Promises (Blood Brothers #1) (3 page)

"Where… where am I? Who are you?" Was that really her voice? Scratchy and dry, it sounded like an old lady's whisper rather than the normally bold Chayle most of her friends knew.

She licked chapped lips, realizing it must have been her since the sound came from her throat. Chayle forced herself to look away from those assessing blue eyes and tried to concentrate on her surroundings. The quiet room was small, light filtering in from the one window that now didn't seem quite so bright as it had a few minutes ago. Or was it only seconds? It was obviously a hospital room of some kind, but where?

The pale green wall softly absorbed the light to keep the glare down and the blinds were barely open to blunt the brightness from outside. Chayle could tell it was daylight but what time was beyond her. She felt her chest squeeze, her stomach roll as panic filled her.

The men, the pain - oh God, where was she?

Frantic now, she slapped at huge hands trying to hold her still, hearing an animal's cry somewhere nearby, not realizing it was coming from her.

"Easy… you're in a private hospital!" The stranger eased toward her, whispering as if to a wounded animal, "My name is Kayne MacIntyre. Can you remember anything?"

Chayle could only stare at the stranger as the nightmares came to life, reality replaced by the men who had held her. The lancing pain, the terror and the raucous laughter all came slamming back through her mind as they told her what they were going to do to the other girl once they finished with her.

She had fought them, dared them to do their worse, and prayed. God, she had prayed that someone would find them before she lost the battle and those monsters started on the other girl. In the end, it had been too much. Her body had finally shut down and her mind drifted to a place where she could rest without the pain as the last session with a lunatic had taken everything she had to stay semiconscious.

"Oh God!" she choked out, curling into a fetal position away from him so he couldn't see her, couldn't know. Chayle couldn't give them what they wanted so they had kept hurting her, they wouldn't stop. She had known it was only a matter of time before they killed her.

She felt the giant of a man reach for her and instinct had her recoiling before she could stop it. Chayle's hands flashed out with lightning speed in spite of her injuries, slapping the hand coming at her so hard a crack could be heard in the quiet room. The man who called himself Kayne cursed, his frown turning stormy.

"What the hell are you doing to her?" another male voice cut the silence as Kayne stared at the fighting spitfire in the bed.

"Shut up, Rafe, and get in here. You're better at soothing females than I am. Do it!" Kayne growled, rubbing his wrist where it still smarted, lucky he had gotten it in place before her foot had landed on his cock. He shook his head, his lips twitching slightly. Damn, she was barely awake and still fighting. "And watch out. She's as mean as a snake with those hands and feet."

Rafe moved to the other side of the bed, slowly raising both hands so Chayle could see them. He kept an eye on her hands and feet, watching her face to make sure she understood his non-aggressive movements. It took everything in her to remain motionless and watch both men. There had to be brain damage, a concussion, or at least drugs still in her system. Because there was no God in the universe that could have made two men that looked so much alike, so handsome and so dangerous looking as the two who stood next to her bed. Chayle shook her head, trying to clear it of whatever was messing with her brain.

Long raven black hair and devilish blue eyes twinkling with a sense of amusement as this new stranger stood watching her while the other looked like he wanted to kill someone. The hint of anger and danger surrounded him like armor. Both men sported wide shoulders and massive chests sitting atop trim hips and thick thighs the size of tree trunks that didn't come from working out in a gym. No, Chayle recognized military when she saw it and that physique came from long hours of hard dangerous work. Both men had to be well over six and a half feet tall if an inch. Chayle wasn't short by any means coming in at almost five eight, but next to the two giants she felt tiny.

"You'll have to excuse my twin for his manners, but most of the time he doesn't have to deal with the opposite sex. I'm afraid he's lost his touch!" The smiling giant with the amused eyes was trying to soothe her. How ridiculous was that?

Chayle looked at the two men as if they had lost their ever-loving minds!

However, for some reason Chayle could suddenly feel the tension easing from her muscles, the fear, and pain pushing back to barriers where she could deal with it for now. Her heart rate slowed and the trembling in her chest and body slowly began to ease.

"Now," the nicer of the two men whispered, "breathe for me and tell us your name and what you can remember."

Chayle took a deep breath, not even realizing she was holding it. She kept her gaze on the smiling one because the other man's eyes did something to her stomach. She didn't want to look at him; she didn't want to think about him. It was too much, it ached somewhere she didn't want to think about.

She had never met him before she opened her eyes a few minutes ago, but all she could think about was not looking at him. Licking dry lips, she closed her eyes and tried to think, tried to understand what had happened and when. He had asked what was the last thing she remembered.

Leaving work, walking outside into the late afternoon heat outside the small research center in Denver thinking she just wanted to get home to her nice quiet little house, change clothes, and relax for the weekend. Chayle remembered walking across the street to the employee's covered parking area, past the guard posted there and waving to him, entering the cool underground area where her car was always parked. It wasn't that late for a Friday but no one had been around, no one heard her scream when someone grabbed her from behind.

She had fought, God she fought them. All of the self-defense training over the last few years kick boxing to stay in shape and taekwondo as a means of self-defense with meditation had been useless against rough hands grabbing her mouth, others twisting her breasts to hold her still while someone else knocked her feet out from under her and picked her up. Panic raced through her bloodstream, her heartbeat loud in her own ears as Chayle tried to focus on anything other than the terror as she remembered the snickers behind the sack that had fallen over her head, or felt the sharp stick to her neck shortly before darkness took over her mind. The true nightmare had begun once they pulled her out of the Humvee and pushed her into the cabin with the younger woman. Her captors graphically explaining just how they would be used as guinea pigs for some new drug their bosses were developing for their "merchandise."

Her eyes popped open, a silent scream forming on her lips before the giant standing next to the bed, Rafe, touched her. Chayle jumped, but his strong hand pulled both of hers' into his large one and held on.

"What did you see? Who was it and what do you remember?" he whispered. Rafe watched several expressions cross her face before she took a deep breath.

"My name is Chayle Olsen. And I remember everything!" she whispered before looking down at her hands.

"Tell us." Rafe's thumb gently stroked her wrist, calming her as her panic still rose at the nightmares inside her head.

"They came at me from behind," panting, she stared into those bottomless blue eyes the color of a dark Caribbean ocean and felt the fear dissolve leaving only the tightness in her chest. "They… someone put a cloth over my nose and mouth with a sack then knocked me out with a shot." Chayle swallowed, forcing back the bile rising from her stomach at the thoughts raging in her mind.

"Someone grabbed my feet when I started fighting; I think another had my waist." The words were mere whispers as she relived the nightmare for the men, trying to describe the kidnappers the best she could but knowing she wasn't doing a very good job of it no matter how hard she tried. Tears stung her chapped cheeks, her lips dry and leathery from dehydration as she fought back tight sobs that hurt her chest. Frantically she forced her eyes to look anywhere so she wouldn't see the pity, feel the shame, but her wild eyes continued to lock with the silent twin standing in the shadows. She was mesmerized by haunted eyes that reminded her of a savage animal who was caged and unable to find its freedom, his face rigid as he stood with huge arms crossed over a massive chest like a dark guardian, reminding her of a kind of fallen dark angel. The dark guardian suddenly moved, reaching up to touch his ear, his eyes never leaving hers. "Rafe, we need to book. We've got to debrief in twenty, and Merc wants the Intel on our girl ASAP."

"Where are you going?" she whispered as they moved toward the door but received no answer. They turned to leave, moving out the door so quietly they could have been a figment of her imagination if not for the fact that she could still feel the fallen angel's touch on her cheek. She might not have known who they were or why they were there, but something deep in her subconscious remembered. Her body remembered even if her conscious mind did not and they were the only known safety she had, and now they were walking away. They were halfway down the hallway when all hell broke loose.

“You’ll be safe here. This facility is protected and secluded. No one knows you’re here and won’t be able to find you. So just relax, get better and one of us will be back in a bit to talk with you.” Rafe’s smooth tone did nothing for her sudden need to get away.

"No… ," A scream echoed down the hallway and into the corridor, causing Kayne to freeze and his twin to turn in shock. "Don't leave me!"

She moved faster than either of them could anticipate, especially in her present condition. Bolting from the bed, taking IV and sheet with her as she moved, Chayle used what little strength she had left to stumble down the hallway toward them before they realized she could move that fast. Granted, she only made it a few paces before her legs gave out and her eyesight began to turn gray, but she fought. Hands, teeth, feet kicking out at anything that came close… everything to keep anyone from taking her again.

"No, not going back… not again you bastards! Never again!" she continued to scream as darkness consumed her. The last thing Chayle saw as she slipped into oblivion were angry blue eyes and a savage mouth reaching for her as her screams echoed throughout the building.

“I thought you said she wouldn’t be able to be moved for at least a week,” Kayne lashed out at the doctor standing over his shoulder as he lifted his sweet burden into his arms. She weighed almost nothing and his stomach knotted at the condition of her body as it was exposed for those around him to see. “Get her bed changed and ready. I want someone with her 24/7 and updates every hour. Do I make myself clear?”

Kayne’s gut knotted as he looked down at the woman in his arms. His unique senses pushed to take her fear and replace it with calm, and it took everything he had not to violate the line by crossing it without her permission. He didn’t bother to look up but knew Rafe was standing at his back. His twin may not understand his preoccupation with this rescue, but he would always have his back no matter the situation. He didn’t understand either, but it was as if his entire universe had been reduced down to this small bundle of bravery he now held in his arms. Kayne had the uncanny feeling his life was about to change forever.

Chapter 4

"Sir, we've found one of the subjects."

The man stood just inside the study with hands barely trembling in the presence of his Master, eyes on the floor as he waited for further instructions. This room had always made him nervous but lately it was even worse due to the heavy sense of foreboding that hung in the air.

"Well, don't just stand there, dumbass. What have you found out?" The low voice did nothing to hide the contempt his Master held for most of his employees as he watched the man fidget.

"Sources have tracked them to a private hospital in the Dallas area. We aren't sure how they managed to get them out of the mountains so quickly. However, with that type of equipment it means they must have had military resources."

"Of course they do, you moron. This is a war, haven't you been listening?" Master tapped long fingers on the tablet on his desk, absorbing the news. "Observe and nothing else for now unless they start to move, I don't want to scare them out of there or they will go to ground. I need those test subjects eliminated, not walking around in daylight!"

"Yes sir."

"Then what are you standing there for? You have your orders!" He watched the man leave, smug in the knowledge that a hardened military man was so uncomfortable around him. It had taken a long time to ensure those around him were loyal, conditioned, and willing to do whatever he ordered. Now his small army was almost invincible.

Almost!

He just needed the next components and they would realize just what it meant to be a leader. Never again would they take his projects away from him and call him crazy. They would learn who was the true leader and strategist, and who held all of the power. With the backing he now had it would be impossible to stop him once his Treasures were recovered and the plan finalized. The next generation was being born in the evolutionary sequence of mankind and the dumbasses didn’t even know it.

Chapter 5

It had been two weeks since Chayle had last seen the breathtaking twins. It had only taken one day to realize she had bodyguards outside her room after her embarrassing episode, and she still wasn't sure if they were actually bodyguards or guards. The hospital staff came to check on her, watching her with wary eyes and refused to offer much information when she tried to ask simple questions like where she was and who were the men who had brought her to the hospital. It was as if she was under arrest and it was starting to seriously piss her off.

Her mood actually lightened once and caused her to chuckle after the last episode when the young nurse basically told her to stop asking questions. Chayle's natural curiosity and sense of humor were finally resurfacing, which meant she was healing faster than they expected. Those bastards couldn't keep her down no matter the circumstances. However, if she didn't get some answers soon someone was going to have some serious trouble once she was able to get out of this room.