34
AUGUST 30, 2024
Daleyza
Within twenty-four hours,Ildefanso had finally drifted off into a restless slumber as a fever began to run through his body. One of his wounds, maybe both, had become infected from being in this filthy container. Heaven above only knew what had found its way into his wounds, possibly even from just the bullet itself.
She was cold. Although they were inside the shipping container and protected from the elements, the container was somewhere unheated. In the beginning, she’d periodically rise to her feet and walk a few short steps back and forth in the darkness, trying to keep her muscles from stiffening too much, but it did very little to warm her. Paranoia kept her from moving too far from Ildefanso. The container was approximately the size of a semitrailer, but there was nothing inside it except for them. She had this irrational thought that if she left his side, she’d never find him again in the dark.
He moaned. Her head remained leaning back against the trailer wall, but her hands continued to stroke through his short hair, across his forehead, and down his cheeks. His head in her lap felt like a hundred-pound weight, and the energy it took to finish one touch and begin the next was sapping her strength. She felt the heat driving upward from his body, yet oddly, it left her feeling colder. He needed water. He needed care and medicine. Needing them didn’t make them appear any more than wishing for them.
No one had been back to give them food or water. They were going to die in this container unless his friends found their tracker signals.
There was a clunking sound. Then a metallic groan. Were Rodrigo and her brothers finally coming to finish the job? She was so tired; she didn’t even know if she cared anymore.
She recoiled at the bright light streaming through the open door. She tried to raise her hand to shield her eyes from the painful shards stabbing into them. When she couldn’t do it, she simply collapsed over Ildefanso’s head, determined to use her last bits of strength to protect him, the way he’d protected her for all these years.
Steps approached her. Whispers echoed in the empty container. Hands reached for her, trying to pull her away from Ildefanso.
“No, no, leave him alone!”
A smooth baritone came from the darkness. “Gloriosa, sweetheart. You’ve got to let him go. It’s okay. You’re safe. We’ve got you, but you’ve got to let him go so I can see how bad it is. I can’t help him if you don’t let go of him.”
It was the devil who’d come for him. His face was all planes and angles. Glittering eyes. Hair swept back from his head into a topknot.
No. Not the devil. Demon. His name was Demon. He was a friend of Ildefanso’s and a doctor.
“Help him,” she pleaded.
“I will, Gloriosa, but you have to let him go. He won’t be far away. I promise.” She heard a bag unzipping, then material rustling. “TB, can you take her outside? Heated blanket and water. Sips fromthe cap only. I’ll need to run an IV, but he’s in worse shape. I need to deal with him first.”
“Save him,” she whispered as a giant picked her up off the ground.
“He will, Gloriosa.” This voice was deeper. Gruffer. Somehow, it still managed to soothe. “There is no way we’re letting him get away from you. I’ve got a thousand bucks that says the two of you will be fighting and sniping at each other within twenty-four hours of finding you. You wouldn’t want my son to lose that money from his college fund, would you?”
“You all need hobbies,” she mumbled.
His laugh rumbled deep in his chest. “So we’ve heard. I’m guessing restraining people isn’t any more of a hobby than assassinating people, huh?”
“No.”
“Hmm. I guess you’ll have to help us pick out some new ones when we get home.”
She was laid down on a flat surface and wrapped in something crinkly but warm. Sound flowed over her like water. She heard words, felt touch, and smelled crisp, clean air, like from up in the mountains. Pain tingles began in her body, and she began to whimper as they radiated throughout.
“Shh, I know it hurts,” the bass voice said again. “That means your body is regaining feeling. It’s a good thing, even though I know it’s painful. You’re hypothermic.”
Sluggishly, her brain urged her to shove off the crinkly blankets. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! Her fingers ached, her toes were screaming in agony, and she began shaking and crying.
She was picked up off whatever she was lying on—TB, that was the giant’s name—and lifted higher, ending up in someone else’s arms. She fought him. Where she found the strength, she didn’t know, but she needed to go back to Ildefanso.
“Easy, Gloriosa, I’ve got you.” A new voice, this one with a very odd accent. British, yet not. She’d heard it before. Blond hair. Blueeyes. A face that was always smiling. Tattoos. So many tattoos. And piercings. She wondered if he ever set off metal detectors.
“Only one of my piercings is metal, and that one’s fun when it sets off the detectors,” he teased. “I love making TSA blush.”
Apparently, she’d said that part out loud.
“Yep, you did. All good. I’m used to it. Gem forgets to turn off her inner monologue all the time. She’s far less complimentary, however, when I hear her thinking about me. Okay. Time to go back to TB.”
