Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group #2)(81)

“Whoa, man, stand down,” Eli barked. “It’s us, Ian.”

Ian stared up through the red haze crowding his vision to see Eli, Jonah, Mad Dog and Tits standing in a tight semicircle. They lowered their guns.

“Christ,” Mad Dog grumbled as he dug into his backpack. “It’s getting to be a chore keeping you two in clothes.”

Ian glanced down, only now noticing that he was nude. Mad Dog tossed a pair of fatigues and a T-shirt at Ian and then to Braden. But Braden focused solely on Katie, anguish etched into his features as he stared down at her.

“What happened, Ian?” Eli asked softly.

Jonah and Eli both squatted down beside Katie. Braden ignored them in his distress.

Ian shook the cobwebs from his head. “I don’t know everything,” he said honestly. He stared up at his brother. “Braden said he shifted on purpose and that he remembers everything that happened while he was the panther.”

Eli and Jonah jerked their gazes to Braden.

“Is that true?” Eli asked.

“Think, Braden,” Jonah said urgently. “This could be important.”

“They were hurting Katie,” Braden said simply, his voice breaking with emotion. “Ian and I were helpless to save her. Esteban had us shackled and drugged. I knew I had to shift and so I did. Then I killed the man who was trying to hurt Katie. Then Esteban and finally the third man in the room.”

Eli exchanged glances with Ian, his brow creased in concentration.

“Did you mean to kill them? What I mean is did you know what you were doing? Did you plan it?”

“Yes,” Braden said simply. “I went after them. I wanted them dead. Katie fell from the table. There was blood everywhere, on her, on Esteban.”

He stared up at Ian. “You told her to get out, that I would hurt her. She touched me and then she buried her face in my fur. Then she told you to shift. You refused and said you didn’t want to hurt her. She told you that I wouldn’t let you, that I was protecting her. It was true. When you shifted, I put myself between you and her. I didn’t know what you would do. But you immediately went to help her. We both were just trying to get her out of there. She barely made it down the tunnel.”

He returned his gaze to her. “She was in so much pain. I don’t know what they did to her, Ian, and it’s killing me.”

Katie moaned again. She shook, seemingly wracked with a chill, but sweat bathed her body, beading on her forehead. Her face was pale, and her muscles twitched like a junkie in withdrawal.

Her face contorted, and her lips drew together in a fine line, going white as she battled what seemed to be unbearable pain.

And then her eyes flew open, and she stared up at Jonah and Eli. Her pupils went wide with fear, and then she turned away, her eyes staring unseeingly into the jungle. Her leg jumped, and the nerves in her arms spasmed uncontrollably.

Eli’s expression hardened while Jonah’s face softened when he stared down at her shaking body. Jonah reached out and gently touched her face.

Slowly her eyes moved until she locked gazes with him.

“What did they do to you, habibti?”

His voice was strained. Uncharacteristic emotion simmered in his eyes.

She stared dully back at him. “They took my eggs,” she whispered.

Jonah’s head came up in shock, and the other men all stared at each other. Had they understood right? Ian’s face tightened in horror as he remembered the scene right before Braden shifted. The spreading of her legs and the metal device the man had put between her legs. Dear God.

She closed her eyes as tears seeped from the corners, leaving damp trails down her pale face.

Eli turned to stare up at Mad Dog. There was steel in his eyes. “Give me some time before you blow this place to hell.” Then he turned to the others. “Get Katie to the helicopter. I’ll meet you there.”

***

Jonah carried Katie through the jungle, with Mad Dog taking point and Tits bringing up the rear. Ian and Braden were still weak and shaky from the drugs and the prolonged shift.

Jonah glanced down as Katie jerked and spasmed in his arms and wondered for the hundredth time what the bastards had done to her. And why? She clutched a worn leather journal to her chest, and murmured a weak protest when he tried to take it from her. So he left it, not wanting to cause her any more distress.

Her eyes had the vacant, distant look of the women brutalized under his father’s reign of tyranny. She looked…like his mother had the day he’d found her huddled in the bedroom of their palace home.

He stared stonily ahead even as his grip tightened around Katie’s slight form. He hadn’t been able to save his mother or the many others his father had crushed. In the end, he’d fled, shedding all association with Adharji and his dictator father.

Funny how things had a way of coming full circle. All things began in Adharji.

“Slow up, Jonah,” Tits called. “We’re nearing the landing site. Let Ian and Braden go ahead and make sure the area is clear. I’ll hang back and provide cover for you.”

Jonah slowed his pace and loosened his grip around Katie’s body. “Poor habibti,” he murmured as he stared down at the perspiration glistening on her face. “You’ve had it way too hard for one so young.”

“She needs a doctor,” Tits said.

Jonah jerked his head around to see Tits standing at his right shoulder. Then he glanced back at the strain on Katie’s face. “Yes, she does.”