The soldier stabbed down at Wyatt’s leg. The blade sank into his thigh as he wrenched at the soldier’s neck a second time, this time putting every bit of strength he had into the motion. The crack was loud in the room as the thick plate broke along with the neck. The man slumped in his arms, the dead weight nearly carrying him to the floor.
Pain washed over and through him. He swore softly and sank down to the floor beside the dead soldier. Whitney’s experiments were getting out of hand. Or perhaps this was one of his earlier projects he had nearly rejected and then kept for himself. Clearly the doctor wasn’t acting alone. He had set up several laboratories in various parts of the world, not just the United States, and he had others running them – others like him.
Draden’s hand pressed into his shoulder, holding him down. “Is it safe to pull out the knife? Did it hit anything vital?”
Wyatt felt a little light-headed. He was already leaking blood from the first wound. He forced the fuzziness out of his head and placed his hands around the blade, feeling for the wound. He shook his head. “He missed. Too busy worryin’ about me breakin’ his neck to see where he was stabbin’.”
“Malichai is packing Trap out, I guess I’ll do the same with you. Get out a pressure bandage. I’m pulling that knife out of you.”
Wyatt drew another pressure bandage from his field kit and took a deep breath before nodding. He let it out as Draden pulled the blade from his thigh. The air rushed from his lungs. His stomach lurched. His breath exploded out of his lungs and he gasped, trying to find more air.
He forced a grin. “Guess I’m not one of those tough guys that can pound on my wounds and say I haven’t been shot or stabbed. I’m feelin’ it, Draden. Really feelin’ it this time.”
“Must be getting old,” Draden observed. “Either that or now that you’ve got a woman, you just plain want sympathy.”
“I wish I knew I had that woman all sewed up for certain,” Wyatt said, “but she’s like tryin’ to figure out the wind. It just blows any old way it wants to.”
Draden raised his eyebrow, watching as Wyatt applied the bandage over the wound. “I thought all women were like that. I duck and run for cover when women like Pepper are around. They’re the kind that get you in trouble every time.”
“You got that right. I don’ know whether I’m comin’ or goin’. And hell, Draden, look at me. I’ve got three daughters and never did get the night of fun. That woman owes me a mighty good time for the rest of her life. Seems like a lifetime might work that debt off.” He had to keep talking, it was that or fall on his face.
“You’re slurring your words a little, Wyatt,” Draden observed. “Let’s get you up before someone comes up the stairs and we have to fight our way out of here.”
Pepper, are you out? Do you have our children?
Wyatt forced himself onto his feet. The room shifted out from under him and spun in crazy circles. More than anything he needed the sound of her voice. He needed to know that his children were free of a cold, dank cell.
Draden slipped his arm around him. “Lean on me and let’s get the hell out of here, Wyatt.”
I’m out. Both babies are with me and fine. We’re making our way to the airboat. Ezekiel is dropping back to cover you and Draden.
I want him to go with you. Zeke, stick with Pepper and the kids. He tried to project a tone of command into his voice, but even this telepathic communication bordered on weak and slurring.
Ezekiel didn’t bother to answer him, which meant the man was going to do whatever the hell he wanted to do.
Exasperated, Wyatt scowled as he limped his way to the storage closet, Draden taking a good deal of his weight. That’s always been your trouble, Zeke. You’re a wild card. Anarchy reigns when you’re in the mix.
I have trouble with authority figures. My profile says so. There was laughter rumbling in Ezekiel’s comment. No remorse or guilt.
You had that in your profile? Trap chimed in. So did I. You should see the things that psychiatrist said about me and authority.
Mine says I am the authority, Wyatt reminded.
He stared up at the hole in the ceiling. It looked a million miles away. Pepper had to have felt his second stab wound. They were too connected for her not to have had a sudden burst of agonizing pain, yet she hadn’t said anything at all.
“Women are a mystery, Draden,” he said. “Fickle as hell and a total mystery.”
“Tell me something I don’t know, Wyatt,” Draden said, and stepped back to give him room.
Wyatt crouched low and sprang, using enhanced muscles as springs to propel him up onto the roof. He landed soft but it didn’t matter. The air was driven from his lungs in a violent rush and pain engulfed him completely. His body rebelled, and blood soaked both bandages.
Draden leapt through the hole to land beside him. “You’ve gone gray, Wyatt. Can you make it down to the ground without falling?”