Safe (The Shielded Series Book 1) (17 page)

Why had she lied?

“Mikale, we used to be best friends,” Foster said, trying his hardest to
contain the burning rage boiling inside him. He’d never been this furious… or
desperate. Conflicting emotions swirled like a tornado around him. He wanted
Darina to live, yet he was shocked to find out she’d been with Mikale, that he
was the rich bastard upon which she judged other rich, intelligent men. He
wanted Mikale to die, yet the man had been his closest comrade for years before
getting fired from Emerge Tech.

“We
were
best friends, Foster,” Mikale rasped, one of his hands
massaging his windpipe. “Then you forgot about me when I needed you most.”

“I didn’t forget about you. Emerge Tech made me choose between you and
getting the globe up and running again. What would you have chosen?”

“I would have listened to my heart instead of my unfeeling brain. I would
have realized that joining me on the outside meant we could have continued our
work together. That we could have saved the world on our own, free from Emerge
Tech. We would have found a way, Foster. I know we would have. Together.”

Mikale’s eyes were tear-filled now and Foster’s throat tightened as he
realized Mikale was probably right. Mikale had managed to build himself back up
on the outside alone. He’d lost his grip on reality with his virus and
repopulation plans, but with Foster’s assistance and friendship, perhaps the
two of them could have achieved their common goals without Emerge Tech.

Running a hand through his hair, Foster said, “I made the choice I
thought was right at the time. I can’t undo it. I wish I could. All we can do
is move forward, but I need you to help me save Darina now.”

“I’m not helping you do shit, Ashby.”  

Suddenly, Mikale cried out and put his hands to his skull. He gasped for
breath and slumped against the wall. “Make it stop! Make it stop!”

As Foster looked on in confusion, Yolase approached, her eyes closed. Her
breathing was labored, but she kept moving closer to Mikale. Her body trembled,
but it was Mikale who slid down the wall into a heap on the ground.

“The cure is….” He rattled off a list of ingredients then passed out.

Foster turned to Yolase, who Hydec had to grab and support. “What did you
do?”

“Bombarded his mind with unpleasant images from his own subconscious. Wasn’t
sure I could do that, but there’s a first time for everything.” She shivered.
“Don’t want to do that again.” She looked at Darina. “You have a cure to make
so let’s get to it. Darina’s still alive, but barely.”

Foster quickly mixed a new cure and tested it on Darina’s blood sample.
With one drop, her blood was pure again. He got a fresh syringe and sucked up
the cure.

“Please work.” He injected Darina once again, his gaze going immediately
to the heart monitor.

The beeping still sounded as the image on the screen showed a faint
ripple representing Darina’s heart rate. After a few moments of agony watching
the faint ripple grow into a steady up and down, it flat-lined completely.

“No!” He still had things to say to her, and she had truths he needed to
hear from her lips alone.  

Foster slapped his hands on the table with an echoing smack and Darina
sat up with a gasp. She sucked in deep inhales, her eyes wildly searching the
room.

“What the hell?” she said, her voice not much more than a rasp.

Foster pulled her into his arms and squeezed until she shoved him back.

“Need some air, Doc.”

He cupped her face. “You can have all the air you want. Later.”

His mouth crashed down on hers, and at first, she struggled against him.
Within seconds, though, she’d softened into the kiss, her full lips matched his
fervor. She slid from her position on the table so her legs were on either side
of his body, locked around his waist. Her arms came around his shoulders as his
own raked up and down her back.

She was alive. She was in his arms.

“She likes being whipped.” Mikale’s voice grated on Foster’s ears,
ripping him from the sweet oblivion of Darina’s kiss.

He tore his lips from Darina’s and marched over to Mikale, dragging him
up from the ground by a fistful of his shirt. “The woman you were with is not
this woman.” He thrust his arm back to Darina still sitting at the edge of the
table. He didn’t care if she’d left out who had purchased her prosthetic—who
she had seduced to get it. What did it matter? All he cared about was that she
was alive.

“The woman you were with was desperate to care for her son and her friend
and her damn city. She wanted her life back. You were a means to getting that
life back. Nothing more.”

“If that’s what you want to believe.” Mikale smiled through the blood
still dripping from his mouth. “Enjoy her. I did.”

Foster grabbed Hydec’s weapon and shoved it into Mikale’s gut. Before he
could pull the trigger though, a blast sounded and Mikale crumpled to the
ground.

Looking over his shoulder, Foster saw Darina holding her weapon out.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while.” She looked at Mikale’s body. “I
hope you didn’t still need him.”

“No one needs him.” Foster looked to Rasha and Hydec who picked up Mikale
and headed for the door of the lab.

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to take some extra fuel to get the waterwheel
going again, don’t you think, Hydec?” Rasha asked.

“Absolutely. Be a shame to waste any wood when we have this here body
that’ll burn just as nice.” Hydec threw Mikale over his shoulder and carted him
out of the lab.

Yolase followed Rasha and Hydec out, turning only to say, “I saw what
Warres wanted you for, Darina.” She shuddered, rubbing her hands up and down
her own arms. “He had some grand repopulation plans. You did the right thing
ending him.” She slipped out of the lab and closed the door.

Alone now, Foster turned to Darina. “I’d like to make sure that virus is
out of your system completely.”

Silently, she offered him her arm and he drew more blood. After a few
minutes at his microscope, he returned to her with a wide smile.

“Free and clear.”

“Thanks. Though that word doesn’t seem like enough.” She hopped off the
table, taking a moment to make sure she was steady on her feet.

“Darina, I want—”

“Can I see Zeke?” she interrupted.

“Of course.”

Holding off telling her that it didn’t matter what she’d done with
Warres, that he wanted her anyway, Foster led her out of the lab and to the
guest room. A battle raged outside between Warres’s associates and the GECs,
but he couldn’t leave Darina. He wouldn’t. Not after he’d almost lost her
permanently.

Inside the guest room, Estoria and Mareea sat by the bed where Zeke
rested.

Darina came to the bedside and lowered next to Zeke. She brushed hair off
his forehead and cupped his cheek. “He’s going to be okay?” she asked Foster.

“Yes. The blast hit him above his heart. I was able to repair the damaged
tissue.” Foster came to stand behind her. “He should be back to a hundred
percent in a few days. GECs don’t take a lot of time to heal.”

“He woke up once,” Mareea said, looking up at Darina. “He asked for you.”

Darina smiled and pressed a kiss to Zeke’s cheek, lingering a moment as
if making sure he was breathing. “Are you all right, Mareea? Warres didn’t… do
anything to you, did he?”

Mareea shrugged. “Bruises only.” A few tears dribbled down her cheeks,
which she quickly brushed away with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “When I think
of what he could have done to me or that he almost killed Zeke…” The girl
buried her face in her hands then appeared to shake it off. “My uncle? Where is
he?”

“Most likely kicking ass out there.” Darina reached for Mareea’s hand.
“Zeke cares about you.”

“I know. He took a shot to the chest to prove it.” Mareea took Zeke’s
hand and held it in her lap. “I feel the same way about him.”

Estoria got up and put her hand on Foster’s arm. “Why don’t we give them
some time?”

He wanted to say no. He wanted to say he wasn’t leaving Darina’s side.
Something about the way Darina hugged Mareea and snuggled up to Zeke, however,
made him feel like an outsider looking in on a place he didn’t belong.

Nodding, he let Estoria tug him out of the guest room.

“They’ve been through a lot. All three of them,” Estoria said, “but don’t
give up, okay?”

He didn’t want to give up, but was it already too late?

Darina needed a few moments to make sure Zeke was, in fact, all right and
that she was strong enough after having one of Mikale Warres’s viruses inside her
body. She’d never wanted another thing of Warres’s in her body after seeing
those two women throw themselves at him in the tattoo studio. He hadn’t turned
them away. Hadn’t asked them to stop fondling him. He’d accepted whatever they
were willing to give him.

As he’d been doing the entire time he was with me.

Which shouldn’t have bothered her. After all, she was using him too. She
needed another hand. Another hand cost money. Warres had money. It was a simple
equation, but she’d let her emotions get caught up in the exchange. She’d
imagined getting the new hand and staying with him. He lived a good life, a
life she wanted. She’d dreamed of introducing him to Zeke and living together within
Emerge Tech’s walls, safe and sound.

She’d been foolish.

Rich bastards didn’t know how to love or respect or think of anyone but
themselves. When she thought of the things she’d done simply because Warres had
said it would please him, she wanted to beat the crap out of herself.

And now Foster knew she’d prostituted herself with Warres. He’d understood
and accepted when she’d first told him what she’d done to get the prosthetic
hand, but certainly now that he knew
who
the rich bastard was, he
wouldn’t want anything to do with her.

How could he? She’d fucked the enemy. Literally.

She closed her eyes in a lame attempt to push everything out of her mind.
When a blast sounded outside and rocked the main house, however, she couldn’t continue
hibernating in the guest room.

“Take care of him for me?” she asked Mareea.

“Sure. Where are you going?”

“I assembled that team outside. Be downright cowardly of me to stay in
here, wouldn’t it?”

“Cowardly is the last word anyone would use to describe you,” Mareea
said. “You and my uncle don’t know how to be cowards.”

Yeah. She and Ghared were cut from the same cloth. They both knew you had
to make sacrifices. And when the fight was over out there, they’d haul ass back
to the city and keep making those sacrifices.

She’d been stupid to believe she could actually have Foster. He was the
light. She was the dark.

Besides, he’d found the cure, and Warres was dead. Her job as his
bodyguard was over.

Weapon ready, Darina ran outside into the fight and took down as many of
Warres’s associates as possible. The GECs had done a fine job without her, and
within an hour, the enemy was either dead or captured. Ghared was already
organizing a convoy to fly prisoners back to the city to hand over to the
government.

“These GECs were instrumental in fighting Warres’s crew,” he told Darina
as he struggled out of the pulsejet. He winced as he put some weight on his
injured leg. “Some of them are willing to come back to the city with me and
plead for citizenship. I think they have a real shot of getting it if we back
them.”

“I’m in,” Darina said. “We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we
did here today without them. I’m pretty sure once the government realizes
Warres is dead and we have the cure, they’ll give us whatever we want.”

“Well, you know how the government likes to make everything hard,” Ghared
said.

“True, but it’s worth a shot. The GECs can always go back into hiding if necessary.”
Darina surveyed the field in front of them. Trees had come down when the
aircrafts fell, and the ground was torn up. The woods looked like a battlefield,
and her heart broke a little knowing Foster’s sanctuary had been treated so
harshly.  But, knowing how the people who lived here worked together gave her
confidence the oasis would be restored to its former glory. “How many
casualties are we facing here?”

“No GECs died today. They were made to fight, just like they said.”
Ghared pointed to a pile being assembled at the western side of the field.
“Those are Warres’s men who didn’t make it.”

Roben jogged over to them. “The prisoners are loaded, and we’re ready
when you are, Ghared.” He gestured to Ghared’s leg. “Let me get Foster to tend
to that.” He was gone before either Ghared or Darina could stop him.

Ghared glanced back at the main house then to Darina. “Zeke and Mareea
are all right?”

“Yes.”

“And you and Foster?”

“There is no me and Foster.”

“Yeah, right.”

Darina folded her arms across her chest. “If I say there’s no me and
Foster, there’s no me and Foster.”

Ghared shook his head. “Whatever you think is keeping you apart isn’t.
You deserve him.” He gestured to the land around them. “You deserve this. You
know, when it was pretty and shit.”

What did Ghared know? He had no idea she’d been with Warres. The rich
bastard was still nameless to him, and she’d keep it that way. She’d already
lost Foster. She wasn’t losing her best friend too.

Foster appeared on the deck of the main house, and Darina helped Ghared
navigate the steps up to him.

“Your niece is asking for you,” Foster said. “I’ll fix you up then you
can see her.”

“Sounds like a fine plan to me.”

Darina made a move to shift Ghared’s weight to Foster, who stood ready to
accept it, but Ghared wouldn’t let go of her.

“Nope. You’re coming with,” he said. “You know how I cry like a baby when
I have a boo-boo.”

She couldn’t stop the laugh that rushed out of her. “You’re an idiot.”

“Smartest idiot you’ve ever known.” He tightened his grip on her as they
followed Foster into the main house.

Foster skillfully set Ghared’s broken leg, ran his tablet program over
it, and immobilized it in a sturdy brace. His hands worked efficiently yet
tenderly, reminding Darina how Foster’s hands had felt caressing her body. She
so wanted to feel that again.

“Keep the brace on for a week,” Foster said to Ghared. “You should be
fine after that.” He gave Ghared a washcloth to clean the dried blood on his
face. Ghared still had that same wild look he always had, but he didn’t look as
beat up anymore.

“Thanks, man.” Ghared tested his weight on the braced leg then shook
Foster’s hand.

“No problem. Thank you as well. Rasha told me some of the GECs are going
to the city with you. I’ll miss them, but I’m happy they have this opportunity.”
Foster picked up a test tube. “Do you know if Emerge Tech is still
operational?”

“It was when I left the city. That fire only destroyed the one building
where your domicile was.”

Foster released a slow breath. “Good. I’m going to send them my formula
for the cure then.”

Ghared took the test tube and squinted at its liquid contents. “This is
it? This will save the world?”

Foster nodded as he took the tube back. “Looks rather unimpressive,
doesn’t it? But if Emerge Tech makes more and releases it into the water
supply, it will reverse Warres’s virus in current victims and prevent new
outbreaks. They can share it globally so other countries can do the same.”

“Rock and roll, you mad scientist, you.” Ghared clapped Foster on the
back. Turning to Darina, he said, “I’m going to stop in to see Zeke and Mareea
then head back to the city with whoever is coming with me. You’ll keep an eye
on Mareea?”

“We’re all coming with you, Ghared.” Darina purposely didn’t look at
Foster.

Ghared, however, glanced at Foster then lowered his voice. “Take a few
moments, Darina. Don’t make a rushed decision.”

“I need to come with you. I need to get back to my
real
life.” She
had a little trouble swallowing around the lump in her throat.

“Can Zeke be moved?” Ghared asked Foster, who had crept closer.

“I’d feel better if he wasn’t, but medically, there’s no reason why he
can’t be moved.”

Darina did look at Foster then. Mistake. A billion different kinds of
hurt swam in his lovely green eyes. Kind eyes. Though she’d slutted with Warres
years ago and hadn’t known Foster then, Darina felt as if she’d betrayed Foster
now.

In a monumentally unforgiveable way.

She had to leave.

“Maybe the kid should rest.” Ghared clamped his hand on Darina’s shoulder,
and tears burned at the corners of her eyes.

She had to clear her throat before speaking. “He can rest at home. Back
in the city.”  

“If that’s what you decide…” Ghared let his voice trail off as he regarded
Foster again. “I’ll be by the pulsejet. Take off time in ten minutes.”

Ghared turned to limp out of Foster’s lab, and Darina followed him, but a
hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Don’t go,” Foster said. “We need to talk.”

Ghared hesitated for a minute, looking back at Darina.

“I’ll be right there,” she said.

He nodded once and continued out.

“What’s there to say, Foster?” She faced him, but stared at her
dirt-covered boots. “Warres was right. I was his whore. How could you ever want
to look at me again, never mind touch me?”

He rested his hands on her shoulders, electrifying her entire body. All
she wanted to do was collapse against him and have him never let her go.

But she couldn’t even look him in the eye.

Foster tipped her chin so she had to look up at him, but she shrugged out
of his grip before their gazes connected.

“I have to go. My job was to protect you. The threat on your life is over.
I don’t need to be here.”

Not giving him the chance to say anything or stop her, she jogged out of
the lab and up the stairs. She fought back the tears threatening to spill out.
Officer Darina Lazitter did not cry.

But her cheeks were wet.

With an angry swipe at the traitorous tears, she made her way to the
guest room. Inside, Zeke didn’t stir on the bed nor did Mareea, her body half
in a chair and half on the bed beside Zeke. Darina stared at the young pair,
Mareea’s hand resting atop Zeke’s. She hated to disturb either one of them, but
they had to get out of there. The longer she stayed in Vermont… with Foster…
the harder it would be to leave, but she didn’t belong on his land, in his home.

In his heart.

Dr. Foster Ashby was the kind of man who saved the world. A simple cop
who’d whored it up with one of the globe’s most wanted was not the woman for
him. He may have thought differently, but fortunately Darina was thinking
clearly. Logic wouldn’t let her give in to what she wanted because, as she’d
said before, she and Foster weren’t in the same realm. The Universe didn’t
operate in such a way that they could be together. They were at opposite ends
of a spectrum, brought together in the middle only for a brief moment.

A brief, amazing moment. One that Darina would treasure… and mourn…
always.

****

Foster stayed in his lab after sending his cure formula to Emerge Tech,
his hands pressed to the worktable, wondering what to do next. Why had he said
Zeke could be moved? Why the hell was he so damn honest? One little lie and
Darina would have stayed. She never would jeopardize Zeke’s health.

But she would rip your heart out…

His chest actually ached. Foster rubbed at the source of the pain, but
knew there would be no alleviating it. The hurt was deep down in his soul.

“She was merely doing her job,” he said aloud to the empty room. The good
officer had protected him, shielded him from Warres, and now his life wasn’t in
danger. That was a good thing.

Only it didn’t feel like a good thing. Not at all.

A soft knock sounded on the lab door, and he opened it, hoping Darina had
changed her mind.

Estoria stood on the other side with her hands folded across her chest.

“Want to tell me why Darina is piling Zeke and Mareea in a pulsejet
piloted by Ghared?” She tapped her foot, and the noise rattled around in
Foster’s head as he stared at her feet. “Hey.” Estoria stepped closer and grabbed
his hand. Giving it a squeeze, she said, “Foster?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on?” She tugged him back toward the table and made him sit
on a stool.

“Officer Lazitter has completed her job. She’s heading back to the city.”
His voice sounded robotic to his ears.

“And you’re just letting her go?” Estoria’s eyebrows rose as she regarded
him.

“It’s her choice to make, Essie.” He stood and began cleaning his
worktable to have something to do.

“Not if she makes the
wrong
choice, Foster. Then it’s up to you to
make her see, make her stay. You don’t want her to go, do you?”

He shook his head. “But I need to respect her wishes.” He held up a hand
when Estoria opened her mouth. “Darina finished guarding me. She finished her
job.
I
was just a job.”

“No way.” Estoria wagged a finger in his face. “I saw how she looked at
you. You mean more to her than a job.”

Foster drew in a breath, held it, then let it gush out in one long
stream. Shit, he was tired. Almost getting caught by his enemies, being with
Darina, nearly losing her to that injection Mikale pumped into her, having a
battle on his normally peaceful slice of Vermont, and watching Darina walk out
of the lab weighed down on him.

“I need sleep.”

“The Foster Ashby I know never needs sleep.”

“Maybe you don’t know me at all. Maybe no one knows me.” He was being a
jerk. He knew it. He wanted to be left alone. “Is there anything out there,” he
pointed to the lab door, “that needs my immediate attention?”

“No. Hydec and Rasha have taken charge of assembling teams to fix any
damaged structures, and a few other volunteers are firing up the chainsaws to
cut up any fallen trees. The woodshed ought to be full to the brim by the time
they’re done.”

He picked up his tablet and shoved it into his pocket. “Good. I’ll be in
my library.” He made a move to walk past Estoria and out of the lab, but she
stopped him.

“You’re really not going to go after her?”