Her brothers were going to lose their minds when they found out what she’d done. Jebediah might just kill her and put her out of her misery. She wasn’t looking forward to the morning and his inevitable lecture on her safety and the safety of the family. The entire night had been too overwhelming. The man lying only a few feet from her had been mercilessly tortured, and now, even in his sleep, his body shuddered as if still feeling every abuse.
Life didn’t make sense to her most of the time. And she never felt safe, or as if she belonged. Everyone around her tried; it wasn’t her family or friends-it was her. She rocked herself slightly, trying to bring some comfort when the images of blood and death rose up to flood her mind. Jack stirred, and pain rippled across his face. She looked up, alert to see if he needed anything, but he appeared to be dreaming. When he settled back into a deeper sleep, she laid her head on her knees, feeling the burning wash of tears she couldn’t prevent.
Blood and death surrounded him. Jack was drowning in it, helpless to get to the woman floating down the river. He reached for her, but missed her outstretched hand and knew he’d lost her forever. She didn’t call out to him, but cried softly, tears pouring down her face. He heard the sound, muffled, heart-wrenching, and his eyes snapped open, gun tracking around the room.
Briony huddled on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest, head down. Her silver-gold hair spilled around her face, and the sight of her like that made his heart begin to pound in his chest. He swore silently between clenched teeth, his body too tired and too beat up to move, to get to her. Slowly he lowered the gun, resting it back on the bed.
“Briony.”
Her head snapped up, one hand wiping at her eyes, a swift movement that she tried to hide. “Are you in pain? You must be. We’ve probably got something for pain in the kit.” There was a small tremor in her voice, but she rallied, covering her distress.
“Come here.”
She stilled, her eyes too large and drowning in tears, long lashes spiky and wet. Jack could hardly bear the sight of her like that. She should have been somewhere where she was safe and protected-not in Kinshasa where anything could happen to her.
“I said come here.”
The hard note of command stopped her weeping. “I heard you.” He looked so determined, as if he might get up and come over to her in spite of his injuries. Briony got to her feet and crossed to his side, laying her palm on his forehead to access his fever. “Do you want more water?”
He nodded, his gaze never leaving her face, his eyes still glazed with fever. She took out another bottle and removed the cap before handing it to him.
“You washed your hair.” Jack let the liquid slide down his throat, savoring the taste of it. “Whatever you use smells good.” He caught her wrist when she turned away. Tugging, he indicated the bed. “Don’t sit on the floor. I’m not in any shape to do anything and it’s more comfortable.” Mostly he wanted to comfort her. It wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d be doing, but he’d give it a shot just so she wouldn’t cry anymore. When she didn’t respond either way, he pulled her down to the mattress.
“I could jar you.”
“I doubt it.” He let his fingers slide over her tear-wet face. “Don’t be doing this.”
“What? Crying? Every time I close my eyes I see that man dead. Or I see someone cutting you into little pieces.” She pressed her fingertips to her temple. “I’m afraid to go to sleep.”
“You have a headache. Did you take anything for it?”
“My headache is rather insignificant next to what the rebels did to you. I can’t believe you were running around the forest. You should be dead.”
“I wasn’t going to die and give them the satisfaction.” He took another sip of water, his fingers tangling in her hair. It was softer than he’d first imagined. “They would have done better just to put a bullet in my head.”
“Why didn’t they?”
Jack set the bottle of water on the small nightstand beside the bed and used both hands to massage her temples. Her body felt small and soft next to his, and he actually had a reaction to her, disconcerting when he was trying to be comforting. She was too innocent for a man like him to ever have sex with her. He’d shock the holy hell out of her, be too rough, too demanding, too everything. His body hardened even more and he shut the door on that line of thinking. There was no way he was going to allow it to happen. How could his body react when he was beat up all to hell? Nothing about the situation made sense to him and that made him leery. He was always distrustful, but his reactions to Briony were completely out of character.
“The general wants people to be afraid of him. The crueler he is, the more everyone fears him and he gets what he wants. Torture and genocide and rape are good ways to intimidate people.”
Briony was silent for a long time. She sighed. “My brothers won’t listen to me. They think I’m paranoid, but the music festival offered us an enormous sum of money to perform here. It didn’t make sense to me then and even less since I’ve been here. The festival doesn’t have that kind of money and we weren’t going to be that big of a draw. You served with my brother and we’re both enhanced psychically and physically. I’ve never met anyone like me before. In fact, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever been able to be near another human being without feeling their emotions and being sick. Don’t you think it’s all too much of a coincidence?”
“If you’re paranoid, Briony, I am too.”
“Tyrel told me there’s a rumor that rebel soldiers are sneaking into town. If they aren’t here for the music festival, my guess is they’re looking for you.”
“I’d have to say when they find the bodies on the outskirts of the city, they’ll definitely come looking.”
“Jebediah’s going to be really, really angry with me.”
“Don’t worry about your brother. He knows me.” Jebediah knew him all right, and he sure as hell wouldn’t want Jack Norton lying in the same bed with his sister. Jack lay staring up at the cracked ceiling, one hand in her hair, the other over the gun, listening to her soft, even breathing and wondering why he already felt like she belonged to him.
CHAPTER 4
Pounding on the door jarred Jack and Briony from their sleep. The gun was already in Jack’s fist and he waved her to the safety of the bathroom.
“Open the door, Bri!” Jebediah yelled. “I’m standing out here with coffee and you’re still asleep. Get a move on.”