“He’s definitely alive,” he said with a grin, then gestured to the dirty, metal tube that came out of the back of the nearest AC unit. “I think he’s been drinking the condensation dripping out of the pipe.”
On the floor, Forrest groaned.
Jake quickly got out of the way to make room for Misty. She was crying again, but they were happy tears this time.
As Misty leaned down to gently hug Forrest, Jes saw several gashes across his chest and arms. He’d stuffed dirty rags and foam insulation into the wounds to keep them from bleeding. Water wasn’t the only thing that had kept him alive. On the floor beside him were several empty packages of shortbread cookies.
Misty gently kissed him, then sat back on her heels, not bothering to wipe away her tears as Forrest smiled weakly up at her.
“There you are,” he said in a soft voice. “I’ve been waiting for you to realize I was missing and come back for me.”
Misty cupped his stubble-covered jaw. “I’m sorry we didn’t figure it out sooner.”
Forrest put a gentle finger to her lips, shushing her with another smile, stronger this time. “Don’t be sorry. I’d wait forever for you.”
Misty kissed him again, only pulling away when Caleb touched her shoulder. Carefully picking Forrest up, Caleb carried him out of the room to the waiting paramedics, Misty hurrying after them.
Grinning, Jake held out his hand to Jes. “Let’s go home.”
Returning his smile, she took his hand, and together, they walked out to join their teammates. After what she’d just witnessed, she thought that maybe werewolves weren’t the only ones to have soul mates.
Chapter 20
Jes was standing at the granite island that separated Jake’s kitchen from the living room, pouring tortilla chips in a bowl and getting more guacamole out of the fridge, when the doorbell rang.
“I got it,” Jake called out from the far side of the room, wading across the crowded floor to get to the door.
When he pulled it open, a cheer went up from the rest of the team as Forrest and Misty slowly walked in. Well, Forrest moved slowly. Misty stuck to his side like she was afraid to ever let him out of her sight again. Jes didn’t blame her. After everything that had happened two weeks ago, Misty had a right to be overprotective.
Jes slipped into the living room long enough to drop off the chips and dip in front of Caleb and Harley—who would probably inhale the entire bowl before anyone else got a bite—and went over to give the latest arrivals a hug. It was obvious Forrest was still recovering from his ordeal at the hotel. She could tell from the hug that he’d lost some weight as well as some muscle. Being stuffed in a corner with your chest ripped open for half a week could do that to a person.
“I’m so glad you two made it,” she said, noticing Misty looked a lot more relaxed now than she had the last time Jes had seen her. “I was afraid the hospital would want to hold on to you for a few more days.”
Forrest shook his head with a chuckle. “What, and miss our very first post-mission celebration? Not a chance. I had Misty hack into the hospital’s computer system and fake the doctor’s signature on my release, and then it was hasta la vista, baby!”
Jake threw Misty a panicked look. “Please tell me he’s kidding. You didn’t do that, did you?”
Misty shook her head, throwing a disapproving look at Forrest. “Of course not. In fact, I was the one who triple-checked with the doctor to make sure he was good to go. If there had been a second of doubt, I would never have let him leave.”
Forrest made a face suggesting he hated being taken care of like that, but it was obviously an act. The man loved having Misty look after him.
Jake crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, you might have been cleared to leave the hospital, but that doesn’t mean you need to stay on your feet any more than you have to. You guys find a seat while I get you something to drink.”
Jes watched Misty and Forrest weave their way across the living room toward Harley and Caleb, being careful to avoid the twins and their FBI agent crushes, who were playing with Sam and Dean on the floor. By the time the two had found their seats, Jake was already on his way back from the kitchen, a Sprite for Misty and a beer for Forrest. He’d been deprived of alcohol during his entire hospital stay and looked like he was in heaven after the first sip.
Within minutes, everyone was laughing and joking, without a single peep of shoptalk. Of course, with the twins and their boyfriends there, it wasn’t like they could talk about the mission. The entire thing had been classified out the wazoo. But it didn’t matter anyway. After being back for two weeks, there was very little that needed to be said. Everyone had gotten caught up on what they’d missed during the fight, including how Misty had helped Harley and Caleb disable the second rocket, how Jes had gotten grabbed the second she got close to launchpad three, and how everyone found Jake and Jes on the beach after the helicopter crash. They’d even all gone to the hospital together to re-create the entire mission at the space center in Guiana word for word for Forrest so he wouldn’t feel left out.
It had taken a while to figure out how the hell STAT was going to cover up everything that had happened down there, but with almost all the witnesses to the events dead, it seemed the world was more than ready to believe the rocket explosion had been caused by criminal recklessness because the Bilderberg Society had tried to go too fast. No one even asked why there’d been so many environmental cleanup teams needed to disassemble the two remaining rockets. Word of the ozone-depleting chemicals that had been in there never slipped out.
Nothing on the natum either, even though the general consensus was that at least some of them had gotten away during the fighting. In a way, Jes felt kind of sorry for them. Not necessarily Darby and the ones who’d tried to kill her and everyone else, but their species as a whole. Knowing there were more still living underground that might try something like this again was a terrifying thought, but at the same time, she could understand how much they wanted to live on the surface. If they ever ran across them again, a part of her hoped there’d be a way to help them. Naive of her maybe, but still, anything was possible.
Jes walked into the kitchen to grab a wine cooler when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and tug her close. The heat from Jake’s chest warmed her all over, but not nearly as much as the lips that came down to nuzzle at her neck.
“You need some help in here?” he asked, his voice husky in her ear.
Something told her he wasn’t talking about getting a drink from the fridge.
She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. “No, I’m good in here. But I can definitely use a hand or two later after everyone leaves.”
