“She’s naked.” Inara shrugs out of her jacket and hands it to me. “Put this on her.” I don’t want to let Wren go long enough to get her arms through the sleeves, so I just drape the black material around her upper body.
The clink of metal draws my gaze to her legs. “Fuck. Get me a pair of bolt cutters.” The thick metal cuff on her ankle is bloody, several inches of chain dangling from a ring on one side.
Her hair’s matted and dirty, and there are deep fingertip bruises around her neck. I can’t tell what else is wrong in this position, but as long as she’s breathing, the rest…we’ll deal with together.
Inara leans into the back seat and rummages around in her bag, coming away with a pair of heavy-duty shears. “I’ll take care of it.” A couple of cuts and a curse later—mine as Inara nicks Wren’s pale skin—the metal falls to the floor.
Halfway to the safe house, Wren’s sobs fade away, and her body goes slack. Asleep or unconscious, I don’t know, but I can feel her heartbeat, and it’s steady. My mind won’t stop racing. Thinking about all of the horrors Kolya could have put her though.
West meets my gaze in the rear view mirror. “Semyon’s going to be pissed.”
“Keep him the fuck away from Wren. We’re not abandoning the mission. Yet. Not until she can tell me what happened to her. But we’re sure as shit not going back there unless weknowwe can destroy him.”
“I killed six.” Inara pulls off her black cap and runs a hand through her short-cropped hair. “If Semyon’s numbers were right, we’re still looking at fifteen of Kolya’s loyal muscle men, plus his team of runners. Though hell, some of those kids might be easily turned to our side.”
West and Inara run a short post-op analysis as we weave through the darkened city streets, but I don’t pay attention. West and I were on opposite sides of the building when I saw a door open out onto a fourth floor balcony and Wren stumbled outside. I didn’t think. Told West the op was FUBAR and headed straight for Wren.
After West pulls the car around the back of the safe house, Inara opens my door. “Take care of her. We’ll get the gear.”
I pause for a beat, holding Inara’s gaze. I don’t have the words. I never do—except with Wren. But Inara added six to her tally sheet tonight. Every one takes a toll on her. And she did it for me. For Wren.
“Go,” she says quietly as she lays her hand on my arm and squeezes. “We’re square.”
We’re not. I’ll owe her for the rest of my life for this. But I nod and carry Wren straight into the bathroom. She’s still freezing. Once I have warm water running into the tub, I sit with her in my lap and take off my boots. “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”
Wren flinches, and her entire body stiffens. “No, not again…no more…I can’t…”
“Wren. Wake up. You’re safe. It’s Ry. Open your eyes and look at me.”
Cupping her cheek, I run my thumb gently over her lips. When she forces her eyes open, they’re so bloodshot, I can barely see any white in them, and her pupils struggle to focus. “Ry? Oh God. Ry. You’re…real.” Fresh tears tumble over her cheeks, and I brush them away.
“I want to get you into the tub, baby. You’re freezing.”
“Don’t let go.”
It’s not easy stripping out of my pants, socks, and shirt while holding on to an injured woman, but I manage. And then I shift her and get my first good look at her body.I’m going to kill him. Slowly. Painfully. And I’m going to make sure he knows every scream, every cut, every broken bone is payback for what he did to her.
Her arms bear multiple distinct finger bruises, and blood runs down her left bicep, to her elbow, and half down to her wrist. Long scratches mar her neck and breasts. Ligature marks on her wrists. A fucking boot print on her side, right under her ribs. Deep purple and black spread across her hip. I’m too terrified to look lower. What if he raped her?
I rest a tentative hand on her thigh, and when she doesn’t flinch, I release the breath I’m holding. “Is this okay?”
She must understand my hesitation, because she blinks hard and reaches for my cheek. Her hand shakes as her fingers skim my jaw, and she whispers, “He didn’t. He tried, but I stopped him.”
Thank fuck.I shove my briefs down my legs, kick out of them, and sink down with her into the tub.
“Hurts,” she whimpers. “Too hot.”
“It’s only because you’re so cold, baby. Give it a minute or two. I promise it’ll feel better soon.”
Ten minutes later, she’s stopped shivering, and I pull the plug. The water’s red from the blood still trickling from her arm, but the wound isn’t serious. “Can you stand?”
She looks up at me, pain, fear, and shame welling in her eyes. “N-no. I don’t think…I’m so tired. Everything hurts. Make it stop…” Panic swallows her words, and she struggles to pull away.
“What? What do you want? Anything, Wren. Name it.”
“He…Kolya…told me…oh God. He was right. I can’t…breathe…” Her voice rises in pitch, and she starts to wheeze, her fingers curling around my bicep.
“Listen to me, baby. You’re safe. He’s never going to hurt you again. Do you understand me?”
