Going Under (25 page)

“Not yet. We need to set up a press conference. Right now.”

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to let you have a damned press conference
instead of going to the hospital.”

The paramedic spoke with her briefly about any allergies she might have and the gurney
arrived. It was easier—slightly—to watch it through his camera on his phone.

“I’m not”—she swallowed hard as they put in an IV—“out of my mind. They need to see
this, Gage. Every damned human in this country needs to see the price of their silence,
indifference or, worse, their bigotry. There is a cost. We’ve been paying it over
and over since the Magister. They need to be confronted with it.”

He turned the camera off for a moment, leaning in close to speak to her quietly. “You’re
killing me, beautiful. How about this? We get you to the hospital and patched up and
then you can go straight into a press conference. We’ll know more, at least a little
more by that point. I can call Meriel and fill her in so she can tell you if she wants
you to say anything specific.” He knew the last part would be an appeal to authority
and that it would work with her. It was dirty pool, but he’d do whatever he had to
to get her into that ambulance.

“I broke a few things.”

He laughed and found himself kissing her forehead. He turned the camera back on before
he did anything else like that.

“Molly, I’d be honored if you’d allow me to help these males get you onto the gurney.”
Faine spoke to her in a gentle voice.

“Fine. Thank you.” She looked up at Sato and Gage knew by the way her face had relaxed
that the pain relief had kicked in. “Are you all right?”

Faine helped get her up onto the board. There was so much debris all around that they
would have had trouble otherwise. But a giant Were could pick her up easily and transfer
her to the board carefully. Even so she winced and gasped a few times.

“On our way.”

Sato walked next to the gurney as they pushed it quickly through the cleared path
and out the hole in the wall to the hallway.

Sato looked pained as she paled when they hit a bump and she got jostled. “I’m better
than you are. Listen to Gage and the doctors. I’ll be at the hospital shortly. I have
my own press conference to give.” Sato turned to Gage. “I’ll have my aide send you
everything we can as we know it.”

Gage nodded and jogged next to the gurney as they got it outside to the ambulances
lined up. A crowd of PURITY protesters tried to push close but Gage was beyond caring.
He filmed them all with one hand while he used his magick to shove them all back so
they could get through.

“Nearly there.” He dared the paramedics to tell him he wasn’t allowed to ride along.
Luckily for them they didn’t. Faine got on her other side and they closed the doors
and headed off.

“I need to call Meriel; she’s already called and left voice mails. It’s made the news.”

But first he had to get himself together. Back from the brink of falling apart. He
could have lost her. His hands shook a moment, but when he looked to Molly, she wasn’t
falling apart so if she could do it, he could too.

“Faine, I need to speak. Can you get my phone and film me making a statement?”

Of course she waited until Gage was waiting for Meriel to pick up on the other line
before she did it. He could hear the pain in her voice. She
could
just rest and let herself get treated. But no.

When Meriel picked up Gage started speaking. “I’m sorry it took me so long to call
you back. I’m guessing the bombs were on the news. Lark is my next call. We’re on
the way to the hospital now. Faine and I are all right, just a few scrapes from the
flying glass. Molly . . . well, she’s got some broken bones. They want to check her
out more thoroughly.”

Meriel sighed explosively. “It’s all over the news. Keep me updated. Have you heard
about the rest?”

“About what?”

In the background, Molly stopped speaking and he knew she was listening to their call.

“Bombs have gone off in several major cities. All targeting Others. Lark will call
you in a few minutes. Just take care of Molly.”

“Did they go off there? Is anyone in Owen hurt?”

She paused. “Heart of Darkness was hit. Dominic was there checking stock. He’s fine.
Thank goodness he’s made of granite. There have been casualties in a few states. I’ve
got to go. Have Lark fill you in on the rest and keep me updated on Molly, all right?”

He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah.”

“Heart of Darkness was hit. I need to get on with Lark to get updated. Others have
been targeted nationwide.”

Molly looked at him, pain on her face that wasn’t just about her physical wounds.

* * *

AS
it happened, breaking a bone really hurt. Breaking two really hurt a lot more. She
also had a broken rib, a sprained wrist and lacerations from flying glass and splinters.

The painkillers she currently surfed to avoid the bulk of that pain also made her
grumpy as Gage paced around the room on his phone, barking orders and cursing under
his breath. Faine calmly took it in from his place in the corner.

She waited for Gage to head down the hall to see if she could leave before she made
some phone calls he’d squawk about.

Faine sent her a grin as he shook his head, and she blushed.

Once she hung up, Gage came back and verified that she could leave. He was still angry,
that much was easy to see from his features. Part of it was her, she knew, but the
details that kept coming about the other attacks, not only in the United States but
across the globe, were frighteningly brutal.

“How is it you two are relatively unscathed? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that flying
glass didn’t cut up your pretty faces.”

“The podium you stood at was close to the blast point. Gage and I were off to the
side, the post we stood near shielded us the first time. The others? Luck I suppose.”
Faine paused. “And I believe the bomb was aimed at you directly.”

“Lay off the scaring part,” Gage said before going back to his call.

“He’s a multitasker. Now, the nurse says I can go and that’s what I want to do. I
don’t like it here. First, a press conference. I managed a few pulled strings and
they’re going to do it out front in thirty minutes.”

“I’ll call you back.” Gage put the phone back in his pocket and glared at her. “You’ll
do no such thing.”

She sent him a raised brow. “I will, yes. And I’ll need you to brief me in the meantime.
I need to be totally up to speed by the time the press conference starts.”

“Molly.” Gage looked heavenward for long moments, clearly marshaling all his patience
and she tried very hard not to crack a smile, but it was really difficult, especially
with the painkillers in her system.

“Gage.”

“You’re being a smart-ass now?”

“I get to be. I have two broken bones, a broken rib and a sprained wrist. And a lot
of great drugs in my body too.”

Faine stood, hiding a smile behind a cough. “I’m going to check in with Simon. I’ll
just be right outside.”

“You can’t have a press conference. Molly, one hundred and thirty-seven Others have
been injured today. Including you. Six have died. You’re going to be a target outside.
A big neon arrow pointing at you. I’m not going to allow that.”

“Others died today, Gage. Dominic and Simon’s business was bombed. A hearing in the
United States Congress was cut short by bombs. Homes. Businesses. A pack
school
in Utah was bombed. Three children are in the hospital and when they get out, they’ll
have one less teacher. Of course I’m going to have a press conference.”

She tried to sit up a little straighter, but the cast and sling weren’t much help
in that department. Gage sighed, moving to her to assist. “Baby, please listen to
me. All those losses are terrible. But you’re a loss I can’t . . . please.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “You like me.”

He sighed, kissing her forehead, over each closed eyelid and then her cheeks before
he got to her lips. All just the barest of touches, all filled with so much emotion
she couldn’t choke all of it back.

“You make me all sniffly and messy,” she mumbled.

“You make me all terrified and annoyed,” he countered.

“I’m not going to do this exactly right because as I mentioned, drugs. In fact I’d
rather be with you in your apartment naked in your bed watching movies. You protected
me today. You threw yourself in front of me when a bomb went off.” Her bottom lip
wobbled and she started to cry but she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue he handed
her. “I want to hold on to you and let you take me home and tuck me into bed and never
come out of my room. But I can’t do that. You know I can’t. Things are bad. Like really
bad and we can’t trust the humans in charge not to make this our fault.”

He paused a long time, swallowing hard. He looked at her face as if he were memorizing
each and every feature. Finally he spoke. “I hate it when you’re right.”

She managed a smile. “I know. But it’s a cross you’ll have to bear. Go tell Faine
he can come back in and then brief me while I fill out all this discharge paperwork.”

Chapter 26

HE
noted that her hand shook slightly before she clenched her fingers into a fist. On
the right only as she wore a cast on the left and a splint on that wrist as well.
That rage bubbled up and he did his best to stoke it back.

She needed him to be calm and alert. Needed to lean on him because she was hurt and
scared. He’d already failed her once that day, he wouldn’t do it again.

Molly stepped to the mic and cleared her throat. He noted the way she drew magick
up through the ground and also through the air all around her. It seemed to be second
nature to her by that point. Her aura glittered as the power rolled from her and projected
outward over the crowd.

The noise hushed.

“Good afternoon. Or evening I suppose. My name is Molly Ryan and I’m a witch. More
specifically, I’m the Media Relations person representing Clan Owen and the Council
of Others. Today at approximately half past one in the afternoon, the hearing room
I was in was attacked. Three bombs the authorities are now saying were improvised
explosive devices went off consecutively. Those bombs blew out an entire wall. Part
of which fell on me.” She motioned to her arm and the cast she also wore on her leg
where her femur had been broken.

She had to adjust her weight and he had to will himself to let her. She refused a
wheelchair so she leaned on a crutch. She was pale. Her blouse was dirty, ripped in
several places and blood spattered. Her skirt was in similar shape.

“At the same time, all across the globe, bombs went off in buildings, marketplaces,
schools
and places of public discourse like government offices. All told, as of twenty minutes
ago, one hundred and thirty-seven Others—your neighbors, your friends and family—were
injured in these attacks. Seven of those Others are children. Six people have died.
One was a teacher at the school in Utah where four children were also injured.”

“How do we know you didn’t do this? You’re blaming humans with no proof.” A yell from
one of the crowd.

Molly got closer to the microphone. “My proof is common sense. Everyone targeted was
an Other. Everyone injured or killed was an Other. Organizations like PURITY and Humans
First have been preaching hate and violence while smiling at cameras. They like to
talk about decent Americans?
I’m
a decent American and I’m calling them out. And shame on
any
Americans who call themselves decent who don’t stand up and condemn this sort of
violence. First it’s camps, then it’s summary execution? Who is Carlo Powers to decide
this? Hm? Did any of you vote for him? This isn’t prewar Germany. This is the United
States of America. This is a nation built on differences and our common goals. We
do not execute people for being different. We do not put our citizens in camps and
chip them.”

“You were testifying before Congress. How can you claim you’re oppressed?” The same
voice.

Molly sighed. “As a matter of fact, the chair of that committee had a panel of experts
on this bill that would strip Others of their citizenship and put us in camps. On
that panel there was
not a single Other
. In fact, Senator Hayes changed the rules at three in the morning and then when the
other members of that committee ceded their time to me so I could speak, the bombs
went off. I call having a wall fall on me, breaking my bones oppression, yes. What
would you call it?”

Silence.

“Yes, as I figured.”

“How do you respond to those who say that if the Others weren’t stirring up all this
trouble, none of this would have happened?”

“That’s an absurd way to look at it, don’t you think? If she hadn’t talked back, I
wouldn’t have had to hit her? Hm? If she hadn’t worn that skirt, she wouldn’t have
been raped? That’s rhetoric we reject in every other case. Because it’s called victim
blaming. Did my refusal to let my people get shoved into a concentration camp cause
some violent bigot to try to kill me? That’s an astonishing thing to say, don’t you
think?”

They got very quiet. Her magick flowed steadily, surely across the space. He realized
she had it in her power to actually control their actions, but she didn’t. Gage knew
she’d never even consider such a thing, even if it wasn’t a violation of the ethical
rules that bound witches to do no harm.

Unless in self-defense.

He hoped like hell they never had to test that.

* * *

SHE
took questions for another five minutes or so, but he knew she was about ready to
fall over. Luckily for her, she figured it out too, and ended the thing before he
had to do it.

A car pulled around and Gage noted the number of National Pack wolves who had shown
up to guard her. He liked that allegiance. Liked that the humans would see they weren’t
going down easy either.

Molly just sent him a raised brow but said nothing as he gently got her settled and
they headed to the hotel.

But that didn’t last long.

“I don’t want to be in a hotel.”

“You’re about to pass out. You’re white as a sheet. You need to rest, damn it. The
capital is closed for the rest of the day anyway, you know in case you thought you
could start lobbying or something like that.”

“I want to go home.” She snorted and settled back, wincing as she did. “I want to
sleep in my bed tonight, such as it is. I don’t want to be here a second longer than
I have to.”

Oh.

“That can be arranged.” The shifter driving the car was Cade Warden’s personal bodyguard.

Molly sat forward with a gasp. “Is Cade all right? I can’t believe I forgot to ask
that.”

“You were a little busy getting your bones broken.” Gage rolled his eyes.

“Even so.” She would have brushed a hand down her skirt, as she tended to do when
she got prim with him, but she flinched and pulled her hand back. The leg that hadn’t
been broken had a great deal of bruising from the huge oak desk that had landed on
her.

The bodyguard spoke again. “He’s fine. We’d gotten as far as the elevators when the
first bomb went off. He wanted to come back to see if you were hurt but we overpowered
him down the stairwell and got him out of the building. He’s pretty pissed about that.”

“I’m glad you did though. It was bad enough that I got hurt. If more Others had, it
would have been worse.”

“He wanted to be here, by the way. But Grace wanted him home and in the end, she persuaded
him. We’ll take you directly to the airport. They’re getting the plane ready now.”

“Check in with Lark, I know you need to. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine. Fuck.” Gage shook his head.

“I’m as fine as I’m going to be. And that’s all I can be.” She turned to look him
in the eye as she said it. Her unspoken
and it’s all you can be
rang out as clear as if she’d shouted it.

“When we get on that plane you’re taking some more medication and going to sleep.
Got that?”

She nodded and leaned back again, closing her eyes.

* * *

MOLLY
woke up as Faine picked her up. She’d been dreaming about the bomb. She screamed,
beating at him, bringing tears and a well of pain so deep she nearly passed out again.

Gage was there, whispering in her ear. “Shhh. It’s okay. Molly, it’s Gage and Faine.
Wake up, baby.”

She opened her eyes on a sob and then mortification. “I’m so sorry!”

Faine shook his head. “It’s all right. I startled you. I should have woken you up
first.”

Molly couldn’t seem to stop crying, which frustrated her greatly.

“Faine, can you give us a moment?” Gage asked as Faine put her down carefully. The
Lycian nodded.

“I’ll be right outside.”

Gage handed her some tissues. “Take a minute to get it out of your system.”

“I was dreaming of the attack. And then I was in the air. I just . . .”

He cocked his head. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Goddess, she hoped she wasn’t all snotty and puffy and goopy.

“Today. I didn’t protect you.”

“Are you kidding?” Suddenly the tears were gone and she was astonished.

“Look at you, Molly! I
knew
something bad was going to happen. Damn it.”

“You did and you warned me multiple times. You tried to get me to leave. I stayed,
knowing I could be hurt. But they heard me. Every one of those fucking assholes who
tried to silence me has just given me a platform far greater than I would have gained
from sitting on that panel.”

“You’re going to kill me.” He heaved a sigh. “It’s late. Come to my apartment tonight.
I’ll make you something to eat and you can get some rest.”

“All right.”

Of course once they’d arrived at Gage’s apartment, people began to call and ask to
come by. So she agreed to let him get her set up on the couch and to allow Meriel,
Lark and Rita to visit. Rita was going to bring Shelley, Gage’s mom, who was a healer
and wanted to see if she couldn’t help.

“I can’t even believe Sato today.”

She huffed a sigh. “What now?”

“The guy is all over you until you get hurt and then he’s nowhere to be found?”

Yeah, so being in a room when three bombs went off had given her a moment of clarity.
She’d bitten her tongue enough. This
friends with benefits
thing never worked. Ever.

“You can’t have it both ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you get mad when he’s nice to me. And then you get mad when he backs off
when I need to go to the hospital. He didn’t abandon me. He called to check in but
he has his own work to do. And anyway, that’s not the issue here.”

“I know I’m going to be sorry for asking this, but what exactly do you think the issue
is then?”

“You’re jealous.”

The look on his face was all the confirmation she needed.

“Jealous of what? He’s being a dick. He’s supposed to be your friend.”

“Jealous because you think he’s interested in me romantically. You don’t like the
supposed competition.”

This painkiller thing was kind of cool. She could say all sorts of things.

“He’s no competition!”

“Exactly. No one is. Do you understand me? There’s only you, Gage. This fuckbuddy
nonsense is stupid. You want to be with me, not just horizontally.”

“What are you getting at?”

She blinked at him. “Don’t insult me. I’m in love with you. I don’t want to pretend
you’re just my guard. You’re so much more to me than that.”

He put his hands up. “Whoa. Look, this is not the time to do this. What we have is
perfect. I don’t deny we’re involved. But I keep it mellow in public and I’ve told
you why.”

“So all of my life I’ve been ambitious. I’ve never let anything stop me from getting
what I wanted. I went to school. I built my firm. I’m damned good at what I do. The
damned Magister threw a wrench into all that. But the basic fact is that I’m the kind
of person who doesn’t do things halfway. I’ve been with men before you, obviously.
Some even very seriously. Serious enough that I thought I was in love.

“But the way I feel about you? Well, I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I love the
way I do other things I want. All the way to the bone. I’m in love with you. I don’t
want to be a friend you fuck. That demeans us both.”

“Molly. This is not the time to go changing things or thinking you’re in love. You
nearly died! Things are a stressful just now. We can do this talk once things have
calmed down.”

She sighed. “And when will that be? Things are a runaway train hurtling into really
bad territory. Who the hell knows if or when it will stop. Now is exactly the time
to accept what is already true. I have tampons in your bathroom. I used your razor
the other day. We’re already in a relationship. You already love me. Stop denying
it. I want to be your woman. You’re already my man. You protected me today, like you
do every day. You stayed with me the whole time, you even threatened them when they
tried to make you leave.”

“But I didn’t protect you. I didn’t protect Edwina. I didn’t protect Rose. I didn’t
protect my uncle. I’m not a good bet, I keep telling you that.”

“You do because you’re being dumb. You’re going to take responsibility for a being
older than recorded history and so powerful it simply made thousands of Others disappear
by an act of its will? Do you think you’re so powerful you can will people into not
trying to kill me with your magick? This job is inherently dangerous. That’s why I
have a bodyguard. Why you want to make it your fault that people get hurt I can’t
figure out. The people at fault are those who planted the bombs.”

“It’s my job to protect people. People died. So I didn’t do my job.”

“That’s
so
overly simplistic and you know it. You have a ridiculously impossible job and yet
you do it. Every. Single. Day.”

“Don’t romanticize me.”

She may have snarled, but she knew he was trying to push her away so she kept it reined
in. “You act like a man worthy of my love. What’s more? You love me too. If you didn’t,
you wouldn’t get all pissy about Tosh and his supposed flirting with me or whatever.
You wouldn’t care if we were just friends.” She paused and sighed. “Imagine me doing
air quotes here because I can’t right now.
Just friends
my ass. You don’t care about Lark with Simon. Or Meriel with Dominic. We’re
already in a relationship
so stop this silliness. Now, you promised me food and people will be arriving soon.
So accept reality and please feed me.”

She didn’t need to look at him to know he gaped at her. Served him right.

“Molly, I care about you. A lot. But love is a big deal.”

Oh, he would pay for this little bit of denial and for the way it hurt even though
she knew it was a lie. And he knew it too, so she’d collect later, but that day she
needed to just get through. She had to trust her gut and her heart.

Things were indeed scary. They were hard and dark and she wasn’t entirely sure if
or when they’d ever be normal again, or if they’d have to adjust to a new normal.