Twelve Years Later
Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to bleed to death.
The blood trickling down my face for hours from the big gash in my temple had stopped. If it’d been anyone else, I would’ve called that a good sign, but I wasn’t sure what was coming for me. There was a damn good chance I was better off slowly bleeding to death in the dark.
I leaned my head back, letting it thud against the metal wall. I sat on the floor of an empty safe, just large enough for me to sit with my legs crossed. Zip ties secured my hands behind my back, the plastic leaving raw welts on my wrists.
If you’re captured, don’t fight ’em. They’ll think you’re weak. Use that against ’em.
I know, Wolf. I panicked, ok?
The mercenaries had snuck up on my sad little camp under cover of the thick trees. I hadn’t seen them until they were on top of me, and instead of playing dumb like I should have, I panicked.
If you’re outnumbered, do not try to fight, Wolf growled.
There'd been six of them and one of me, but I did manage to fling red-hot coals in one asshole’s face and leave my only knife buried in another’s thigh.
Never give up your only weapon! Wolf barked.
Gods, will you shut up already?
If I’d kept my head, they probably would’ve locked me in a regular room, but since I fought and injured them just enough to piss them off, they threw me in this godsforsaken safe.
The worst part was not knowing why. Did they know me? Did a bounty for me exist already? Or was I just lucky enough to get picked up by traffickers? I smiled humorlessly. Gods, wouldn’t that be fitting?
The dim light and lack of interaction made it difficult to tell how much time had passed, but I would guess I’d been in here for more than a day. My stomach ached with hunger and my throat burned with thirst. Had they forgotten about me? Had they all been killed in a fight? Had I been left to waste away in a metal coffin?
I’d fallen into a half-asleep daze when a noise by the door startled me. I sat in the pitch black, my heart pounding and adrenaline flooding my veins, but the door didn’t open. The scraping sounds and muffled voices continued for a long time, and dread began to pool in my stomach. The mercs didn’t have any trouble locking it when they threw me in here. My eyes widened in sudden realization. These people weren’t unlocking the safe, they were picking it. I strained, trying to hear the conversation, but a soft clicking sound made me freeze and then all the gears turned, and the thick door swung open. I forced myself to slump over with my eyes closed and my heart in my throat.
A bright light shone right on my face and a strangled exclamation cut through the silence. Hands reached into the safe, grabbing my arms and dragging me out to lay on the cold floor. Someone spoke in a harsh, angry whisper I couldn’t make out, but a body knelt beside me and cut the zip ties around my wrists. The blood rushed back into my hands. I wanted to lash out, to run, but I remembered now, Wolf’s voice thundering in my head. I cracked my eyes open, squinting in the light. Shadowy figures filled the room, but they sure as hell weren’t the mercs. I tried to focus on the scraps of whispered conversation I could hear.
“—believe that little fucker lied. There’s nothing here!”
“—end well. Fuck!”
“—leave her. We gotta get outta here.”
The person beside me reached out, and I instinctively flinched. They withdrew and set the flashlight on the floor, illuminating a handsome male face. He looked somewhere in his mid to late twenties with a strong jaw covered in light stubble. His brown eyes—gentle eyes—widened in concern, and that told me all I needed to know.
“—not gonna hurt you.” He reached a hand out to me again. “Can you walk?”
I nodded, shaking. I tried to push myself up but then sank back with a hiss of pain. He fell for it. His brow drew together in concern, and he seized my arms, helping me to my feet. I wobbled on one foot, keeping my other foot raised as though it hurt to walk on. He ducked under my arm, supporting my weight as I pretended to limp. Maybe my leg was fine, but I didn’t have to pretend to need his support. Thanks to the blood loss and hunger, the room wouldn’t stop spinning, forcing me to lean on him. The other shadowy well-armed figures bled out of the room, scouting ahead. Their guns glinted in the dim light as we crept down the hallway, and all five of them blended into the shadows with their dark clothing.
A cool breeze blew in from the open window at the end of the hall, and I studied it as we grew closer. It looked big enough for me to fit through and a flat roof stretched out below it. Perfect. My companion and I brought up the rear of the group, and the other four passed the window and turned down the next hallway. Once we reached the window, I doubled over, moaning in pain. He fell for it again, hook, line, and sinker, crouching down to look at me.
“Hey, are you—”
As soon as he crouched down, I threw my shoulder into him, hard. I glimpsed the surprise on his face as he went down, tripping over my foot that I’d placed behind his, but I ducked through the open window, dropped onto the roof, and ran. My bruised body screamed in protest and my head swam, but the flood of adrenaline helped me push past it. My feet pounded across the concrete. Behind me, I heard bodies drop onto the roof in pursuit. I didn’t dare look back. The edge of the roof loomed in front of me, and I didn’t pause, throwing myself into the darkness and praying to any gods listening that I would land on something besides the ground.
I collided hard with a ramshackle patched-up tin roof and pain stabbed me through the chest making me gasp. My knees and palms burned as I tried to get a grip on the tin, slicing my skin on the sharp edges. I slid way too close to the edge before I finally stopped myself.
A body landed with a thud on the roof somewhere nearby, and I pushed myself up and took off again. The pain in my chest twisted with each breath, but I didn’t have time to examine it. No one yelled at me to stop, but they were trying to steal me from the mercs, so that made sense. I wished they were yelling so I could have some idea of their location.
The small buildings in this town sat almost on top of each other, sharing walls to reduce building materials, which meant I could easily run across the roofs but there wasn’t much cover. I jumped a crumbling stove pipe and made a sharp turn left. I couldn’t see my pursuer anywhere. I needed to get to the ground. It’d be easier to disappear—
A furious shout rang out and then gunfire erupted behind me.
I swore, flinging myself to the roof on my stomach. Bullets sprayed around me, but a stolen glance revealed it wasn’t the mysterious gang pursuing me. The mercs poured onto the roof.
The gang scattered, ducking for cover and returning fire. I swore again, trying to crawl forward on my stomach. I did not want to get stuck in the middle of a gang war. Again.
The gunfire moved away, and somebody let out a strangled scream. I started to scramble to my feet. I just needed to get off this damn roof before—
A body slammed into me, crushing me back down against the roof and knocking all the air from my lungs.
“Don’t move,” a voice growled in my ear.
His weight pinned me to the roof. I finally gasped in a lung full of air, and then bullets sprayed around us again, tearing up the tin roof. I tried to kick away from my captor, panicked.
“Don’t move!” he hissed again.
I gritted my teeth to keep the whimper from getting out and forced myself to go still. As soon as the gunfire eased, he moved, dragging me in a crouch behind the remains of a brick chimney. His hand gripped my arm like a vise. I couldn’t get a good look at his face, but somehow I knew it was the one who’d tried to help me earlier.
“Get her back!” The scream came from somewhere behind us. “Find her! Get—”
Gunfire swallowed up the rest, and I prayed to the gods somebody put a bullet in that merc.
I took advantage of the moment and tried to wrench my arm free. He moved so fucking fast and suddenly trapped me with my face against the crumbling chimney and my back against his chest. His arm wrapped around my neck in a chokehold and tightened. I panicked and clawed at his arm, black spots dancing in my vision.
Do not fucking panic! Wolf barked.
I slumped in his hold, pretending to pass out. He relaxed his arm so I could breathe but continued to hold me against his body. As soon as I could, I sucked in a breath and twisted my chin so I could sink my teeth into his forearm. He swore as he wrenched free, and I tasted blood. I tried to duck under his other arm, but suddenly bullets slammed into our hiding place. The noise deafened me. Pieces of brick-and-mortar flew everywhere. Both of us dropped back down behind the sorry shelter of the chimney. He grabbed a handful of my jacket and yanked me toward him. I braced for a blow, but instead, he swung me around to trade places, giving me more cover from the bullets.
I didn’t have much time to process that before he let out a strangled gasp that told me he’d been hit. He fell forward onto his knees, his hands grabbing at his gut, and slumped on top of me. I shoved at him as his weight crushed me for the second time, and he rolled off onto his back beside me. I struggled up to my knees, trying to peer around the chimney when a hand snagged my jacket. I snarled as my gaze snapped back down to him. Couldn’t he just die already?
“Road past Ace’s is clear,” he groaned out each word, but his eyes stayed sharp on my face. “Run.”
I hesitated. He was still helping me? Of course, it could be a trap, but even in the dim moonlight, I could see the dark blood oozing out between his fingers. I could smell it, thick and coppery.
“Run!” he growled.
I didn’t move. His eyes narrowed in confusion as I stared into them. I could hear Wolf’s voice screaming at me.
Get the fuck outta there!
The few small broken pieces of me that still cared seeing a person in pain cut like glass under my skin. I could run and save myself, but if I did, he would die. I hissed through my teeth, but I moved forward, prying his hand away from the wound and pressing my own hands against his bloody stomach.
“Leave me,” he groaned in pain. “Run.”
His face paled, blood dribbling between his lips as he coughed. I’d seen death on people’s faces more times than I could count. Death had a way of revealing people’s true natures. Some people begged, some threatened, some tried to bargain. And this idiot I didn’t even know was dying and still trying to help me. I hated him for it.
He started trying to talk again, grabbing at my hands.
“Shut up, dumbass,” I hissed at him, pressing harder at his wound.
He cried out in pain, but his cry cut off as the familiar warmth spread from my chest down my arms and into his stomach. The bullet had gone clean through his gut. Normally a death wound, but not tonight. I could feel his body mending beneath my fingers, all the muscles and organs knitting themselves back together. His hand curled over the top of one of mine, squeezing gently, and I glanced up to see his eyes full of awe. The wound closed shut, leaving what I knew would be a fresh pink scar, and all the warmth left me.
My head spun as I sucked in a breath and shivered, chilled like I just jumped into an icy river. His lips formed a question, his voice hoarse and his eyes still lit up with amazement.
“Who—”
Time to go.
I jerked away. His hand fell back to his stomach, his fingers searching for a wound that was no longer there. I started to stand, listening for gunfire, ready—
Something cracked into the back of my head like thunder, and everything went dark.
Angry voices cut through me as I regained consciousness. My head throbbed and I cracked my eyes open, a pained groan escaping through my teeth, and everything went silent. I blinked at the sky just starting to lighten into a pink dawn above me. Then the sky disappeared, blocked by three male faces staring down at me, and my heart seized in terror.
I rolled and they lunged. I managed to get to my knees but stalled when the world spun so violently that I thought I might be sick. Hands seized my arms and hauled me up to my feet. I kicked out, but strong arms banded around me, pinning both my arms to my sides. I threw my head backward, aiming for his nose, but I wasn’t quite tall enough. My throbbing head connected with his collarbone, and stars burst in my vision. Before I could recover, he yanked my upper body back while shoving his hips into mine, forcing me onto his knee. The more I fought, the more he leaned back, pulling me with him until just the tips of my toes touched the ground. I thrashed, but he was firmly centered, and I had no leverage. I gave up, helpless fury burning in my eyes.
A dark-haired man stepped right in front of me, and my panicked gaze focused on his face. He looked older than my twenty-two years, maybe nearing thirty. His dark eyes matched his unruly black hair. They snapped with angry golden sparks as he glared at me, reminding me of the dark grey chunk of flint I’d stolen to make my campfires. A long scar ran up his left cheek, stopping just underneath his eye.
“Juck’s secret weapon,” he said, his voice low and hard.
The roaring in my head threatened to swallow me. So the mercs had known. They’d known me, which meant somebody had talked. I thought I’d have more time, I thought I’d be able to get farther away—
“Lot of stories make more sense now,” he continued, “like Juck’s immortality.”
I glared at him, and he glared right back. A giant muscled man shifted into view. He had dark skin and black hair buzzed close to his scalp. His arms crossed but despite his intimidating size, he met my gaze with a calm, steady expression.
“What are you?” the first man demanded.
I broke away from that intense gaze and stared stubbornly at the trees behind him. Gods, I’d been free for two weeks. Two. Defeat tasted bitter in my mouth.
“Mac!”
Both men’s hands twitched toward the guns on their hips as a young person came hurtling through the trees toward us, all gangly arms and legs.
“Trucks are moving out. Mercs,” he spit out rapid fire.
“Get to the rovers,” the black-haired man, Mac apparently, said. “Load up.”
He turned his back on me and stalked into the trees. The one holding me released me, dropping me back to the ground. He switched to holding my left upper arm, and I shot a glance up at his face to meet the brown eyes of the one I’d so stupidly healed. I glanced away, tensing further when Muscles stepped forward and grabbed my other arm and the two of them started dragging me along after Mac. I couldn’t see the town anywhere, just trees. I squinted up at the sky, trying to get a read on our location, but it just made my head hurt worse.
We stepped out into a clearing. Mac climbed into a fortified off-road vehicle with two seats in the front and a bench seat in the back, and it purred to life. A second one behind it already idled. My two guards dragged me up to the one Mac waited in and shoved me in the backseat. Released from their grip, I started scrambling over the seat trying to escape out the other side, but Muscles caught my ankle and yanked me back. I tumbled onto the floor of the rover but managed to kick out hard with my free leg as I fell. I caught Muscles in the chin and felt a sick sort of satisfaction when he swore and spit blood.
“Will you fucking hold onto her?” Mac snapped, twisting to glance back at the commotion.
Muscles swore some more and jerked me toward him by the ankle. I slid across the floor, and he hauled me up by the arms and leaned in. His dark brown eyes glittered as blood dribbled down his chin.
“You wanna get tied up again?” he growled, his grip on my arms tightening.
I dropped my eyes as my stomach twisted. My wrists still ached with welts and bruises from being zip tied for so long in that safe. Satisfied, he shoved me back and someone behind me hauled me up into the seat right next to them. I scooted away for some space, but then Muscles climbed in, crowding me back. He wiped the blood from his chin, glaring at me. To avoid his angry gaze, I glanced to my right only to see Brown Eyes studying me. I dropped my eyes to the floor and tucked my hands into my lap to hide how they trembled. The adrenaline had faded, leaving me nauseous and shaky.
“On your go, Alpha,” a female voice crackled over a radio.
The rover peeled out, the second one following close behind. We traveled on a near-overgrown dirt road that snaked through the woods. The rover bounced over the rough terrain, making the gash on my head throb. The backseat fit two, not three, making me wedged between the two men, my skin crawling from the sudden onset of physical closeness. I tried to make myself as small as possible, but I couldn’t avoid the way their thighs and shoulders pressed against mine. My shoulders curled inwards until I hunched forward on the seat. I kept my eyes trained on my scuffed-up boots. We drove in silence for a while, but I could feel the questions brewing.
I took a moment to catalog my injuries. The back of my head pounded from being knocked out, but at least the big gash in my temple had stopped bleeding. Small but painful cuts covered my palms from the tin roofing. The left side of my chest under my shoulder hurt the worst. I remembered landing hard on something sharp when I jumped off the roof. I pulled my thick plaid shirt back, wincing as it caught on something, and warm blood started trickling down my chest. I wasn't able to see the wound, but it was still bleeding.
“What’s your name?” Brown Eyes spoke over the engine. He sounded curious and not demanding.
I hesitated, debating whether stubborn silence would be worth it. Probably not.
“Bones,” I muttered.
I didn’t look up, but in the silence, I assumed all of them had the same surprised expression most people got when they heard my name.
“Bones?” Brown Eyes repeated.
Muscles snorted. “Funny name for a pretty little thing.”
“That pretty little thing near knocked your teeth out,” Brown Eyes said.
I stole glances at both, tensing. Muscles glared daggers at him, but Brown Eyes grinned. I stared back down at my feet.
“Sounds like a bounty hunter's name,” the young boy in the front seat chimed in, twisting around to peer back at us.
“Shuddup, Jax,” Mac ordered.
The boy scowled but turned back around.
“Got a surname?” Brown Eyes asked.
“No,” I lied.
“Ok,” he said. “So how’d you heal me, Bones?”
I gritted my teeth and tried to focus past the pounding in my head. “I’m a healer,” I muttered.
“Yeah, you’re gonna need to explain that a bit more,” he said. “Because I’ve never met a healer who could do what you did.”
I caught a glimpse of Mac’s eyes in the rear mirror and glanced away quickly. “I have—” Gods, help me. “Powers.”
A short silence fell before Muscles repeated, his voice suspicious, “You have magic healing powers?”
My temper rose, but I forced it back down. “Yes.”
“Magic healing powers?” Muscles said again, even more skeptically.
“Ask your buddy why he’s still breathing if you don’t believe me,” I snapped.
“I mean, I got no explanations,” Brown Eyes said. “It sure as hell seemed like magic.”
“Maybe it was a trick,” Muscles said.
“If it was, it fuckin’ hurt,” Brown Eyes replied.
“I don’t do fucking tricks,” I muttered.
“So you have magic healing powers.”
Gods, if Muscles said that one more time, I would jump out of this rover.
“How?” Brown Eyes asked.
“Fuck if I know,” I ground out.
“Have you always had them?”
“Yes.”
Silence fell again. I could sense them all exchanging looks, but I just folded myself further in half, my elbows on my knees and my hands clasping behind my neck. If I hadn’t so stupidly healed Brown Eyes, I probably could’ve passed myself off as Juck’s runaway whore or something. Not like that’d be far from the truth anyway. But now they’d seen what I could do and there was no way in hell they would let me go.
“I’m Trey,” Brown Eyes spoke up again.
I didn’t move, didn’t acknowledge I’d heard him at all.
“Griz is the one still spitting blood,” Trey added, amusement clear in his voice.
Muscles growled on the other side of me, but it sounded half-hearted at best.
“Mac is drivin’ and that’s Jax up there,” Trey continued.
I still didn’t move. My dry eyes felt like they might crumble to dust in my head. After a few minutes, someone nudged my shoulder. I tensed as I peered up, but Trey held out what looked like a granola bar wrapped in wax paper. My stomach cramped in hunger at the sight of it. I took it, my hands trembling, and bit off a small piece. I wanted to inhale the whole thing, but I knew that wouldn’t end well, so I nibbled a few bites before holding it back out to him.
Trey frowned. “You can eat all of it.”
“I’m done,” I said, then trying not to sound too desperate I asked, “Do you have any water?”
Trey reluctantly took the granola bar and pulled a battered metal bottle out of his pack. I tipped it back, gulping down the water. I had to force myself not to drink it all, but when I tried to give it back, Trey shook his head.
“It’s ok. You can drink it all.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
“Can you heal yourself?” Griz asked.
I looked at him, but he was looking at the gash on my head.
“No.”
Griz gave me a look I couldn’t quite read and then glanced down at my shoulder. “Did you get shot?”
I curled my shoulders inward, trying to shrink away from his gaze. “No. Just a cut.”
“That’s a lot of blood for just a cut,” Griz muttered.
“It’s nothing.”
They didn’t say anything more. We drove and drove through the endless woods, nothing but trees and mountains as far as I could see. Where the hell were we going? I had no idea what sort of holds existed out here in the mountains. I wanted to ask, but it was safer to stay quiet and small and just observe.
Of all the half-assed plans—
Shut up, Wolf.
I didn’t know what to think of these people. Mac knew I’d belonged to Juck, they’d been looking for his “secret weapon,” and I’d be willing to wager that didn’t mean anything good. So far they hadn’t hurt me too much besides knocking me out. Trey seemed to care about my well-being, but I knew all too well one person caring didn’t mean shit.
Exhaustion crept over me, and I tried hard to fight it, but I dozed off several times before jerking awake, startling both men next to me every time.
“Bones, it’s alright if you sleep.” Trey murmured, which only made me try harder to stay awake.
Stay alert, Wolf snapped.
Despite my best efforts, it wasn’t long before the exhaustion won and pulled me under.