He didn’t care about himself.Raven.
“Raven’s okay. You saved her.”
His heart rate settled at X-Man’s assurance. He wanted to ask questions. Wanted to see her. But his body refused to cooperate.
Chatter filled his ear, becoming background noise. His team was there, and so was Raven. That’s all that mattered.
“We found the sniper hole. Whoever it was got away.”
“At least he’s not a very good one.”
“What do you mean he’s not good? He hit Liam!”
Liam struggled to differentiate who spoke, but Raven’s exasperated tone was unmistakable.
“That’s what I’m talking about. He hit him, but he didn’t kill him. If he were a good sniper, Liam wouldn’t be breathing right now. And maybe not you.”
“That really gives me warm fuzzies, guys.” Raven huffed.
“We aim to please.”
Liam could imagine Raven shaking her head.
“Why isn’t he waking up?”
“It’s going to take him a bit to recover. My guess is he can hear us, but his pea brain is trying to right itself.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” Raven’s voice rose.
Liam gritted his teeth. The increased volume sent daggers through his skull.
A deep chuckle, one that had to be Rafe, filled his ears. “Watch out, X-Man.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“What about the sniper? How did he find us?” Raven asked.
“I have no idea. No one knew we were here.”
Liam struggled to open his eyes as the conversation flowed around him. He tried to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth but failed.
“I wish he’d wake up.” He noticed the warmth of his hand in hers. “So what’s the plan?”
“The plan is for the big guy to wake up, then get you on the plane and out of here.”
“Raven, I don’t know how someone found our safe house. No one knew about it except for Liam’s friend.”
There was no way Liam’s friend Derek was involved. The man was as solid as they came.
Liam fought against the fog inhabiting his brain and whispered, “He’s not involved. It had to be another way.”
“Liam, you’re awake!” Raven’s voice pierced his temples.
He grimaced.
“Sorry. Sorry.” Raven softened her voice.
He still couldn’t open his eyes, but at least he could respond. “Kinda…” His voice cracked.
