“Not healing, although I don’t heal humans as a rule and don’t want others to know I’m capable of that either. That’s my brother’s gift.”
She was silent. Her lashes fluttered as if she were trying to open her eyes again, but she subsided. Diego lifted his hands away from her abdomen. He’d done the most basic, temporary holds to stop the bleeding. The damage to her body was so extensive he was already feeling drained just from stopping the various sites from bleeding.
His body wanted to lie back and rest, but he forced himself to grab his backpack and pull out his medical kit. “Setting up for a transfusion.” He heard the tired note in his voice. She did too. Those long lashes fluttered again.
“You don’t know my blood type.”
“I’ll be compatible.”
“Can’t move me. You’re draining yourself for no reason.”
“Got a good reason right in front of me. Make up your mind to live. You’re a warrior woman. You don’t lie down because some peckerwood tries to kill you. You get up and you go after them.”
That faint smile he found unexpectedly endearing curved her bottom lip, briefly creating a bow. He thought he caught a glimpse of dimples on either side of her mouth, but he couldn’t be certain.
“That easy?”
“Didn’t say it was easy, woman, just that it had to be done. When it’s a necessity, you just do it. You don’t fret about it. Right now, my job is to get some blood in you and then rest so I can build us a shelter close.”
“I still don’t think you can move me.” Another little shudder went through her body, and he realized she knew it would hurt like hell.
She’d lost enough blood that she was cold and shivering. After he managed to get a decent vein, he covered her with his emergency blanket that had been folded into a tiny square and was in a zip pouch. Making himself comfortable beside her, he linked them together through the line.
“How do you know your blood is compatible with mine?”
He detested that she was shaking. He moved closer so their bodies were touching, his thigh against hers. “My blood type is compatible with just about everything, another fact I don’t want getting out.”
This time there was no denying the dimples. “My mystery man has many secrets.” She said it in a fake-spooky voice that made him want to laugh.
“I’m giving you a painkiller. Try to sleep for a little while. I’m going to rest as well.”
“There were more soldiers than the ones you killed. Five men went up the mountain to contact someone.”
He sighed. “You might have told me sooner.”
“Sorry.” Again, the lashes fluttered, and this time she was able to partially lift them, revealing startling vivid green eyes. “I’m not thinking clearly. You could give me a gun.”
“I will,” he acknowledged, “but—later, when I know your brain is clear and you haven’t gotten it into your head that I’m the most annoying man you’ve ever met and shooting me appeals to you.”
“Don’t make me laugh; it hurts,” she admonished. “Are you annoying?”
“Probably. I like things my way. And I make decisions based on logic, not emotion, which can be annoying to some people.”
“What you’re saying is you think you’re right.”
He pushed back the strands of hair falling across her face. “What I’m saying is IknowI’m right.” He did his best to sound pompous, but there was too much humor in his tone. “Go to sleep.”
He reached for the birds. He would need lookouts if they were going to be hunted.
3
It took far too long to build a refuge that couldn’t be seen from the air or any trail. Once he had Leila inside, he would erase all tracks leading to their shelter. He had gone half a mile off trail through heavy brush and trees. There was a particularly tall tree with a huge root system reaching for a thin trickle of running water that came from above. The small stream ran all year round, sometimes doubling in size, but always there was a source of water for the animals and plants. The tree provided shelter for wildlife and was home to birds, squirrels and lizards.
The tree was full, thick branches reaching in all directions, darkening the forest floor. Tall ferns grew around the tree, blocking the view from any direction. Years earlier, Diego had discovered the spot when he followed an owl through the forest. Just to the left of the root system was a steep berm, a drop-off that was covered by years of foliage, needles, leaves, branches and twigs falling to form a massive mound that appeared solid.
He had patiently climbed down the ridge, exploring, and had found the entrance to a cave. It wasn’t really a cave, more of a deep depression in the mountain hidden by the root system, ferns and the hundred-year-old accumulation of debris at the edge of that berm. It would be impossible to find unless you knew where it was.
Diego worked as fast as possible knowing Warrior Woman didn’t have much time. They would need a place with room for both to lie down and easy access to water. He had rations with him—he rarely went anywhere without them—and he knew how to hunt for food in the forest, but he wouldn’t be in very good shape after performing a psychic surgery.
