“Shift and catch!” Jax yelled.
Ryon saw his friend run up, holding a large tube. The spike on the end was long and silver, and if it was a needle, it was the thickest, most wicked one he’d ever seen. Then again, it would have to be to penetrate the creature’s hide.
The shift was difficult, especially while riding an enraged mutant lizard. In human form, he wrapped an arm around the thing’s neck and held out the other. “Throw it!”
The first try missed, and he cursed when the tube sailed past them and landed on the ground. It narrowly missed being crushed by the creature’s webbed feet as it stomped around, oblivious to the fact that they were trying to save its life. Or rather, Ben’s life.
“We’re trying to save your ass, you fucker!” he yelled.
Jax threw the tube again, but it bounced off Ryon’s fingers. The next second, he was thrown to the ground, rolling to avoid being stomped or eaten. As he scrambled, he saw the cylinder lying just a few feet away. He went for it. Just as his fingers closed around it, he was yanked backward.
The creature’s claws dug into his shoulder as it dragged him to its hungry, gaping maw. Fetid breath wafted in his face and he had an up-close and personal view of those rows of deadly teeth that were ready to tear out his throat. Flipping the tube in his grasp, spiked end toward the creature, he drove the business end into the vulnerable skin of its belly. The beast let out a roar as Ryon quickly pushed the handle all the way in. He didn’t know if that was the best spot, or even if it would work, but he’d done his job.
It would have to be enough. He was finished.
The beast flung him away and he landed in the dirt hard. Unable to move, he took in the monster standing in place, shrieking in agony, no longer aware of anyone else in his vicinity. Ryon felt a pang of sadness, knowing the creature was not really evil. It didn’t possess that sort of thought process. All along, it had simply been ravenously hungry. Angry. Confused.
But never evil. Because the man underneath was good.
Incredulous, he saw the creature begin to shrink. Scales became flesh, webbed feet and hands human ones. The knobby skull returned to its regular shape, and a full head of chestnut hair appeared. The distended torso became taut, the stomach flat. In less than a minute, a man stood swaying where the beast had been, blinking as though he’d never seen them before. And indeed he hadn’t.
Ben Cantrell was tired, shell-shocked, worse for the wear, but a man all the same. He crumpled to the ground.
Some of the team ran to Ben, and the others toward Ryon. Nick and Jax appeared, looking down at him, smiling.
“You did it, buddy,” Jax said, laying a hand on his chest. “Great job.”
He tried to grin. “That’s why I get paid the big bucks. August is getting away, though.”
Nick spoke up. “This time. Next time he won’t be so lucky.”
Suddenly he remembered August’s terrible claims, his story of betrayal that ran all the way to the presidency. He wanted to ask if it was true, if Nick had known. But he was too exhausted to talk anymore. Then Daria came into his line of vision, and he’d never seen anything more beautiful.
“Ryon?” Her face was wet with tears.
No sound would move past his throat.
“Always gotta be a hero, huh?” she said, stroking his face. He tried again to reply, but she shushed him. “Rest. You’re going to be all right now.”
He wasn’t so sure; everything hurt so bad. But he’d trust her. With a deep sigh, he let the darkness close in, and everything faded away.
Daria jumped from the helicopter the second the creature began to change back into Ben. As her former lover crumpled in the dirt, unmoving, she ran to her mate and dropped to her knees. Ryon lay on his back, staring up at the people around him. She could’ve sworn she’d seen him talk, but he didn’t have the ability now.
“Ryon?” She put a shaking hand over her mouth. Hot tears slid down her cheeks. His lips moved, but he didn’t speak.
“Always gotta be a hero, huh?” She stroked his face, cutting off his second effort to talk. “Rest. You’re going to be all right now.”
He closed his gorgeous blue eyes, heaved a deep breath, and lost consciousness. His body was bathed in blood, his hair matted with it. He must’ve gotten those injuries when the creature threw him to the ground. Her hand trembled as she smoothed back the strands of blond hair. Long lashes rested against his cheek. God, he was burning with fever.
“Christ Almighty,” Jax murmured. “Somebody get a stretcher. We’ve got to get him home.”
Micah took off.
Nick’s hand landed on her arm and squeezed gently. His eyes were calm. “He’s going to be okay. Trust me.”
She searched the commander’s face for any sign of deception. “Is that your word as a PreCog?”
“It is. He’ll have a rough go of it, and it’ll be a near thing, but he’ll survive.”
“I have a feeling that’s more than you usually say to people about the future.”
He gave her a faint smile. “You’re right. But then, I think you’ve earned the truth, especially if it’s good news.”
She swiped at her tears. “Thank you.”
“No, thank
Micah returned with the stretcher and, working together, they got Ryon situated. She was hardly aware of another group off to the side working on Ben. Her sole concern right now was for her mate. Inside, her wolf paced anxiously.
Ducking well clear of the whirling blades, Jax and Micah got Ryon into the helicopter. Then Micah gave her a hand up and a shy smile that pulled at his scarred face. As though realizing how he might appear to her, the man turned away and busied himself with Ryon. She was saddened that Micah was going through such a tough time, and she prayed he was getting better.
And not relying so much on the pills she’d seen him popping more often than maybe he should. But she couldn’t dwell on that at the moment.
“Go, go!” Jax yelled to Aric, and then they were airborne.
She stayed by Ryon’s side and prepared for the two-hour flight home. The compound,
Reaching down, she took one of Ryon’s big hands in hers. His palms were as hot as the sands of the Sahara. His face was deathly pale, eyes closed. Although the helicopter’s deafening noise prevented her from hearing, she could see the jerky rise and fall of his chest as he fought to breathe. Despite Nick’s prediction, she couldn’t help but be fearful. She tried their mind-link.
Tightening her grip on his fingers, she pressed a hand over his heart. Every sluggish beat pulsed as though mired in glue. As the sun rose higher, and the minutes ticked by, the deep, telltale rattle in his chest worsened. She remembered something he’d told her not long ago, when Micah had been hurt and she’d been so afraid.
Now her fears had come to pass.
Aric’s anxious voice filtered through their headsets. “How’s he doing?”
Jax shook his head. “Hurry, man.”
Aric pushed the bird full throttle, eating the miles rapidly. But as the forest below rolled by, Daria could feel Ryon slipping away in spite of his fierce battle. In spite of the commander’s words. His breathing had become shallow, his features slack. She couldn’t stop touching him. His hair, his face. As if she might somehow keep his soul bound to this world.
“I love you, my mate. Please don’t go,” she whispered, even though he couldn’t hear. The men were listening through their headsets, but she didn’t care. She kept talking to him.
