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Turning my back on the now very dead soldier, I wandered further down the hallway, coming to a larger area where dead bodies sprawled. None of ours, thankfully. I spotted a few of the Owls congregating and wondered if this was coming to an end so soon.
To be fair, we outnumbered them, outmanned them too. They hadn’t got a chance in hell at surviving this.Like they got a choice anyway.I found Texas again as we continued, moving from room to room and finding fewer soldiers but more victims.
Minutes later, Miles alerted us that he needed help through the comms.
“Go! I’ve got this,” Texas claimed.
I marched with my gun raised on the lookout for any surprise visitors I needed to deal with. His rushed and quick explanation of roughly where he was located caused more tension in my body. Miles had found Milla. She was safe, and we’d be getting her out of the building once we’d cleared the area to satisfaction.
I stalked into a room and emotions rushed through my whole body. Shock, dread, denial. I didn’t know what to deal with first: the fact that this room was an intimation of the pool house at her parents’ home, or the fact that she was pinned against Miles’ body on the floor. He’d basically tangled himself around her so she couldn’t move even though she was trying her hardest to get him off. It wouldn’t work. He was solid brick.
She was wailing and yelling, words coming out as a jumbled mess. I’d fallen into a daze just dissecting it all. All those pictures on the wall…
“Hollis!” Miles snapped, and I met his determined eyes. “Mentally, she’s not here. We need to knock her out to get her outta here safely. She’s fighting like a wild animal!”
His body strained at holding but not hurting her though, just securing her as safely as he knew how to. Preston, Texas, and I needed to concentrate on everything else no matter how much we wanted our priority to be her, but she couldn’t be, not until this was over and we cleared the board.
“Ronnie, you’re needed here with your equipment now,” I ordered through the comms, giving him vague directions on how to find us.
I didn’t approach where they laid on the floor in the corner. I was frozen in place standing at the entrance of the room. My eyes flickered over the space again, needing to observe it, to take it all in, then back to them on the floor.What do I do?I never locked up like this. I was the Beta team lead for a good reason.
My little liar…
“Hollis!” Miles barked, and Milla jolted in his arms from its harsh tone. “Snap out of it! Lock those feelings down now! We. Need. You. Here.”
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the imaginary frost that seemed to have covered my entire body, and snapped back into myself. He was right. I had time for this later. Not now. I approached cautiously and like she could sense someone else within the room, she stilled.
“Milla,” I spoke softly, lowering to my haunches. She thrashed about, seeming to get a second wind, and tried to remove herself from Miles. I gave him a look, but he shook his head at me.
I ground my teeth together and mouthed to him, “Now.”
He wasn’t impressed and I could tell he didn’t want to release the hold, but I wasn’t messing about. I had to hold her. He carefully unwound himself from her as she shot up, as if to bolt towards the exit, but I caught her instead.
I held her to me strongly, just as Miles did. She was once again in my arms and I wasn’t going to let go. Ever. She thrashed, screamed, and it felt like time slowed as we waited for Ronnie. She had no idea it was me.Goddamn. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t seeing, caught up in whatever her mind was believing. Miles was correct. She’d checked out to protect herself and I wasn’t surprised.
My chest ached with the pain of seeing her like this, so vulnerable. So out of it. I burrowed her face into my front, and I continued stroking the back of her mahogany hair, a small motion to calm her in some small way. It probably wasn’t working in the slightest, but it slowed my heart rate a touch.
Ronnie entered completely at ease. I swore that nothing ever ruffled him. He glanced at me holding her, to Miles, then back to me before making his way to the bed, dumping his bag and opening what we needed. He approached with hushed panther-like movements.
“You sure?” Ronnie muttered quietly, darting a look to Milla. I nodded, brushing her hair to the side giving him access to her neck.
It was the quickest way to get it into her system. She was still lashing out. Not for one moment had she stopped since I’d entered the room, fighting even when the odds were stacked against her. I swore to myself that I’d be there to fight every single one of her battles in the future.
Milla could hate me, torture me, and throw every imaginable painful thing at me, but until I took my last breath on this earth, I’d be her guard. Her fucking personal sentry. Even if I had to enter hell itself and make a deal with the devil to release the demons from her mind, wipe them away so she’d never remember the cruelty she’d suffered, I’d offer up my life in turn. Everything for her.
I braced the back of her head to keep her in place as Ronnie moved swiftly and pierced her skin, injecting the sedative into her bloodstream to send her into a deep sleep. My heart twisted with guilt; I didn’t want to do it and I knew I wouldn’t be able to banish that feeling from my conscience for a long time, but needs must. I’d be ready to receive the punishment I deserved for giving the order to knock her out.
After a few breath-holding minutes, her body started to noticeably loosen, her limbs growing heavy. The sedative took effect, taking a while to do its job, but I knew that was how it worked. It felt like time was constantly running in slow motion knowing it would speed up the second she’d be out.
As much as I wanted to, I didn’t have the time to sit around and hold her until she woke. I released my tight hold on her, shifting her around so she was draped over my lap sideways, her head supported by my arm.
“No,” she slurred, looking up at me.
“I’ll always carry you,” I promised, holding her gaze as it lost focus. Those violet-blue eyes had haunted me throughout the years and ensnared me since childhood. She stared at me, a desperation in her depths that made my heart pound to an uneven beat.
Chapter38
Hollis
