Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
I end up sandwiched between Creed and Caleb in front of a large window outside a surgical room. And Katie, a doctor I know from Area 51—a good doctor and scientist—is inside with Jensen, removing more than one of those Green Hornets.
I’ve seen what one did to Creed. I’m truly afraid for Jensen.
I wasn’t aware Katie had joined the Renegades. I’d selfishly shut out everything when I’d fled Groom Lake. Shut out a war that wasn’t going away. Refused to fight, while Julian became more dangerous. And right now, watching Katie in there fighting for Jensen’s life, as Jensen had fought for all of them—Maddox, Caleb, and yes, me—I hate myself for that. And I silently vow to make it up to these brave people. I will find Red Dart. I will destroy it. I’ll help find those bullets and destroy them, too. I won’t allow Julian to get his hands on more of them, either. If confronting my father would actually make a difference, I’d be charging out of here to demand he make this all right. But it isn’t that easy, and I know it. God. If only it were that easy.
I glance up at Creed, at the hard set of his jaw and his stiff posture. I believe whatever was behind his claim of fault in the elevator is eating him alive.
“He’s crashing!” someone yells, a moment before a warning buzzer pierces the air.
A harsh breath of air rips from my lungs as my hands flatten on the glass, and I watch the medical personnel prepare to shock Jensen. He’s GTECH, I tell myself. He will live. He will survive. He has to survive.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Creed
Time stands still as I watch Jensen, and the instant the monitor beside his bed begins a steady, stable rhythm, my shoulders slump with relief. Those bullets—those Taylor Industries-manufactured green bullets—did not steal my friend’s life. Beside me, I hear the sighs of relief from Caleb and Addie, the tension in the small alcove of the waiting area immediately easing.
“Caleb.” The male voice comes from behind.
The three of us turn to find Dr. Perry. I told Addie we didn’t have doctors, but that’s not a hundred percent true. We do. They just can’t get to us in the field. We can’t windwalk them to our aid. Dr. Perry is one of the half-dozen human doctors who’d followed Caleb after the Groom Lake attack. He’s a tall male with short, dark hair who is at present eyeing me with suspicion.
Caleb doesn’t miss the look and quickly responds. “He’s one of us. He’s always been one of us.”
I swear, I want to bare my damn teeth and watch the man jump. Accusation and hate are not what I need right now.
“Do you have something to tell us?” I half bark, irritably, barely keeping the growl out of my voice.
Dr. Perry clears his throat and shifts about nervously. “Noah, Cooper, and Jacob have avoided major organ hits. I’m about to take Maddox into surgery to remove a bullet near his heart, but I don’t anticipate any complications. It wasn’t a direct hit, so he should be fine. His body will heal quickly.”
Caleb offers him a sharp nod, but apparently requires a few minutes alone with the man, motioning him down the hallway. And I have no doubt it’s about me, which only serves to stir my agitation to boiling.
My gaze settles on Addie’s mud-smudged pale face, and seeing her like this brings back that moment I’d thought she was dead. How the fuck have I not gotten her looked at before now? I motion to a nurse. “We need medical attention.”
Addie shakes her head and motions the woman away, speaking to me. “Let them deal with the men who are in life-threatening situations. I’m not.”
“We don’t know that,” I say in instant rejection, thinking of those moments when I’d held her lifeless body in my arms. “You stopped breathing. You need to be checked.” I raise my hand again and motion to the nurse, who’s staring at me as if I’m Freddy fucking Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. I scowl. “Holy hell, woman. I’m not a Zodius. I’m a Renegade. I was undercover, and we bloody well need medical attention.”
“Easy, Creed,” Addie warns, and then to the nurse, “I’m fine. I don’t need help. Please take care of the brave soldiers that were injured.”
“Like hell, you don’t,” I argue, but the nurse is pulled away to chase another problem.
I curse, and Addie is quick to reply. “I’m okay, Creed, and that’s thanks to you.” Her hand settles on my arm, gentle and calming, but I can’t afford such emotions. Not when people were damn near dying. The wrong people. Addie. Jensen. Maddox. Not Julian and Lawrence.
“Don’t thank me, Addie,” I hiss vehemently, anger forming within me like a swiftly thrown blade. I want a lot of things, but not her thanks. I want Julian’s and Lawrence’s blood. I want her beneath me, pressed close and moaning my name. Giving me a little piece of heaven, an escape.