“If you want, I can have someone meet you at the next hop and take her back to the states. I can get you back to the Team straight from there.”
An opportunity for revenge against J - he could kill the bastard himself. But that meant he'd have to abandon Celine. Again. “I don’t know yet. I need to wait until she wakes up; see if she’s stable.”
“Roger. Contact me as soon as she wakes up.”
“Roger.” Aaron hung up the phone and tried to work the stiffness from his shoulders as he made his way back to her door.
When he reached it, he grabbed the handle and paused, working up the courage to go in. The sister’s reassurance had been more than he’d hoped, but hadn’t been conclusive. What if she woke up and was scared of him?
Aaron lifted his head and stared at the rusty patch on the metal door in his line of sight. If she was scared, he’d deal with it and be there for her however he needed. With newfound resolve, he quietly opened the door and moved to her side. The nurse had dimmed the lights, leaving only a small bed lamp on, but that faint glow clearly highlighted the I.V. running from her arm, along with the bruise on her cheek.
He’d thought her fragile before, but laying there in the bed, hooked up to monitors she looked…broken.
Agony ripping through his chest, Aaron collapsed into the metal chair beside the bed and carefully gathered her tiny hand into his. The rush of fresh tears caught him off guard. He let them fall to the mattress.
“I’m so sorry.” He could barely choke out the words.
Celine’s hand hung limp and cold in his. “Please be okay. I swear, I’ll never leave you again. I was wrong. So wrong.”
His only answer was the slow, steady beep of her monitors. Aaron dropped his head to her hand, wishing he could crawl into bed and take her in his arms. He needed to hold her and feel her heart beat against his chest.
But he may never get that chance again. She should despise him after how he treated her. “Please forgive me,” he whispered.
He sat there, holding her hand in the darkness, until his eye lids drooped. He didn’t want to risk hurting her by accidentally falling asleep on her, so he silently moved his chair back into the corner, leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He’dbe at her side when she woke.
Chapter 11
Have to run.Have to hide. Have to get away.Terror gripped Celine as she raced down the maze of hallways in the beautiful but deadly palace. Dodging left and right. Every time she turned the corner she was faced with the girl in the blue burka. She turned around again, her lungs locked down so tight she couldn't breathe. Solana appeared again, only this time a face floated in front of the blue mask. Caroline Cotter's face. Tears ran down Caroline's cheeks the color of blood, her mouth twisted into a wide, silent scream.
“No!” Celine ran only to slam into a solid chest. Mr. Mankel blocked her, only he wasn't speaking. He just stood there smiling down at her, frozen like the statues lining the hall. And then Celine's captor appeared. Suddenly, she was on the floor. He ripped her clothes from her, pawing at her naked body and she couldn’t lift her arms to fight him; invisible restraints held her down.
“No!”
Celine woke from the terrifying nightmare to a dark room, her body shaking and drenched in a cold sweat. She attempted to lift her arms only to have them held in place by soft, yet firm shackles around her wrists. She tried to get her breathing under control, but the air ratcheted in and out of her lungs like a huge piston. Cool sheets covered her naked body and a hardmattress lay underneath her.
Where was she? Her mind whirled in a frantic tumble searching for her last memory, but all she could come up with was a blurry name – Dmitri.
They'd sold her – Celine bolted upright and was yanked right back down by a wave of dizziness and her restraints. She bucked and kicked, twisting with panic as she tried to fight free. A sharp pain stung the inside of her elbow, and then something warm ran down her side and arm.
A loud beep sounded behind her and she realized with growing terror she'd been hooked up to some kind of alarm. Dmitri knew she was awake? Was he coming for her now? Her whole body went cold. She had to escape.
The door swung open and light filtered into the room. Celine looked up and saw the outline of a burka. She screamed.
Chapter 12
The room filledwith florescent light and Celine slammed her eyes shut against the painful brightness. Fear gripped her in a tight fist and she twisted on the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest into a tight ball.
Open your eyes.Where was she?
“Celine, sweetheart, look at me.” A rough voice penetrated the fog around her brain and Celine peeked into the concerned brown eyes of Aaron Speirs.
No, how could he be here? She must be having another dream. “Not real.”
Aaron barked orders over his shoulder. “Give me something to stop the bleeding, dammit.” Then he turned back to her, still the same soft expression on his features. “I am real. You were unconscious. My team and I rescued you. You’re safe.”
The cold and shock gripped her on the inside, leaving her shaking. A bone deep kind of cold like she would never be warm again. It was too much to take in. “The girl in the blue burka. She was just here.”
Another voice, this one different yet distinctly female, filled the room, “I think she was having a nightmare.”
