Page 120 of Callen's Captive
“I’m staying,” Callen said.
They sat there for a while, Callen on the bed, with her head on his lap. She closed her eyes, mostly so she wouldn’t have to look at the guards. The way they glared at her scared her, but she could shut her eyes now that Callen was here.
“Don’t let them hurt me,” she whispered to Callen.
He stroked her hair, her face, her arms, all of her really, as if he couldn’t stop touching her. She loved when he touched her.
“No one will hurt you. I promise.”
“You left me here.” She didn’t know why she said it, except that it was the truth. “I’m cold, Callen.”
“I know. Princess, Pryce is here. He wants to talk with you for a minute.”
Callen helped her sit up. She opened her eyes. The shifter looked familiar. She was sure she’d met him, but she couldn’t remember his name. Callen had just told her, hadn’t he?
“Hi, darlin’. I’m here to check you over, nothing else.” He took her vitals and examined her eyes, even her scalp, looking for signs of a head trauma.
“Do you remember what happened yesterday?” Pryce asked.
“Yes.” It was a silly question, but hey, shifters did some weird stuff. “I sewed some jeans, took the net to the river to catch fish. Caught one, finally. We ate it for dinner, then sat by the fire and talked.”
“That was two days ago, Princess,” Callen interrupted. “Yesterday, you pulled the gun from your backpack and fired it.”
She thought about it. “Callen, that was just the dream I had.”
“How did she sleep last night?” Pryce asked the guard.
“Restless. Toss and turned most of the night. Cried out a few times,” Lou said.
“Fuck,” Callen swore.
Kate put a hand on his cheek to turn him toward her. “Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
He sounded mad, and he was glaring at Damien, who had returned. She looked at everyone else. “Why can’t you leave us alone?”
“You shot someone,” Pryce said, the calming lilt gone from his voice.
She thought about the dream she’d had. She’d been sitting by the fire when a new shifter entered the camp. The scars on his chest and arm had been easy to see. “That was a dream. I shot the guy who killed my parents. Then I ran, before the hat man could catch me.”
“Hat man? You mentioned him before,” Damien said.
“He caught me. That’s when I woke up, like always.”
“We should talk outside,” Pryce said to the others.
When Callen started to rise, she clung to him desperately. “You’re not coming back, are you?”
His mouth clamped down on hers. A new energy traveled through her body. It was warm and sharp, like Callen. “We’ll figure this out, Kate.”
Everyone left, except the guards who continued to glare at her.
* * *
CALLEN
Pryce stretched his neck from side to side. The dark circles under his eyes were a good indication that he too hadn’t slept much as he and Alex watched Hayden through the night.
