Page 31 of Jager's Prey
“I owe you nothing,” I said. “I heard you. But its obvious my closeness with Hermes bothers you. He’s a friend—I met him a few years ago when I was still in the Army. No, we’ve never slept together. Yes, he has a girl. No, I’m not interested in him. Did that cover all your worries?”
Closing my eyes, I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Mack, I don’t tell a lot of men that I want them.” Jager explained. “I told you because that’s what I want—that’s how I feel. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
For a moment, I merely stared down into her eyes, trying to find the truth behind her words.
“You can’t be jealous of every man I talk to.” She smiled at me.
“It’s not just any man.” I grumbled. “It’s a man who looks like a Greek god.”
She scoffed. “Ugh, Hermes? Not my type. Now, can we go to bed now?”
I exhaled but nodded. She slipped to her knees and began unclipping the pins on my prosthetic. I watched her, silently, wondering if she was real.
She smiled up at me as she massaged some of the cream onto my leg. “You’re running low.”
“I know.”
“What happens if you run out of this?” Jager asked.
“I’ll be a little uncomfortable for a while.” I replied. “It’s okay. We’ll be back home soon.”
In the middle of the night, we received word from Hermes that they’d landed. After she sent him our location, she rolled over and cuddled back into my side.
“Shouldn’t we prepare for him?” I asked.
Jager groaned and held me tighter. “He has about four hours to get to us. Go back to sleep.”
But that was easier said than done. Though she drifted off to sleep, I crawled out of the bed and hobbled my way out to check on Cage. He was curled into the sofa, facing the back of it, but he was crying in his sleep.
I sat on the space at the edge of the seating and rocked him awake.
Caged flew upward and hugged me tightly.
“Hey.” I whispered. “What’s the matter?”
“Just a nightmare.” Cage replied.
“It’s okay.” I promised him. “You’re okay.”
When he rested back into the sofa, I grabbed a bottle of water from our stash and wrung the cap off so he could drink some. He sighed and thanked me.
“I don’t want to be alone.” He told me.
“Okay.” I replied. “I’ll stay right here until you fall asleep.”
“You promise?”
I smoothed his hair back and smiled at him. “I promise.”
It took him some time to fall asleep. When I entered the bedroom again, Jager was in the process of climbing out of the bed.
“And where are you going?” I asked.
“I didn’t know where you were.”
“Cage had a nightmare.”
