Page 24 of Rescued By the Convicts
“Ivan held them off while Reece and I escaped. We’re all fine. Nothing worse than a few cuts and bruises. Except for my wrist, which feels like you’re breaking it.”
He looked at his hand locked around her wrist. The skin and bones felt real enough. “You’re alive?”
“I promise you, I’m alive.”
“Kiss me. Fuck me. Do something to convince me,” he said as he released her wrist.
“How about I punch you in the face?” Ivan offered.
Another grunt.
“Fine. Reece wants to punch you. Have at it, big guy,” Ivan said as he pulled Melina back with him.
Reece’s ugly face appeared before Jayce as he hauled him off the floor and dragged him down the hall.
“This isn’t a dream?”
This grunt was softer, almost sympathetic. But that was his mind screwing with him again. No one could have sympathy for him. Not after what he’d done. After all the women he’d condemned.
Reece dumped Jayce onto his bed, and then his angel reappeared. Her face caressed him. “You need to sleep this off, Jayce.”
“Stay,” he pleaded, even as his eyelids became too heavy to keep open.
“I will. I promise I’ll be here when you wake.”
Jayce closed his eyes, hoping when he woke in the morning, she’d still be there.
* * *
MELINA
“I can’t takethis planet any longer, Ivan,” Jayce blurted out as he thrust his hands through his unkempt hair.
The four of them sat in the kitchen with Reece dishing out cans as if they were in some high-end bistro. He took such pride in being able to read the labels. He even slung a towel over his shoulder, ready to wipe up any mess. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to distract her from Jayce’s obvious distress or he simply was in a good mood after sleeping with her yesterday. Perhaps both.
Jayce, meanwhile, slumped over his coffee. It was unlike Jayce to be such a mess. And while she wished she could blame his current mood on his use of Flight last night, she couldn’t. First-time users rebounded quickly if they were otherwise in good health, which Jayce was. She’d stayed with him through the night, and he’d slept soundly. When he woke this morning, he showed no signs of having taken the drug yesterday. Until now, facing everyone in the kitchen at the same time.
Something was still bothering him.
“Why the fuck would you take drugs, Jayce? Especially Flight. You know that stuff’s nasty. You watched what it did to Devon the same as me.”
“Give me a pass on this for fuck’s sake, Ivan. I thought she was dead.”
“Well, at least you care.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jayce said, shooting to his feet.
Melina froze, as did Reece.
Ivan sat at the table, slowly sipping the steaming liquid without raising his eyes like he wasn’t worried about Jayce attacking him. “Sit down and eat. Or don’t eat. But sit down. You’re making Melina nervous and she has enough to worry about without you getting all screwy.”
“What’s he talking about?” Jayce asked, green eyes locking onto her.
She loved the color of his eyes, and the fierceness of his gaze, but she wasn’t sure he was ready to hear everything.
“Tell him,” Ivan said as if wasn’t the least bit worried about Jayce’s reaction. “He needs to know. No secrets down here. If we’re to survive, we can’t afford any secrets.”
Melina told Jayce the full story of how she’d been kidnapped from the bunker and ended up being interrogated by Liden. She mimed brushing the RJIZ on her tatt and described the effect it had, along with what she’d told Liden. The rest, how she’d ended up in the bag full of garbage or why he’d arranged for Reece to dump her in the mine was unclear, so Ivan finished retelling the events as he had pieced them together.
