Ryland (8 page)

When he’d rinsed her hair clean, he
reached for the sponge and poured soap onto it. Washing her proved to be hard
because she was fighting him. Every time he tried to wash her more private
areas, she would wake and hit at him. Finally, he pressed her against the wall
and lifted her chin to look at her.

“I need to help you get cleaned up. You
can help me this way or I can step out and fill the tub and do it that way. Either
way, you’re going to be washed by me.” She nodded as he finished cleaning her
up. She even lifted her foot up when he asked her to. Christ, even her toes
were sexy.

When he stepped out he grabbed a fluffy
towel and wrapped it around her hair. Then he started on her body. By the time
he got to her feet again, he was sweating. He’d never touched a woman this much
in his life without it being sexual. Lifting her again, he took her to the
bedroom where his mom was just finishing making the bed.

“Juice.” Ryland looked down at Bronwyn. “I
need juice. It’ll help me heal so that I can get out of here. He’ll return for
me.”

His mom said she’d get her some and
left. Ryland didn’t put her in the bed, but went to sit in a chair with her in
his arms. Foolish, he knew, but he was loath to let her go. He began talking
when she struggled.

“The man that was at the building? Who
was he?” She didn’t answer, but then he hadn’t expected her to. “He tried to
kill my family. I need to know who he is.”

“I need to leave as soon as I’m able or
he’ll be more than happy to make your acquaintance. He’s a man who gets what he
wants.” He looked down at her and he noticed that her eyes were closed. “I’ll
need to have my bandage changed. Do you know where my bag is?”

“I don’t. I know someone picked it up,
but I haven’t seen it since we got here.” He stood and put her in the chair. “I
have some shirts here. I’ll put one on you.”

“I have my own clothes.” He grinned at
her tone. “Can you just find my bag so I can fix me?”

He opened the second drawer and took out
a shirt. It was one of his favorites. His mom had given it to him years ago. He
brought it to her and held it out. She looked away.

“I’m pretty sure that in your current
state of weakness, I could make you put this on. But I would rather not have to
fight you for it. But if you refuse even that, I could go get the first aid kit
from my bathroom and change your bandage while you’re naked. That too has its
merits.” She jerked the shirt from him. “Thank you.”

Turning his back to give her privacy, he
glanced at the mirror over his dresser. He wasn’t going to watch her get naked,
he told himself, but he wanted to make sure she didn’t fall. He knew he was
lying to himself even as she pulled the shirt over her head then slipped the
towel from under it. He turned around when his mom came back.

~~~

Sandra watched her son with Bronwyn. He
was gentle and teasing. Even when the girl snapped at him he laughed and joked
with her. She couldn’t believe the difference in him. When he pulled the wet
bandage off her wounds Sandra was afraid he was going to snap.

“I was going to call your friend Sindy,
but thought she might be watched.” Bronwyn winced and didn’t say anything as
Ryland continued. “She could stay here with you if you want, but I would have
to have her stay here. I don’t know if she works or not, but if she were
followed then that man would know where you were. What did you say his name was
again?”

“I didn’t and you damned well know I
didn’t. And Sindy does work. She and I worked together at the hospital until a
few years ago when I was…” She looked at her and Sandra knew that whatever had
happened for her to no longer work there, it had been because of the man that
had come for her. “And you’re right, she is being watched. He has her followed.
It was my fault that he found me like he did.”

“You knew he might, yet you used her to
take you there because I had pissed you off.” Ryland nodded. “Like I said
before, I can be a prick.”

Sandra burst out laughing. Ryland had
said that as if he’d been telling her that he was going to the market. He
winked at her. She stood up when he did, planning to help him put the bandage
back on her. He watched as he held the dressing in his hand and stared at the
girl.

“It would be easier to wrap around you
if I stood you up and held you. Mom can wrap you and that way, it would be secure.”

Sandra took the gauze and dressing and
held it while Bronwyn was lifted up by Ryland. The wounds were cleaner and they
were looking good. Sandra had been a nurse before the boys had started coming
and hadn’t forgotten how to look for infections or anything else from gunshot
wounds. Ryland spoke softly to Bronwyn as he held her.

“I grew up in this house. I loved it
here, but when I graduated from college I felt as if I should move out. Mistake.
I knew that from the very beginning.”

Sandra stumbled at his admission.

“My mom says I need a house. I live in a
hotel. I own it so it’s not really all that much of a hardship, but I’ve just
come to realize that I’ve been missing out on some things.”

“I have never lived in my own house. I
lived in a foster homes, always in a bunch of other people’s houses, until I
turned fifteen and another streak came and took them away.” She looked at
Ryland when she said that. Christ, the girl had been there when the razing had
taken place. It wouldn’t have been any easier on her than it had been the
lesser females.

“How many did they kill before it was
settled?” Sandra had asked before she thought about the memories it might make.
“I’m sorry, it must have been hard for you.”

“They took Sindy first. She was the same
age as me at fifteen. Five males got to ‘try her out,’ they called it before
she was placed with Dana. Mrs. Daniels was next. There were other women in the
compound, but I wasn’t able to get away to help them. Not that I could. The
male said it was his right to have what he wanted. He took it all, including
Sindy’s father. Mr. Daniels simply dropped to his knees and let him tear his
throat out in front of us. He had said it was his honor to have the male take
his wife and daughter before all the others.”

“Christ.” She looked at Ryland then. She
stared into his face as she finished her tale. Sandra wished that she’d left
him to it and had run away and hidden from the story instead of listening to
it.

“I was human, so they only beat me. The
whip. It was the first time I’d had it used on me. Not the last, mind you, but
it was most defiantly the first. One hundred lashes. I don’t remember much past
the first forty or so, but I knew that he’d given them to me. Then he’d tied
all the other women there. Only those who were too old to breed, ones that had
some ailment or another. Each of them died, all of them suffered as they did. Then
the children were murdered. Ten little boys who might grow up to be like their
fathers, he’d said, lazy tigers that hadn’t defended their streak. He sat them
in a nice row and then walked behind them and broke their necks. And do you
know what he did then?” Ryland shook his head and Sandra held her breath. “He
killed Mrs. Daniels because she had whimpered when the children were dragged
away.”

Sandra stepped back when Ryland pulled Bronwyn
into his arms. The girl was suffering more than she’d ever known a human to
suffer. When Bronwyn pulled away and staggered to the bed, they let her. Lying
down, she covered up and closed her eyes.

“I’m really tired now. If you won’t mind
leaving the juice, I’ll drink it in a bit.” She rolled to her back as she
continued. “He’s going to come for me. The male and the man from the lab. They
are working together to find me so that I can help him fund another worthy project
with the money he’ll make in selling me to the highest bidder.”

Chapter 7

Sindy could smell the male before she
saw him. He was close enough that her hair danced on her arms. When he stepped
out of the room and in front of her she nearly took off running, but he spoke
first, very softly so that no human would have been able to hear.

“I came to tell you that I have Bronwyn.”
Her entire body went weak with relief. She grabbed the wall as he moved toward
her, but she stopped him and pointed to the room he’d come from. He nodded and
stepped back in as she made her way down the hall with her cart of meds.

As much as she wanted to stop and go to
him she knew that she was being watched. He must have known as well because he
never came out to get her, but waited. She went into the room to hand the other
man in the bed his medications. Sindy spoke to him the same way he had her in
the hall.

“Is she all right? Does she need
anything?” She handed the man his water. “She needs plenty of juice after an
ordeal. She will drink any kind, but pure juice, just squeezed, helps her the
most.”

“I’ll take care of it. You heard about
the incident at the abandoned buildings, I take it.” She told him she had. “I
was there. She used the last of her strength to save us from ourselves. They
were going to take her again.”

The curtain where the male stood
fluttered. Sindy asked the man in the bed if he needed anything and he asked
for water, please. She said she’d be right back and left. It really was the job
of the aides, but she needed to ask more about her friend. When she returned,
he stood in the opened curtain and handed her something.

“It’s a cell phone. My brother Keith is
somewhat of a nerd and he fixed it so it will bounce all over and no one will
be able to track it. The number to the house is programmed in it, as are my
other brothers’ and mine. Their names are there as well.” She handed him a
small package also. He looked at her when he opened it.

“She’s hurt, right?” He nodded. “It’s
all she can use as a pain medication. It works a little, but not if she’s hurt…
Is she hurt badly?”

“Yes. But she’s getting better. She
sleeps a lot and, as far as I can tell, only gets up when she needs to use the
bathroom.”

Sindy nodded.

“She will be pissed because I came
here.”

“You know she will. But I’m glad that
you did. I was worried the moment I saw those trucks on the news. I knew that
they’d come for her.” She wiped at a tear. “I thought they had her.”

“They won’t get her. I swear to you,
they won’t.” Sindy only nodded, but he took a step toward her and she backed
up. “I won’t hurt either of you. You have my word. I know…she told us what
happened the night you were razed. She said that…”

“If she told you that then she would
have told you that I won’t trust anyone. I doubt very much she will either. There
are days when I…when I wished Dana would have killed me too.”

He nodded, but didn’t try to tell her
that she was wrong to think that. Nor did he say that things would be better. Bronwyn
did the same thing every time she said something like that to her.

“What’s his name?”

She looked at him confused.

“She said that the man who is trying to
take her is in with the male who killed your family.”

Sindy felt faint. As she staggered back
he helped her to the chair. He kept saying he was sorry, that he’d thought she
knew. She finally looked at him, tears running down her face. The man hadn’t
hurt her, but that didn’t mean she would trust him completely.

“I don’t know the name of the man in the
lab. She might have said, but I don’t remember.” He nodded and she knew that he
was aware she was lying. “The male, the one that did those things to her, his
name is Crawford, Forest Crawford. He has a large streak. He calls them an
ambush. If he finds out you’ve been with her, taken her, he’ll kill you.”

The male stood up and looked down at
her. He was frighteningly huge, but for some reason Sindy wasn’t terrified of
him. Afraid yes, but not terrified. She stood up and watched him. He turned to
her and nodded.

“I’m Ryland Golden. Do you know where
the Towers are?” She nodded. “You come there if you’re hurt or need something. Someone
there will find me. No matter what it is, I’ll get it for you.” She told him to
keep her friend safe. “You can count on that. She’s as safe as she’ll ever be
now.”

She moved down the hall and gave out
medications for two more rooms before she saw him slip out of the room. He
never acknowledged her in any way, not even to look in her direction. When he
stepped onto the elevator she moved onto another room and handed the woman
there her little white cup and water as she wondered about him. She had a
feeling that if anyone could save Bronwyn this man could more than likely come
out on top.

She stopped by the grocery on her way
home. She’d changed into her street clothes so that she wouldn’t be stopped by
every mother with a sick child. Being a nurse was what she’d dreamed of all her
life, but there were times when she wished she had chosen another career. She
saw the man just as she put the lettuce in her cart.

He’d been in the parking lot yesterday,
too, when she’d left. Looking at the cucumbers, she pretended to try and decide
on which one when he moved to another lane. Maybe she was just being paranoid. When
she went to the counter to pay she didn’t see him any more and went out to load
her things into her car. That’s when she saw him in the next lane over.