Rising Storm (Westin Force #2) - Julie Trettel Page 0,9
said.
I wanted to tell them to leave me, but I knew Painter wouldn’t. Silverbacks were very possessive and protective of their females. I had no doubt that’s exactly what he was too. I tried to relax and imagine what he looked like in gorilla form. Something told me he would be magnificent, and I hoped I’d live long enough to see it for myself.
“What do we need to do, Clara?” one of the guys asked.
“I’m not even sure the six of us will be enough to move her. We need to carefully lift her completely while trying not to juggle her too much.”
“We’ve got this,” the one that had issued the seven-minute warning said optimistically. “But come on, or you're going to ruin my finale.”
They worked together as one like they’d done this a million times. Painter took residence at my injury and wouldn’t let anyone but Clara near me on that side. He finally conceded to letting Gage take my shoulder while the four new guys spread out at my head and down my right side. Painter carried most of my dead weight on the left. He never complained or asked for a break. He didn’t even look winded as they moved quickly to the back door and outside to one of the large trucks there.
I was breaking free at least. I didn’t know what the future would hold. In some ways staying in captivity was easier, less scary, because heading into the great unknown was terrifying.
Someone grabbed one of the gurney mattresses and laid it on the floor of the truck. Painter instructed them to lay me down carefully and roll me onto my right side so that Clara could address my wound.
As soon as they set me down, the men were on the move.
I looked around and saw many of the shifters huddled at the back of the truck. A quick scan told me Vada wasn’t among them. I somehow knew she wouldn’t be.
“We have a breech. Incoming,” a voice yelled through Painters earbuds. It was easy to hear because he had them turned up high and not actually in his ears.
“How is that possible? We got them all, right?” a gruff voice said.
One of the shifters stepped forward. “There’s a room in the back. The entrance is behind the barrels in the corner. There are others there. You’ll find them there too, the Raglan.”
“Silas, you hear that?”
“I’m on it. How’s your mate?”
“Alive.”
“Silas stay out, she’s about to blow,” one of the men that helped me yelled.
“Do not blow this place until I’m out,” Silas commanded.
“I don’t have what I need to stop this. She’s coming down. Abort,” the man begged.
“Dammit, he’s going for it,” Painter cursed. “Don’t be a hero, Silas,” Painter yelled. “I can’t save your ass this time. Please.”
We all waited. The radio was silent and then there was a great boom. I jerked at the sound and watched in disbelief as the building collapsed. He hadn’t been joking.
“Silas? Silas!” Painter yelled.
Clara had been busily working on stabilizing me while I’d been distracted. I grunted in pain when she started to stitch me up. It grabbed Painter’s attention and he quickly returned to my side.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any anesthetic here. I didn’t think I’d have to do emergency surgery.”
“Grant?”
“What do you need? Anything at all.”
He dropped the backpack he was carrying and opened it to reveal an entire med kid complete with surgical equipment.
“If you have a team medic, why did you call us in?” Clara asked.
“Not so great with animals,” Grant admitted. “What? I know wolves, and I’ve learned a little on treating gorillas, bears, and foxes, but just enough to keep my men alive. We needed an expert on this one.”
“Dammit!” we all heard Silas yell.
“Silas? You okay brother?” Painter asked.
“Yeah, but we missed a few. They got away with five as best we can tell.”
“Don’t worry,” Michelle said. I didn’t know her well, but we’d been together for most of my time we were held captive by the Raglan. “Vada will take care of them.”
“Vada? Who’s that?” one of Painter’s friends asked.
“She’s our mother, protector, an angel on Earth.”
We all felt that way, but I could see by the expressions of the others that they all thought she was insane.
A cell phone rang. Clara picked hers up and answered it, putting it on speaker before setting it down while continuing to work on my wound. “Dave? How’s it look?”
“Overall, not too bad. Heard the gorilla was in rough shape.