Page 35 of Assassin's Mark
Chapter Seventeen
It was the shouting that woke me. Shoving the blankets off my face, I blinked hazily as the ceiling came into focus and the noises from the living room began to make some sense. When I realized exactly what they were, I shot to my feet.
Bad move.
I must’ve slept deeper than I’d thought, because it took a couple of minutes to gain my equilibrium, but then I was movingtoward the door, my heart pounding in my throat. Instinct urged caution, but I needed to know, to see—that Levi was here, safe; that Eli had gotten his brother here all right; that the woman he’d coerced was unharmed. Of course, from the sounds of it, her lungs were performing above and beyond expectation, so…
The living room was chaos. Eli struggled to guide the bed Remi still lay on towardthe back wall of the warehouse while Levi struggled with the nurse. She, apparently, had no problems fighting her way out of her captivity. Of course, she hadn’t been drugged like I had, but still, I envied her her courage. If forced to lay bets on who would win, I might actually consider betting on her.
Levi lost his patience quickly, gripping her arms tight and shaking her. “Shut the fuck upand do your job before I decide you’re more trouble than you’re worth!”
The woman went still, glaring up at him through the tousled strands of her thick blonde hair even as she cringed away from his hold. I didn’t blame her. Levi’s capacity for either bullshit or distraction seemed to lower in direct proportion to his brothers’ involvement and/or safety, as seen by the way he’d snapped at meearlier, the one and only time he’d lost his temper since I’d been here. That look directed at me would’ve had me wetting my pants, effectively wiping out the urge to interfere on my fellow captive’s behalf. I circled the couple warily and went to help Eli.
Remi lay still, not even a flutter of his long blond eyelashes indicating that he knew he was being moved. Eli’s mouth tightened at the sightof me, but he moved to Remi’s head without a word, maneuvering his end toward the back wall as I took my place at Remi’s feet. We worked together, Eli pulling and me pushing, until we reached the wall near the end of the kitchen cabinets. A mechanical whir sounded, and a section of the wall recessed, then slid to one side.
What the…
Eli continued backward as if nothing unusual had occurred.I glanced over my shoulder at Levi. He was staring down the nurse, but his left hand had lifted, pointing toward us, holding what looked like a key fob. A remote. One that opened a door I hadn’t been able to find no matter how hard I’d looked—God, had it only been two days ago?
Remi’s bed slid smoothly through the opening.
The nurse’s footsteps echoed as she marched in directly behind me. GuessLevi won the stare down.
“We have to get him still and stabilized,” she announced. Barked orders lashed the air as everything from the position of the bed to the lack of tables to hold the equipment were questioned. Apparently the stare down was the only thing she’d conceded.
Eli positioned the bed headfirst against a side wall, the light from a high window spilling onto Remi’s blanket-coveredfeet. The nurse immediately bent over him, one hand on his chest, the other beginning to move equipment from the bed to the floor. “Tables!”
“Demanding little thing, ain’t she?” Eli smirked, but I noticed he hustled for the door. I moved to the opposite side of the bed to help settle Remi in. Levi stood, a silent, intimidating presence as the three of us made short work of arranging his brother’snew room.
“Eli.”
Eyes still on Remi, Eli fished in his jeans pocket at Levi’s demand. Only when he pulled out a set of keys did he turn for the door and rush out. The nurse, whose name tag I now noticed saidMARRONE, ignored everything but her patient. Because he was the only thing she could control? I’d certainly felt that way, though with fewer options. I wanted to reassure her, to tell herno one would hurt her, no matter how much of a badass Levi seemed to be, but she wouldn’t believe me, not right now. I knew that all too well.
“What now?” I asked, automatically adopting the hushed tone people used in hospitals and funeral homes. Levi had no such compulsion.
“We wait,” he said gruffly.
Nurse Marrone’s head whipped around. “I am not waiting here.”
“Well, you’re not going anywhere,so…” Levi shrugged.
Beneath the flush of anger, the woman’s face went sheet-white. “I’m not waiting. I have a daughter. I have to go home. You’ve got two choices: let me go, or I'll make your life a living hell until I escape.”
Levi crossed his arms over that broad chest, one eyebrow arching as if the nurse amused him. “Only two choices? I could think of a few more.”
I was actually beginningto understand him. Scary thought. Our new friend didn’t, and Levi’s statement lit her shortened fuse like a fire-breathing dragon lighting a candle.
She charged.
Levi cursed.
The woman might be tall, but she was nowhere near strong enough to subdue a man like Levi. Short minutes later he had her trapped against his chest, thick arms caging her ribs as she kicked and screamed and bucked. Levi’sjaw was clenched, anger and frustration mixing in his eyes as he fought to hold her, and I found myself wondering for the briefest moment if it turned him on, if the woman in his arms was making his body react the way it had to me.
Christ. I seriously needed to get my head on straight before I started fantasizing about Levi being Prince Charming with a freaking castle in the clouds. A PrinceCharming who could snap my neck without a thought. Hers too.
“Stop!”
The nurse froze, fear shimmering like tears in her gaze as it locked onto me. Behind her, Levi glared, his lips opening, the explosion barreling down toward me. He needed a target—his world wasn’t cooperating, and it was pissing him the hell off. Really he should be used to it after me. I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t certainit would be the last straw, possibly for all of us.
