Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
The moment the entire device dropped, the GhostWalkers erected a barrier between Rory and the outside world, jamming the dust chips installed in the tattoo on her ankle. Mack scanned the tattoo, looking through the leaves and berries to find the hidden trackers so they could destroy them. Paul did the same throughout her body, meticulously searching for any other trackers Whitney may have secreted in her that he would have to remove. Once Mack had destroyed the ones woven into the tattoo and Paul declared her free of any internally, Gideon’s teammates left the breathing circle one by one.
Mack helped Paul to one of the guest bedrooms, and Marc Lands attended to the bleeding laceration on Rory’s head. After he left, Gideon simply lifted her into his arms and put her into their bed. She was so exhausted, she didn’t do more than cuddle into him and close her eyes, drifting off immediately.
Rory woke twice, crying, clinging to Gideon as he pulled her over his body, holding her close, his hands framing her face both times.
“I remember him. I remember him.”
“Look at me, Red.” Gideon waited until her wild gaze settled on his steady, calm one. “I’m right here with you. Whitney can’t get to you.”
Another sob escaped. “What if he gets to you? What if he takes you away from me?”
“He can’t take me away from you.”
“He knows people high up in the government, people who will have you go out on missions. They can set you up, Gideon. I know he does that kind of thing when he wants soldiers to disappear.”
She had too many memories rushing at her too fast. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently. “Sweetheart, my team sticks together. You know how Javier is with me. Do you honestly think he’s going to let anyone hurt me, especially now that I have you?”
Gideon brushed caresses down the side of her head until she fell into a fitful sleep, her body sprawled over his.
The second time she woke, she came awake fighting, trying to roll off the bed, calling for him, her voice strained. Choking. Coughing. In her mind, it was Gideon choking, not Rory, and she couldn’t get to him. She tried breathing air into his lungs the way he’d done for her, but he was too far away.
Gideon easily subdued her, holding her to his chest with his arms, wrapping his legs around hers. Pushing his way into her frantic nightmare.
Red, open your eyes. Feel me with you. The real me. You know my voice. You know my touch. Whitney can’t separate us. He doesn’t have any idea you’re alive or that we’re together. Even if he did, he knows what I’m like. He thinks he’s the smartest man in the room. Because he does, he also has a very healthy fear of the kind of predators he created.
Rory stopped struggling and lay passively over his body, her heart pounding against his. Very slowly, she lifted her long lashes, as if afraid that when she did, she would see something besides his blue eyes.
“That’s right, sweetheart,” he coaxed aloud. “Look at me. See me. I think we should have had Paul peel back the shield a little at a time rather than the entire thing at once so you wouldn’t get swamped with so many childhood memories.”
Her eyes searched his for a long time before she laid her head on his chest again. It’s like reliving my childhood all over again. Whitney is a horrible man. He really hated me. I tried not to think about him or the things he said and did to me before I fell asleep so I wouldn’t have dreams, but I couldn’t help it.
“I can make you chocolate, Rory. We can go up to the roof and sit outside. Paul won’t be happy, but if it stops your nightmares, I’ll risk his wrath.”
She pressed a kiss over his heart. I think it’s good to get it over with. I’d rather sift through all the memories with you right here to help me sort through them. You keep me from losing my mind.
Gideon was grateful she trusted him enough to rely on him. “Go back to sleep, then, sweetheart. Whitney can’t get near you here. He can’t get to either one of us.”
* * *
Two weeks later, Paul was back sitting on the rooftop with Gideon and Rory. Marc Lands and Javier were with him, and Gideon had a sinking feeling he knew why Paul had come. Gideon had installed a long lounger so he could stretch out with Rory, and they could be comfortable in the evenings. He’d built a cabinet so her nebulizer and several warm blankets could be stored as well.
They had agreed not to entertain friends on the rooftop, but he was renovating one of the floors so that Cindy’s boys would have a large area to play in and the women would be comfortable visiting Rory. Ellen liked to be in the same room playing right next to them while they talked.