Promises (Blood Brothers #1) (16 page)

Jollie was told by superiors once she was extracted after the last mission gone wrong, that she had been honorably discharged, but she had yet to understand the how or why. No one had given her any information, not one detail as to the reasons why her military service had been cut short after she was pulled from a mission that nearly cost her life and limb.

Since leaving her unit and the nightmare of her last assignment, it had been difficult holding down a job. Her financial reserves were so slim now, and unemployment or public assistance was out of the question if she wanted to stay off the grid. All in all, Jollie made ends meet from jobs that others wouldn’t take, even if she were a warrior trained to kill in more ways than most people knew. Being a trained killing machine meant staying invisible, never calling attention to one’s self. Managing to stay off the grid for over a year, Jollie never allowed anyone to take blood samples, never used her real name or even stayed in one place longer than a couple of months. She was so tired of moving from place to place, waking up with the knowledge that this time, she may have to run again. Her go-bag was always packed, always ready. Until ..

She still wasn’t sure how it happened, how someone slipped the roofies into her food or drink, but Jollie had come to in a strange room with only a hospital gown on and handcuffed inside a large animal cage. The first thing she noticed was the young man hanging naked from a hook across the room, his head down, arms held high, legs spread wide. His eyes had been closed and Jollie still didn’t know what had happened to him. There was no telltale sign of his breathing, but it had been eerie to see the paleness of his body against the clinical backdrop of the room. In that instant, she knew that somehow, the very people she had been trying to hide from had found her, again!

Jollie shook herself, pushing memories away, locking them down before she started screaming. The nightmares were much too close and she knew if she went down that rabbit hole tonight it might be the last one she would fall down. Too much pain still reminded her that the body she had always depended on was weak and needed to mend. Time was what she needed, and then revenge was what she would seek.

She had spent her time here after finally healing from her many injuries honing her body back to fighting capabilities. Jollie knew she might not look like much, but at barely five foot six she could take down most large men if given the chance with her fighting skills. Give her something sharp and close range, and her opponent was bleeding out and hidden away before anyone saw it coming. Jollie spent days working at the punching bag or shadow boxing, since no one would work out with her. Each time she asked the only response given was it was against the rules. Finally, she asked for a six-foot pole and was given one, with the promise to relinquish it after each session. This she worked into her martial arts workouts, allowing her muscles to strengthen and regain the contours lost from weeks of torture and captivity. She had to be ready so she could find Chayle.

She still no idea who had come to talk to her at the hospital once the rescue team had extracted her and Chayle from the cabin, and she desperately needed to locate where they had taken the other woman. She
needed
to make sure the Chayle had survived.

No one had ever put themselves in danger for Jollie,
ever!

A debt had to be repaid, and Jollie couldn’t rest until she was satisfied that the other woman was safe from
Him
. Their captors had beaten her to get Chayle’s attention, but she had already been there for a few days. Her body had been sore and starved, beaten and abused as badly as Chayle’s when the team had found them. If they hadn’t shown up when they did, Jollie wasn’t sure how much longer either of them could have lasted. She had tried to find anything to end her own life that last couple of days, but the screams coming from the cabin had kept her focused on trying to get to Chayle.

Jollie watched the dim rays of sunrise begin to slip over the horizon in the east and tried to relax back into the lounge chair, content for now to allow her benefactors to think she was willing to remain silent while on the mend. There wasn’t much she could do otherwise, and at least the food was good.

A slight noise from a dark corner inside her room had Jollie on her feet and fading into the shadows between one heartbeat and the next, the throw sliding silently to the chair. She watched as a large shadow soundless slip along the wall into her room to stand by her empty bed, then look around the room.

“Well, if you’re awake, would you like some company?” the stranger’s whisper stroked over her skin, like the caress of a lover, sending shivers cascading down her spine. For some reason her nipples pebbled and she felt her body flush from just the rasp of his whispers.

“Who are you?” she demanded, staying in the shadows, refusing to show herself.

“Rafael McIntyre but most people just call me Rafe,” he chuckled, then did the oddest thing. He stepped into a pool of light and bowed, almost formally, from the waist, as if he were in a grand ballroom rather than in a darkened bedroom where there was no way he could see her. Or could he?

She trembled at the strangeness of his eyes drilled her through the darkness, watching her in the shadows as if he literally tried to melt the obscurity of it away. Jollie’s skin tingled under his gaze, and she almost cringed at the fire she saw blazing in those blue eyes, which turned to a strange cobalt blue in depths.

“You’re the one who came to the hospital after the team extracted us, aren’t you?” She moved away from the shadows just a bit so he could see the knife she held at her side. “Where’s Chayle?”

Rafe took in her fighting stance, the easy breathing, and loose hands with the knife held expertly in her left hand. He nodded, letting her know he approved, yet frowned all the same.

“Chayle is with her mate, my twin. She’s safe. I came to check on you because the staff keeps reporting that you aren’t eating, and you rarely speak to anyone. Are you well?”

“I’m under arrest, why would I talk to anyone, fool?” she scoffed, backing up to where her back hit the wall by the window, giving her the opportunity to bolt if need be.

“This is a safe place, Jollie. I led the team that brought you out of the mountains. No one here will harm you. You have my word. If they so much as touch you wrong, you have my permission to protect yourself.” He said it so matter-of-factly, that it surprised her.

“You would let me hurt your men?” she whispered.

“If they hurt you and I cannot protect you, then you have the right to protect yourself - yes!” he growled.

Jollie relaxed a fraction, taking in his honesty, sensing it as an innate part of his very being. Those dark blue eyes had haunted her since she woke up at the hospital, remembering him sitting next to the bed. He had only stayed for the afternoon until the drugs and sedation had worn off enough for her to focus, but she had felt safe while he had been near.

“When can I see Chayle?” It wasn’t a question so much as a demand, her pert chin lifting defiantly. If nothing else, she would track him back to where ever they held Chayle and find a way to get inside so she could see for herself that the other woman was safe. There was no way she was taking this stranger’s word for anything. Rafe must have realized something was up because a very masculine chuckle filled the gloom and caused her temper to rise.

“Are you laughing at me?” she growled, unable to believe he would be so bold.

“No little one, I’m just enjoying your moxie. There are few men who would stand up to me, much less a slip of a woman like you.” She watched him cross arms the size of small tree trunks across a huge chest and lean back against the wall in the gloom of the room. Reaching over she flipped on the light of the small lamp next to her bed and gasped.

“It is you!” She had known, but with the light it only confirmed her suspicions. The dreams from the hospital, the nightmares blending with so much more that Jollie still doubted what was real and what fantasy was.

“I didn’t think you would remember me,” he whispered, stiffening against the wall, obviously uncomfortable.

“You were there, in the infirmary or wherever they took me, when we got out of the cabin.” Jollie frowned, trying to remember more but her memories were hazy, and it had been several days before she could finally pull herself together enough to struggle to the shower on her own. “And then at the hospital. I remember your eyes. Why are you here, now?” However, she remembered those eyes, a soft voice whispering to her through the fog telling her to be strong and fight it, to not let the bastards win.

“Like I said, they told me you wouldn’t talk to them and they were worried… I was worried.” Those startling blue eyes finally drilled her with a directness that pulled at her gut and Jollie felt a different kind of pull, one that she had refused to allow for so long.

“Will you take me to Chayle?” she whispered. “Please.”

“Why now?” Rafe watched her, knowing that he could pluck the answer from her mind but wanting her to tell him the truth. Needing the truth more than anything at this point, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t admit the reason to himself much less anyone else.

“I have to thank her,” Jollie finally whispered in the voice of a child, a single tear escaping from dark green eyes. “It’s my fault they went at her like they did, and I have to tell her I’m sorry. They would have killed me if not for her, and I have to…”

Suddenly it was too much to bear… too much to say out loud. Huge gulping sobs welled up from deep inside of her small frame, consuming her body and soul. It was the first time Jollie had allowed the soul-deep terror to escape, and it mortified her that it was in front of this man.

She felt strong arms engulf her, pulling her against a strong chest and instantly she began to fight. Kicking, using feet and fists, Jollie used her small body as the weapon it was to try and free herself from the man trying to hold her to him. The nightmares descended around her, the walls closed in as she heard the screams of the other woman while their captors tortured her and kept Jollie in the room, tied in the corner. Her eyes glazed and unseeing, Jollie could only fight the demons as they closed around her once more.

“Enough!” Rafe hissed into her ear, shaking her so that her head rolled on her shoulders. He could see the glazed look, actually smell the terror rolling off her small body in waves and it was crushing him. “Do you honestly think I would do you harm after taking you out of that place?” His growl vibrated against her chest, pulling her back from that dark place and shaking her soul to its core.

“Release me!” she screamed, finally going rigid in his arms.

“Will you stay still?” he growled again, refusing to budge until he was sure of her obedience.

A slight shake of her head was the only motion Jollie could manage, but it seemed enough for the giant who imprisoned her. He dropped her onto the bed, turning his back as she scrambled to get her back against the bed’s headboard. She watched him, deep shudders causing her body to shake before she could stop them.

“Why did you release me?” she whispered, amazed she poked at the beast again. He turned his dark head, beautiful eyes stormy and raging as he leaned over the bed. She cowered back, but refused to show more than a little surprise when he just seem to huff at her.

“I’m not in the habit of attacking helpless females,” he whispered loud enough for her to hear.

“Helpless?” Jollie was up on her knees, her body rigid as it vibrated with righteous anger.

Rafe slowly grinned down at her and was reminded once again why he needed to stay away from this bundle of dangerous dynamite in a female’s body. Not only was she dangerous to herself, but to his state of mind. He seemed to make a decision while watching her because he finally nodded.

“Are you ready to get out of here and go see Chayle?” he asked to distract her, and hopefully himself.

“Truly?” she whispered, the wistful look so childlike, Rafe promised himself to put that look on Jollie’s face more often. In answer, he held his large hand out to her, waiting.

Jollie didn’t need anything else to prompt her. She rushed to the en suite bathroom and changed into jeans and t-shirt, pulling a zipper hoodie over her slim shoulders as she sat on the side of the bed, all the while closely keeping her eyes on Rafe. It took less time to snag the sneakers under her bed and slip them onto her small feet still without taking her eyes from Rafe’s outstretched hand. Then, as if afraid he would take it back, she grasped his outstretched hand tightly and walked to his side. Without another word he led her out of the room and from the building to a waiting black suburban Tahoe SUV.

Chapter 22

Early afternoon had descended by the time they reached a massive set of gates leading to a wooded area. The drive hadn’t been terribly long, but the twisting roads through the Texas back-country were something to behold to someone not familiar with the towering growth of dense brush and trees; an occasional glimpse of streams and small lakes allowing Rafe to point out to Jollie that they were in a fairly secluded area. She remained quiet for most of the trip, staring out at massive, expensive-looking homes nestled back into the trees off the roads in some areas while Rafe also pointed out the run down manufactured homes with lean-tos and haphazard fencing, which was all that contained various farm animals. To him, it was a reminder of the poverty of lower middle-class Americans as they struggled to keep family and home safe from those who would destroy it. It was just one of the many reasons he, Kayne and his brothers fought those who tried to destroy humankind if they had their way.

He and Kayne were among the lucky few whose families were able to maintain their country homes after the economic fall when society awakened to realize governments were using their own troops for genetic testing to try to create the perfect super solider. Using genetic material to enhance their supernatural abilities further, there were mutations that could never be explained, deaths that should never have happened, and testing that was inhuman beyond forgiveness. They had left the ranks taking with them the men and women who wanted to flee and come home, turning their vast compound into a fortified sanctuary where everyone could be safe. They now had private funding that allowed them to seek out and rescue those who needed their help, and destroy those who would continue to try to destroy all they held dear.