February 22nd
1:01 A.M.
“I did not enjoy that,” Thunder muttered as the woman’s eyes drooped closed, and she passed out beneath him. Loosening his hold on her, he rocked back on his heels, unsettled about having to hold down an innocent victim so they could drug her.
“Had to be done,” Voodoo said from beside him as he eased the needle out of the woman’s arm.
It wasn't that he didn't know that already, or even that he doubted it. This woman had chosen death over believing them, and given what he was sure she’d lived through, he couldn’t fault her for that choice. But he also wasn't going to let her end her life when she was so close to being rescued.
When shehadbeen rescued.
But she didn't believe that, and she’d rather die than go with them.
Still, he’d given her a second chance to offer up a name, to agree to come with them willingly, to accept the fact that she didn't have to fight to live anymore, but she hadn't been able todo that. Again, he didn't fault her for her choices. If he was in her shoes, he probably wouldn't have believed the six men dressed in tactical gear either.
Leaving her behind wasn't an option.
Without a name, they couldn’t ID her, well, at least not quickly. They’d already snapped a photo of her and sent it to Prey to run through facial recognition software. That could take days, weeks even, and without a name, they couldn’t contact her family and have people she knew brought in to help the woman. They’d take DNA samples and fingerprints, hoping she was in the system, but right now the priority was getting her someplace safe.
“We lost our chance at building trust,” he murmured as Voodoo began to take the woman’s vitals.
“Once we get her someplace safe, she’ll realize we weren't lying to her,” Voodoo assured him.
“This isn’t like with Indigo,” Thunder reminded his friend. “We don’t have that same bond that she knew she could trust from the beginning because we’re all the same. We don’t even know if she knows who Dr. Gardner is or the things he’s done. Building trust with her isn’t going to be easy, especially since we don’t know anything about her past or how she ended up here.”
That the woman was a human trafficking victim was pretty much a given, so he could make guesses about the things she’d endured, but that wasn't enough as far as he was concerned. He wanted to know it all, know who he had to track down and kill for laying their hands on an innocent woman. This sudden surge of protective rage was unsettling, and he wasn't sure he liked it.
“We know she’s one of us now. She’s another of Dr. Gardner’s victims,” Steel said. “We’ll bring her home with us.”
The proclamation came out of left field as far as Thunder was concerned. He had assumed they’d take her to a Prey safehouse, staying with her until Prey sent one of their on-staffpsychologists to help her. Maybe stay until the woman was well enough to give them whatever intel she had.
“To our place?” he asked, darting his gaze up to meet Steel’s, before lowering it once again to the woman lying so still on the sandy shore.
“Where else would she go? She needs a safe place to stay and recover enough to feel comfortable telling us who she is.”
“We can't accommodate her needs,” he reminded his team leader, knowing it was true even as his body had a visceral reaction to the idea of leaving the woman behind. It was illogical because they didn't know her, she didn't know or even like them, they bore no responsibility for her other than getting her someplace safe and yet leaving her behind felt like abandoning her.
“Actually, I can't think of anybody more qualified to help her come to terms with what she’s been through,” Steel countered, his gaze steady and measured when Thunder looked up at him.
“And we have Voodoo to take care of her physical needs,” Blade added.
“You're all in agreement with this? She comes with us?” There was no way Thunder would push this woman on anyone. She was going to be high maintenance, need a lot of time and patience, and their home was their refuge from the world. It was also the place where Steel, Dragon, Blade, and Voodoo were building futures with the women they’d fallen in love with.
The only way this woman would come with them was if everyone was on board.
“Of course she does,” Blade replied, like it was obvious.
“With us,” Dragon agreed.
“We can help her,” Voodoo added. “And I don’t just mean physically.” Not only was it good to see his friend confident in his healing abilities again after doubting himself when Indigo’s life had been on the line, but also for acknowledging the fact that hewas more than an unnatural ability to heal. None of them had ever seen that as Voodoo’s only value, but that was how the man had seen himself, and Indigo was helping him to learn he was so much more than that.
“All right,” he agreed, something settling inside him. This woman was a stranger who literally chose death over trusting them, and yet he couldn’t help but feel like Steel was right. Who else could better help her deal with the horror she’d been through at the hands of the same man who had experimented on them?
“She stable for transport?” Steel asked Voodoo, who nodded.
“She’s stable. As soon as we get her settled in the helo, I’ll set up an IV, get some fluids into her. She’s weak, and we’ll have to watch her carefully to make sure there’s no secondary drowning from water left in her lungs, but there are no injuries we need to attend to.”
“Thank you,” he said as he shifted his position so he could scoop the unconscious woman into his arms.
