Malichai felt anger welling up. That was so Whitney. He’d challenged Amaryllis, dared her to show him whether or not she loved Malichai enough to save his leg by returning to him.
He was silent, counting to a hundred slowly, not wanting to sound like Ezekiel, a dictator, not wanting to tell Amaryllis what she could or couldn’t do. That wasn’t the right way, not with her, not with anyone, but especially not with her. He lay back and closed his eyes, so tired he wasn’t certain he could ever open them again, but he kept his arm around her. Needing her. Needing the closeness. The connection.
“He doesn’t know us, does he? He doesn’t know how much I love you or how much I need you. Or you me. I’d never give you up for a leg. For any body part. You wouldn’t trade me either.” He poured absolute belief into his voice. “The truth is, Amaryllis, I’m a Ghost-Walker. My training alone is worth millions of dollars to the government. They aren’t going to let a little thing like my leg being amputated stop me from deploying when they need me. I’m going to have the best prosthesis available, most likely the most futuristic one, if Whitney hasn’t already given Trap or Lily his research on this salamander. It doesn’t matter to us what they do or how they do it. Crawl up on the bed with me and lie down. I just need you close.”
That was the best he could do. He did need her close. He didn’t open his eyes because he couldn’t. He knew sleep was going to overtake him very soon. He wanted to make certain Ezekiel knew to watch out for her. He hoped he’d said enough, that she knew they were better together than apart.
Amaryllis came around to the other side of the bed. “You know I’m going to get into trouble with the nurses, don’t you?”
“I’ll protect you,” he promised. He thought he smiled, but he couldn’t tell, he was too tired.
She climbed up onto the bed and lay on the sheet, fitting her body next to his, like a glove. She felt good. Right.
“Screw Whitney,” he said softly, turning his head so he could press his lips to the silk of her hair. “I’ll always have this. I’ll always have you. I love you so much, baby.”
“I love you, Malichai. Go to sleep, honey, I’ll watch over you.”
Nice, brother. I’m proud of you.
Sometimes Ezekiel didn’t know when to leave it alone. The burn of tears was back just because he was too damned emotional. Now it wasn’t about his leg. It might be later, but thanks to Whitney and his games, this was all about keeping Amaryllis. She would have gone. She would have traded her life for his leg. He saw that clearly on her face, read it in her mind. She loved him that much. Who would ever be that stupid, that selfish, to trade that kind of love for a body part?
Malichai drifted off to the sound of machines and the scent of Amaryllis’s hair. One arm was around her waist, the other, his hand was on his hip, feeling the pain all the way down his nonexistent leg. He let go of that reality and just hung on to Amaryllis.
“Is he asleep?” Ezekiel asked.
“He appears to be,” she answered softly. “It’s hard to say.”
“I hate this for him. Thank you for loving him enough to make that offer, but stay for him. He needs you with him. Especially now more than ever. He needs to know he’s worth it to you to stay with him in spite of the fact that he doesn’t have a leg.”
Amaryllis stroked a light caress along Malichai’s rib cage. “I’d give him anything, Ezekiel,” she admitted. “Anything at all. Owen was this larger-than-life adversary that I couldn’t overcome. Maybe Whitney and Owen had conditioned me not to be able to best him, certainly I couldn’t use my venom on him, but still, I should have been able to pull the trigger of a gun, yet I froze. I did every time that I faced him. Even when Malichai needed me to shoot him. I failed him then and I promised myself I would never do it again.”
“You know that Whitney plants shit in our heads, right? Most likely when he chose Owen as his golden boy and he knew you women had poisons that could kill his number-one protector—or him—he made certain you couldn’t kill either of them. That would only make sense, Amaryllis, or he would have been dead a long time ago. Had you talked to Malichai about it, he would have explained that to you.”
Amaryllis looked around the room. “Are there cameras in here? Audio?”
Ezekiel shook his head. “We made certain of it. We clear it out three times a day just to be certain. What are you worried about?”
“One of the girls I escaped with, a girl by the name of Coral, showed up at the bed-and-breakfast. She asked to stay with Marie. I like her, but I can’t be certain that Whitney didn’t get ahold of her and send her back for a reason. You know the games he plays. If I recommend her to Marie, she’ll be treated like family. Marie’s that way. If not, she won’t get the job. I’d hate that, because she looks like she really needs it.”
“You want us to check her out?” Ezekiel was cautious. This was the first time Amaryllis had made an actual request of the team. They would have checked out the newcomer anyway. They’d all but adopted Marie and her daughter, Jacy, as their own, so anyone working for her on a long-term basis was going to come under scrutiny, but having Amaryllis ask was a huge breakthrough.
“If you don’t mind.”
“Of course not,” Ezekiel said. “We’re going to have to be here for a while. We can’t move Malichai back home until he’s ready for that. He’s got to go through his care here and then therapy and finally home care. It’s a long process. He’ll need you to be strong for him.”
“Are the others going back?”
“Yes, they need to get back home,” Ezekiel said. “Bellisia, my wife, will be staying. She’ll help Cayenne and Trap with the babies. Drusilla is healing fast and will be ready to travel soon. Trap wants to get them home. Cayenne doesn’t like the nurses telling her what she can and can’t do with her own little ones.”
Amaryllis frowned. “Like what? I wouldn’t like it either.”
“She makes the most beautiful lacy webs and hangs them for privacy, like curtains. If she puts them around the babies at all, the nurses rip them down. Cayenne has been good about it, but Trap can see that her patience is wearing thin. He can’t tell them to leave the webs alone because to them they see a giant spider somewhere close, not beautiful lace curtains.”
“I see. That could be bad.”
“That’s why it’s good Bellisia is staying. She isn’t the closest to Cayenne, but she’ll help the situation. Zara is the one who kind of throttles everyone back. She’s more like Nonny in that way. She has this kind of gentle mediation thing she does, and everyone just gets along, especially the little ones. Cayenne seems to react very well to the way Zara mediates as well. Bellisia is more of an ‘in your face’ kind of girl.” He grinned when he said it.
Amaryllis couldn’t help smiling. “You like that.”
He shrugged. “She’s a little spitfire. She’s my little warrior. She’ll stand up for anything or anyone she believes in.”
“What’s Shylah like, Draden’s wife?”
“She’s harder to explain. She’s kind. Very compassionate. And she’ll drop you in two seconds if you’re her target. Pepper is Wyatt’s wife and she’s the nicest woman you’ll ever want to meet. She was scheduled for termination along with the triplets, Wyatt’s little girls. Pepper can get brain bleeds around violence, although she will back us up and protect the babies fiercely if need be. She has something on her skin that if touched, can make someone crazy for her, so there’s a continual sexual thing that she has to counteract all the time. It’s a difficult life for her. Nonny’s been a great help there.”