Kiss Me Deadly

Chapter Twenty

Viridian.

A blur of icy blue dances across my vision.

"Viridian."

My vision and the icy blue blur focuses and becomes a pair of eyes staring deeply into mine.

"Ryder?" My lips form the name slowly, as if putting a name to a face will make him disappear.

His crooked smile is amused.

"You did well, sweetheart," he says softly, offering me a hand. "But now it's time to wake up."

I frown, confused.

"What? I am awake."

I become aware of an uncomfortable sting that hums throughout my entire body. I roll my shoulders with a pained frown. What's going on?

"Come on, Viridian, " his voice has taken a worried, frantic edge to it but what he could possibly be so concerned about I don't know.

His blue eyes flash green for a moment before returning to their original color.

Ryder grabs my hand.

The stinging suddenly morphs into a white hot pain. I can't stop the tears from over flowing and leaking down my face. "Make it stop!" I scream. My bones are bending and breaking and my blood is boiling.

"Wake up!"

Ryder yanks me up with all of his might. . .

. . . and I open my eyes.

There's relief in the green eyes I meet, but I scramble past them.

I lean over the bed and throw up everything but my memories. After a moment of heaving, I sit up, wiping the back of my hand across my mouth.

Archer's eyes are overflowing with concern. He takes my bandaged hand in his. I shift to look around and have to swallow the yelp of pain the movement causes me.

White walls. Too bright lights. Sickly clean smell. This must be the infirmary.

I look down at the bandaged hand Archer holds and remember how forcefully the claws had burst from my fingertips. I look away. Close my eyes.

"Viridian?" Archer asks, clutching my hand a little tighter. It hurts but I don't complain. "What happened? We heard Leilani screaming for help and found you on the ground covered in blood and nearly dead."

When I don't answer, he continues. "Why would you go out there, Viridian? Especially alone. You could have been killed. How could you be so stupid? Octavian probably knows where we are now. Those men probably ran straight back to him to report it. Now everyone is in danger-"

"No," I interrupt, hurt by his words and desperate to fix it. "They didn't go back to Octavian."

Archer's eyebrows draw together. "Why wouldn't they?"

My eyes a feverish, searching for forgiveness. "Because they're dead."

Archer blinks. Sits back and rubs a hand over his face. He blows out a breath. "Alright. I'll go check it out."

He starts to get up but I grab his arm.

"Let me come with you," I beg. I can't take the chance that there are more of them out there.

He frowns. "Viridian, you have two broken ribs and so many bruises and deep cuts that I can barely recognize you. You need to rest."

I scowl. "I'm fine. I've had plenty of time to rest. Let me show you where they are," I plead, gripping his arm tighter. My eyes stare deeply into his, willing him to listen; to agree. I need him to say yes.

Archer examines me calculatingly, pondering. Then his eyes soften and his fingers interlace with mine, sending a pleasant spark into my skin.

"Okay," he concedes.

My eyebrows skyrocket. I didn't think he'd give in so easily. Ryder wouldn't have. He would have made me prove that I was able to do it by making me do twenty push ups or -his favorite- making me fight him. He would have- I sigh internally. Archer is not Ryder. Archer trusts me to determine if I'm well enough to go or not.

He gives my hand a squeeze as if reinforcing my thought, before letting go to hunt down my shoes. He comes back with a pair of tennis shoes. I make a face.

"I know, I know. Not your style," he says, kneeling in front of me. He slips a shoe on my socked foot carefully. "But your boots were covered in blood so I don't think you want to wear them."

A slight smile curves my lips. He's so attentive. He looks up at me from under his lashes and I'm momentarily frozen. His green eyes spear me and make my insides heat up and nearly fizzle. Unafraid, I stare back into those dazzling greens and see unabashed feeling in them, both familiar and unrecognizable.

I smile at him, deciding that I like the way he looks at me. I reach forward with slightly trembling fingers and brush a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. With a mischievous grin, he snags my hand and presses a kiss to my knuckles. A giggle bubbles from my lips as electric butterflies take flight in my stomach. My reaction brings a broad smile to Archer's lips. His eyes crinkle as he reaches for me. "Come on, Dax and Leilani will be waiting."

I allow him to wrap an arm around my waist and help me up before asking, "Leilani's going?" I can't help but be surprised. Dax won't even let her train and now she's going out to hunt for intruders?

"Yeah," Archer says as he helps me walk out of the room. Man, if it means getting to be touched by him like this, I might get hurt more often. "Dax is going to start training her. After what happened with the incubus and the threat with Octavian's men, everybody'd feel much better if she knew how to defend herself."

Ryder's men. Not Octavian's. A threat that wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. I cringe internally. Would Archer forgive me if he knew the truth about me?

I let out a pained gasp as Archer pulls me to a stop in front of Dax and Leilani. I hadn't realized that we'd gotten here so fast. My ribs scream in protest as I shift my weight off of Archer. Dax and Leilani don't need to see my weakness.

Dax appraises me with obvious concern. "Should you really be doing this after all you've been through?"

I force a half smile as I shrug on the leather jacket Archer hands me. "You need me to show you where the bodies are. The pain doesn't bother me much anyway," I lie. It hurts like a bitch, but they don't need to know that.

No more is said on the topic.

We step out into the cold morning side by side. I shiver as the chilled air touches my skin and move closer to Archer. He wraps his arm around my waist again and pulls me to his side. The warmth has my toes curling and the electric butterflies are back.

I lead the three of them slowly and painfully through the trees. Not once do any of them complain about my turtle-like pace. The cold is biting. My fingers and toes begin to ache from the cold and my injuries scream profanities at me.

As we go further and further, I begin to question if I've lead them in the right direction. I couldn't have gotten this far as injured as I was, could I?

I smell it before I see it.

There's a sharp, metallic scent in the air that stings my nostrils. Archer's arm drops from my waist as I step closer to the smell. That can't be right, I think distantly, there can't be this much.

Blood. It's everywhere. Everything my eyes touch is dripping with red. I look for bodies but all I see are parts. There's a clawed hand by my right foot and there's Danny's body staring at me with clouded, dead eyes and a throat torn out by what looks like a crazed animal.

"I did this."

The words fall off my lips. Listless. Detached.

I sink to my knees and feel the bloody blades of grass beneath my palms.

They would have killed me, I reason. I was trapped and I was going to die.

I am not a monster.

I just did what I had to do to survive.

They just couldn't stop me.