Page 7 of Torqued Off

I slide my back along the wall.

“Hades?” I hear a voice talking, but I don’t know who she’s talking to. “Hades, are you okay?”

“Just stay low, soldier…” I whisper as more gun shots ring out below us on the street.

They know we’ve gone in somewhere, but the Cray’s not going to allow them in here. I’d bet he’s closed up the shop. He’s ex-military, too. I’ve had a beer at Graffiti Street Bar and talked over old war wounds—not all of them have a medical diagnosis. Many are just a lingering pain for those of us who spent time defending what we weren’t sure was defendable.

But I’ve promised Slater I wouldn’t have a weapon on me and not at the Guardians. They don’t allow them. But right now, I’m missing the feel of the heavy metal in my hand. I’m defenseless.

“Soldier?”

I hear the word whispered behind me, but I creep slowly down the hallway.

I turn the cold metal doorknob and check the room before darting inside. I motion with my head for the person to follow. My head tries to tell me where I’m at, but my eyes are seeing something else.

Afghanistan. Small hut. Brown dirt floor. People screaming. My guys taking positions. We’re out numbered. They’re coming. They’re here…

“Hades? What’s going on? You’re really starting to freak me out.”

I close the door behind us. “Shhh…they won’t get us in here.”

“They who? What are you talking about?” A hand on my chest stops me. “Hades, you need to stop. I think something’s wrong…with you.”

Who is Hades…

I look down and I don’t see a soldier. I see…her.

And I remember the kiss. I lift my hand and rub my thumb over her bottom lip. That softness. A tenderness that I’m not used to came out of me and she met me with the same intensity. That kiss was everything I’ve never known one to be. It pulled me inside out and twisted me even more than I’m normally twisted, and yet, it calmed me and helped me to focus.

Her hand cups my neck, a reach for the petite sprite. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

I swallow. I can’t tell her. It’ll make her run. I shake. “Nothing. I…I just…”

More shots ring out and I instinctually slip my arms around her. “I’ll protect you.”

Her hand cups my jawline. “You are. And I trust you, but you need to let me in. You’re scaring me.”

I don’t ever want that.

This is the hard part for a soldier. Vulnerability is not one of the Marine’s tenets. It leads to questions. It leads to the truth coming out.

I swallow. “I’m having a flashback.”

Her eyes narrow, but not in a judgmental way. “Tell me more.”

“Afghanistan. The gunfire. It…it sent me back there.”

Her eyes soften and she tips her head. “I’m sorry. I’m sure we’re okay. It was just someone being stupid.”

But that’s not the truth. And I should tell her the truth. If I don’t, she’ll hate me for not being honest.

“Bree, I have something to tell you.”

She wraps her arms around me. “You can tell me—” She pulls her hand from behind my back and it’s coated with blood. “Oh, my God!” She rounds my body. “You’re hurt!”

I didn’t notice. All I was concerned with was getting her into somewhere safe, secure, and secret. The three S’s that the bureau instructs us to do.

And then I start to feel the tingle. It’s a graze, but it’s deeper than I’d like. And no one likes to be shot.

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