Leila’s little laugh warmed him. Diego settled his palm around the nape of her neck.
“You really do know him,” Leila said. There was respect, admiration even, in her voice. “I had managed to keep a knife. Theidiots hadn’t really searched me. But I’d lost so much blood and was very weak. They’d dropped me coming up the mountain, and I felt something tear away inside.”
That was far too much information to hand to Joe. It was all Diego could do to keep from groaning aloud. He had been certain, after confessing to a small ability to heal, he could glide right over aiding Leila, given that she had defended herself against several soldiers.
Joe’s penetrating stare was once more a laser seeing right into Diego. Inwardly, he cursed. He didn’t mind giving up the fact that he had a small healing talent. It wasn’t unreasonable that he hadn’t developed it. Each of the GhostWalkers had multiple gifts. Some were far more advanced than others.
“Luther told me you’d been shot. He didn’t know how bad the injury was. By the sound of it, you were in bad shape.”
Oh no, Diego.Leila realized immediately she’d put him in a terrible position.
Diego didn’t like the waves of distress coming from her. She had hunched in on herself, turning her head to face him. Looking at him through eyes far too big, almost as if she were going into shock. Her lashes were wet. Her lips trembled. But it was the sudden panic in her mind that was the worst.
Uncertainty. Guilt. Fear even, that she’d betrayed him when she was only trying to get his commanding officer to realize the situation for her had been dire, and Diego had saved her life. She didn’t want Joe to hold Diego responsible for the deaths of those soldiers when there had been a good reason for him to take their lives.
She’d been defending him. Championing him. Now, she was terrified that she’d put him in a very bad position with Joe. And she feared she’d lost him through her perceived betrayal.
Protecting his secret didn’t seem as important as making herunderstand she mattered more. He was a grown man and should have let Joe and Ezekiel know the moment he had used his ability to perform surgery. He wasn’t as good at it as Rubin and never would be, but neither was anyone else. He had his reasons for not giving up his secrets, and if Joe thought those reasons weren’t good, that was on Diego, not Leila.
He leaned into Leila, resting his forehead against hers. “Leila, you’re tired. Cut yourself some slack. You need to rest, not get upset because you told Joe the truth. You were slipping away, baby. That’s the truth. I would have done anything to save you. Given anything. I’m a grown man, not some child hiding things from the insanity that was my mother.”
“But I shouldn’t have…” She trailed off. Her long lashes were wet, making his heart stutter. “I don’t blurt things out without thinking. I wanted him to know you saved my life. Not just my life. If those men had been able to do what they intended, and that was the last thing I knew, along with the excruciating pain, before I died…” Again, she trailed off.
“I like that you’re proud of me, Leila. And I like that you stand up for me.” He brushed kisses along her forehead and trailed them down her wet cheek to the side of her mouth. “Do you want to lie down for a little while?”
“I’d rather stay with you.”
He felt her uncertainty. A part of her thought he would reject her. She wasn’t entirely convinced he no longer cared if his unit knew. They would be protective to the point he might shoot one of them, but silence wasn’t worth Leila believing he would be angry with her over telling the truth.
“What is the truth, Diego?” Joe asked, his tone very soft, almost soothing.
Diego knew that particular voice. It didn’t sound to outsiders who didn’t know Joe as if it was a warning, but Diego had knownJoe a long time. He didn’t like to see Leila’s distress any more than Diego did. Joe was a man who stood for women and children. He stood for those not strong enough to stand up for themselves. He might look charming and easygoing, but that was deceptive.
“I had no choice. Leila was bleeding internally, and she’d lost far too much blood. I didn’t have a team, or any real way of saving her life in a conventional manner. Along with healing animals, I had performed surgery on them if it was warranted. Again, I had never done so on a human, so I was very reluctant to try, but she was already slipping away.”
There was total silence meeting his revelation. He didn’t look at Joe or Ezekiel, or even Rubin. He brought Leila’s hand to his mouth and pressed kisses into her palm.
Joe cleared his throat. “I want to be very clear on this, Diego.”
That was a command to look at him. Diego did so, keeping his expression blank. The many predators in him reacted to any challenge. Learning to control the roaring voices, the adrenaline and testosterone, hadn’t been easy, but he had done so.
“Are you saying you were able to perform psychic surgery on Leila?”
“I had no choice. As it was, I had to remove her spleen. She had massive damage, but the trajectory of the bullet was what really saved her.”
Again, there was a brief silence. Joe continued to stare him down, triggering the predators in Diego. He breathed evenly. In and out. Counting his breaths.
“Did you know he could do that, Rubin? Ezekiel?” Again, Joe’s voice was very quiet.
“I didn’t have a clue,” Rubin admitted. “Not in all these years.”
“I didn’t either,” Ezekiel said. “But now that I know, I’m not surprised. Rubin and Diego are very much like twins. I should have realized what talent one has, so does the other.”
“Diego,” Joe said, a note in his voice that Diego didn’t recognize. It was almost a hesitation, something Diego had never known Joe to do. “You do realize there are most likely under ten people on this earth who can perform psychic surgery.”
Diego hadn’t thought in terms of numbers. He didn’t want to think of the repercussions. He had guarded his brother on the pretense of ensuring his brother’s gift survived, but in reality, for Diego, it wasn’t about his brother’s ability to execute psychic surgery. He did know, for his team and every other GhostWalker team, that was the reason the surgeon was guarded so carefully. He didn’t want the restrictions he knew his brother lived with.
“You know I’m capable of healing, but I can’t perform surgery. I wouldn’t even attempt such a thing, knowing the outcome would be disastrous,” Joe continued. “You can tell us you felt you had no choice, but the fact that you could do actual surgery under the conditions you had, when you were alone and most likely giving blood as well, attests to the fact that you have a very strong talent.”
