Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)(89)

I was moving again then, my body bouncing along the hard ground, as I weakly tried to twist from his hold. “No! Help!” I cried, but it was nothing more than a weak noise.

More darkness pressed in, blocking the light completely. I figured that this was me losing my tiny grasp on consciousness, but then the pressure around my body eased, and I heard thuds and scuffling, followed by the sort of rumbly growl that I usually associated with Beck.

Because I was free, I managed to roll myself over and started to crawl back in what I hoped was the direction of the house. My head throbbed like it was being repeatedly smacked with a hammer.

My vision was tunnel, most of it still blurry, the pain wanting to pull me under. Hands landed on my back, and I immediately started to fight, spinning to kick and punch. Dylan had said I should use my legs, and I was going to do my very best.

“Butterfly,” a soft voice said, and the fight died. I slumped against him, and he lifted me into his arms. “Baby, hold on.”

I had no strength to hold on, but I sort of realized he hadn’t meant that in a literal sense. He was talking about not passing out on him.

“Eddy,” I croaked.

He brushed a hand across my brow, pushing back all the wayward hair. “Evan has her, she’s okay.”

Tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes, and I finally let myself rest heavily against him, all of my fight gone.

The next however long was mostly a blur of pain. I managed not to vomit in Beck’s car, and I counted that as a win.

“You managed not to get kidnapped as well,” Dylan reminded me. I must have mentioned the vomiting thing out loud. Dylan was driving while Beck held me in his lap. “Proud of you, Riles.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. “Need my gun.”

Beck’s arms tightened around me, pulling me closer into his rigid muscles. He hadn’t relaxed once since I’d ended up in his arms, and the heat of his fury was burning me even through my clothes. I thought they would take me to the hospital, the Delta owned one, but we actually ended up at Beck’s house. In another room I’d never seen before.

It was basically set up like a very expensive emergency room. White and sterile, with beds and as much medical equipment as I was sure most hospitals had.

“What is this room for?” I asked, wincing when I realized that was a pretty stupid question. I couldn’t think straight with the pounding in my brain. What I meant to ask was why do you have a hospital in your house…

“Sometimes we get injured and we like to keep the details off public record,” Beck explained, keeping his voice low and soothing. “I also have some doctors that I use and they won’t step foot near a legit hospital. We’ve had to use this room a lot.”

“Much easier to protect you from Beck’s estate as well,” Dylan added. He was close by even though I couldn’t see him. Beck gently placed me on a reasonably comfortable hospital bed, and a warm blanket was draped over me. “Don’t fall asleep on me, Riles,” he said, adjusting the pillow under my head. “The doctor will be here in like two minutes.”

“We could just do it.” I heard Dylan argue. I’d closed my eyes at this point because the bright lights were hurting me. “Not like we haven’t patched each other up a million times.”

Beck disagreed. “I won’t risk her. We’ll just get an opinion, and then figure out what we want to do for treatment.”

“Still awake over there, Riley?” Dylan asked quickly.

I lifted a hand and waved it, hoping that would be sufficient.

Beck was at my side then, and I let out a soft gasp when he reached out and took that hand, holding it tightly. My other one, the broken one, was gently held by Dylan, both of them offering comfort and support.

“We’re so fucking sorry we left you alone,” Dylan said, and Beck made a low angry noise. “We should have known better.”

“S’okay,” I whispered. “No one died.”

“Not yet,” Beck said softly, and the menace in his voice was enough for me to open my eyes and meet a set of steely gray ones.

“What does that mean?”

Beck’s face was awash in shadows, despite the brightly lit room. He was scary right then, the ruthless Beck that didn’t give a fuck who got hurt if he got his own way. “It means, that Huntley is about to be down another one of their hired help.”

Oh, right. “That was the guy at the mall,” I told them, not wanting any secrets between us. “He said he was confirming that I really was Delta, because you guys don’t usually let chicks in.”

Beck and Dylan exchanged a glance, one filled with about a million hidden messages I didn’t understand. “So he’ll be killed?” I asked, wanting to know for some morbid reason. He’d been creepy as fuck, he’d tried to kidnap me, and he’d punched me in the face. I couldn’t find a sliver of sympathy for his situation.

But I still needed to know his fate.

Beck nodded, his eyes dragging over my face. “He’s just lucky I won’t be the one doing it. His death at my hands would not be merciful.” He used his free hand and ran featherlight touches across the spot on my face that was throbbing. Where I’d been hit.

It surprised me Beck wouldn’t be killing him, and I tilted my head to the side. “Delta upper levels are handling it,” was all he said.