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A sting along the length of my cheek draws my attention back to the medic fixing me up in the back of a non-descript van. One of Spartan’s cleanup guys. A few of them are sorting out the medical side of things, while the rest, along with my team, are scouring the warehouse and cleaning up that major mess.
“Almost done,” the guy tells me.
Char reappears then, coming back from talking with Wraith. “I can’t believe you actually sat through it all and let them fix you up.”
I reach out and take her hand as the guy gets to work stitching up my cheek.
“Just wanted an excuse to take a load off,” I joke.
She gives my hand a squeeze. “Are you okay?”
“I’m breathing. Priest and the Gatekeepers are gone. You’re here. I’m way more than just okay, kitten.”
She beams back at me.
The medic cuts through the moment between us, telling me, “You’re good to go. Just take it easy for a few days.”
Hell, I’m planning on it.
“Wraith headed out?” I ask Char.
She nods. “He had to get back to Ridgefield.”
“He did well. Helped us out in a big way.”
“Yeah, he’s a good man. A hell of a soldier too. He barely sustained a scrape and he took out a good portion of the enemy before everything went to hell.”
“He lives for this shit.”
“It’s most definitely his calling,” Cavalno’s voice sounds, and I look behind Charlotte to see him striding up with the new kid, King, in tow.
King has his leather jacket slung over his arm, while the shoulder of the other is bandaged up thanks to a stab wound he sustained from Priest. According to Cavalno, it was close to being a neck wound, which would’ve been a whole other story, and something he wouldn’t have walked away from so easily, if at all. Kid got real lucky there.
Cavalno is way more beat up, a whole other level. Although he’s trying to hide it, because he’s all about that pride of his, projecting strength and power, no matter what, it’s obvious he’s in a lot of pain. He’s limping bad, his right leg stitched up. The medics had to treat him first, because he ripped a massive shard of glass out of his thigh just so he could go on fighting. The guy’s a warrior to the core and I respect that about him, big time. He’s sporting a bandage around his head mussing up his hair after sustaining a nasty gash that was bleeding all down his face when he first got to the medics, a combination of the glass from the skylight raining down on him and the fall he took from the explosion. There’s a bloodied gash along his throat too.
Char winces as she takes him in. She steps to my side, sliding her hand into mine. “How are you feeling?” she asks, looking between the both of them.
Cavalno shrugs. “We’ll heal. Flesh wounds.” He smiles at King. “Yes, mio fratello?”
The corner of King’s mouth turns up. “Worth it for the end result. Justice was finally served.”
Cavalno briefed me right after about Priest being responsible for murdering the kid’s parents, and trying to destroy his legacy. He held strong through it all, defying everybody’s expectations. Gotta admire that kind of fortitude. He wanted to be the one to take the kill shot, but Cavalno’s glad Priest didn’t fall at his hands. The kid ain’t like us. He’s still got a chance to keep on the straight and narrow.
Cavalno holds out his hand to me. “Nice doing business with you, Dealer.”
We shake firmly. “Right back at you.”
He hooks his arm around Char and kisses the top of her head. He whispers, but Char’s so close to me that I hear it as he tells her, “I’m happy you’ve found your home. Rest now and enjoy.”
She smiles and kisses his cheek, before they pull apart.
“I have a few calls to make. The teams are almost finished. You can head home now if you like. There’s nothing more for you to do here.”
“All right, appreciate it,” I tell him.
King gives us a respectful chin lift, then he and Cavalno head back toward their men.
“An interesting partnership in the making,” Char muses as she watches them interact.
“Well, kitten, the best ones are hella interesting, ain’t they?” I say, pulling her to me.
She grins. “Nothing can compare to ours, can it?”
“Never. Ours is one of a kind.”
She rests her head on my chest, sinking into me. “Damned and twisted?”
“Yeah, kitten. Just the way we both like it.”
