The glare of headlights flooded the car from behind us. Nick winced and shied away from the beam in the rear- view mirror before climbing out and leaving me alone with the pale, shivering form beside me.
“T,” I croaked, brushing his arm. “Can you hear me?”
Nothing. Not a wince, or a lie of a smile, not even for me. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered. “It’s going to be okay.”
If a lie was all we had to hold onto, then I’d dig my claws into it and cling tight with all I had. I’d make him okay…because for me, there was no future without him. I climbed out, biting down on the tremors.
“Behind me, Ryth,’ Caleb commanded as the four-wheel drive skidded coming toward us.
I rubbed my arms, easing the goosebumps, and moved on instinct. I was so used to them protecting me, always putting themselves at risk. I took a step and realized I didn’t want that.
Not anymore.
I wanted to stop this tormenting ride of guns, betrayal, and loss. I wanted to get off…and never come back. I wanted us to disappear, to step out of this mayhem and never come back. Not for Dad, or for Mom. Not for anyone but us.
Protect them…
The need howled inside me.
Protect…them.
Headlights bounced against the sedan my father had left for us. I turned as the gleaming black Range Rover came to a stop and the engine was switched off. The driver’s door opened and a man climbed out. But he didn’t come toward us, just stood in the open door, scanning each one of us before he looked at someone in the passenger’s seat and spoke in a hushed tone. “It’s okay, it’s safe.”
It’s safe?
Was he talking about us?
The passenger’s door opened. I didn’t know who I’d expected to climb out, but it wasn’t the pretty young woman who took one look at me and smiled.
“Nick.” The strange guy nodded to my stepbrother. “Is he?”
“In the car,” Nick answered, striding to the door I’d left open.
“Kit, grab my—”
But she was already moving, heading to the rear of the four-wheel drive. “On it.”
The stranger pulled out his phone and pressed the flashlight, shining the beam on T as he leaned into the car. I held my breath and stepped closer, my arms wrapped tightly around my body, desperate to hear every word this man had to say.
“He’s going to be okay.” She spoke as she headed our way, her smile widening just for me. “Just you wait, my brother is the best emergency doctor in the state.”
“Kit.” The soft bark came from inside the car. “What have I told you about saying things like that?”
She just gave me a wink and instantly the breath I was holding released as she muttered. “Always tell the truth?”
I liked her…
No, I more than liked her.
I needed her.
Her faith. Her smile. Her warm, brown eyes as the stranger straightened from the back seat. “We need to get him inside.”
“Caleb.” Nick raced around to the other side of the car.
“Come on.” She jerked her head toward the cabin. “You can help me open up.”
She heaved the massive black tactical bag filled with medical equipment from their vehicle. I stepped closer. “Can I help with that?”
One look at the desperation in my eyes, and she nodded. I grabbed the handles and pulled it closer, almost crumbling with the weight. But she never gave me an option, just hurried up the steps to the wide veranda and disappeared into the gloom. I followed, listening to the grunts of my stepbrothers behind me as they carried Tobias to the cabin.
The clunk of a lock sounded before light spilled out of the open front door, illuminating the way.
“Second door on the left down the hall, that way.” She pointed deeper into the cabin.
I raced forward, hurrying through the space as Tobias unleashed a roar that made my stomach clench and my heart hammer. I flung open the door and reached around, flicked on the light, and stepped inside.
It was some kind of surgical room, fitted with monitors, equipment, and cupboards of instruments.
“Get him on the table,” the doctor barked over Tobias’ scream.
I heaved the bag onto the long counter that stretched along the wall, and turned, rushing to his side. “I’m here.” I grabbed my stepbrother’s hand. “I’m right here.”
He gripped the side of the stainless steel table with his other hand and fixed a wide, terrified stare on me. His panting breaths blew my hair as the doctor directed, “We need to get these jeans off.”
“Ryth,” Tobias gasped.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I fixed my gaze on his. “Look at me.”
He did, clinging to my hand as Nick unbuttoned his jeans and pulled down his zipper. The stranger moved the bag I’d hauled in, opened it and rifled through, pulling out a plastic case full of vials. He grabbed one, then a syringe, and filled it with the contents. “Kit.”
“It’s ready,” she answered, drawing my focus.
I hadn’t even seen her in the room, but she was pushing an IV stand closer to the table.
“We’re going to need that hoodie off, as well.” The doctor nodded to Tobias.
“Help me?” she asked.
I dropped Tobias’s hold only long enough to yank the sleeve and pull his hoodie over one shoulder and his head. Then his clammy grasp was mine again.
“I need to hook this up,” the doctor said as he worked, tearing open an alcohol swab and cleaning the crook of Tobias’s arm. “Small sting,” he muttered, sliding the needle in deep.
Kit moved fast, crossing the room to yank open a drawer and come back.
“Here.” She tore a strip of tape and placed it over the IV line as the doctor injected the drugs into the port.
“It’ll ease the pain,” he said, staring at Tobias. “Hold on now.”
Tobias bucked with the agony, gripping the table tight as they pulled his jeans down. But not once did his hold on my hand tighten. No, he made sure of that. Even in agony, his first instinct was to protect me.
“I always w-wondered about living in a cabin like this,” I blurted, my words punctuated with harsh breaths. But they were the only words that came to me. Right now, I didn’t care.
Tobias stared at me. “What?”
“A cabin.” I kept talking. It didn’t matter, as long as he was focused on anything other than his brother’s efforts. “I wondered what it’d be like. You know, hunting, hiking, fishing. The only problem is, I hate fish.”
T’s brows creased. “You…hate…fish.” He groaned as Nick lifted his leg while Caleb tugged his jeans down. “Who hates fish?”
“Me,” Caleb added. “I detest it, actually.”
“Fuck.” Tobias bucked as the doctor took a pair of scissors to the bloodied bandage wrapped around his thigh.
“Lucas?” Nick glanced at the guy.
The doctor winced. That wasn’t a good sign. “I’m going to need to get this out.”
He moved, heading to the open bag once more. More drugs were pushed into Tobias’s veins, but these worked fast. His eyes started to close, drooping until they were barley slits, then nothing.
Just the slow, steady rise of his chest.
“You might want to step out for this.” Lucas looked at me when he spoke.
I just shook my head, clasping Tobias’s weak grasp in mine. “I’m staying.”
“Suit yourself.”
He didn’t waste a second, squirting gel on his hands and set to work opening sterile packs. He picked up forceps. I looked away at the last minute, focusing on Tobias instead. “You’re going to be okay,” I whispered. “You’re going to be okay.”
