside the hospital room while we conference in the hallway. Idon’t want to wake her up when she’s finally drifted off, and Idefinitelydon’t want her to hear about the part of the attack she was unconscious for. When one of those fuckers held a gun to her forehead and cocked the trigger…

For a second, it feels like everything is closing in on me. The memories. The sounds of the hospital. The lingering headache from the drugs. The antiseptic smell, clinging to everything.

I hate hospitals. I’ve hated them ever since my dad died, and after the accident, it got even worse. Though I’d never tell my team, every time I step foot in one, a panic attack threatens. Breathing exercises and meditation help, but it’s always a struggle. And after everything that happened on the island, it’s harder being here than usual.

Part of it might be my worry for Tatum. It feels all consuming. Even being outside her room makes my anxiety surge. I keep sneaking glances inside, panic rising until I see the reassuring rise and fall of her chest again.

Rationally, I know she’s okay. Physically, that is. The emergency room doctor said Tatum only has a mild concussion and that the effects of the drugs should be gone by tomorrow.“You were lucky,”the doctor told her.“Being knocked out like you were, there could have been more serious trauma. But I’m confident you’ll make a full recovery. Just take it easy for a couple of weeks and you’ll be good as new.”

Good as new? What kind of bullshit is that? Yeah, maybe her concussion will get better—although I know first hand how sneaky and damaging head injuries can be—but that’s not taking into account the trauma she went through. Assaulted, kidnapped, nearly killed, then coming face to face with a fucking man with a damn spear sticking out of him… There’s no way she’s going to walk away the same person she was before.

And it makes me so fucking angry.

Which doesn’t help with the wholehospitals as a triggerthing.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Niall adds quickly. He flashes me a look of apology. “Obviously it wasn’t easy. I mean, they had to send four men. And use a helpless woman…” Trailing off, he glances into Tatum’s room. His expression darkens.

“She wasn’t helpless, though,” I reply, following his gaze. Pride warms my chest. “Tate was amazing out there.” Making sure to keep my voice low, I continue, “She didn’t freak out. Not once. Even when some of the things we saw… Shit. It was bad. But she just kept going. Never complained. She even offered to be a damn lookout while I was shorting out the fence.”

Grim satisfaction flashes across Dante’s face. “Guess they didn’t plan that part very well. Of all of us, you’re the one best equipped to disarm any traps or explosives.”

My jaw tenses at the memory of Tatum crying after we discovered the fence. And her fear when I told her my plan. But it wasn’t fear for herself. Not in that moment. She was afraid forme.

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