Into the Mist

Chapter Thirty

Tyana opened her eyes and stared up at a pristine white ceiling. Her entire body felt stiff, and she quickly discovered that moving wasn’t much of an option. Panic set in. The last thing she remembered was being hauled down to a lower level by Esteban’s henchmen. Had she survived only to be held prisoner?

“Hey, there she is.”

Relief, sweet and cooling, washed over her as she heard Mad Dog’s voice. His face came into view along with Jonah’s. A warm hand closed over hers, and she slowly managed to move her head enough so that she could see Damiano sitting next to her.

She was in a hospital. Alive. And there was a reason moving was so difficult. She glanced down to see her left arm and shoulder swathed in bandages and her left leg encased in stiff plaster.

“What the hell did they do to me?” she grumbled.

Relief sparked in Jonah’s dark eyes. Amusement lit Mad Dog’s. Then she saw him. Eli. Standing in the background.

Their gazes locked as she looked hungrily at him. He was alive. He was safe. She went weak with the knowledge.

Mad Dog bent over, temporarily obscuring her view of Eli. He kissed her forehead. “You scared the shit out of us, baby girl.”

“The only reason I’m not kicking your ass is because it wouldn’t be a fair fight,” Jonah growled. “You look pitiful in all those bandages.”

She laughed and promptly regretted it as pain wracked through her chest. Mother of God, she hurt. D squeezed her hand, and she turned her gaze to him. “You okay?” she asked softly.

His eyes looked suspiciously wet. Then he shook his head. “Only you would wake up after three days in the hospital and ask if I’m okay.”

Her eyes widened. “Three days? Was it that bad?”

Jonah nodded, his expression grim. “We thought we were going to lose you, Ty.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Too much fun being a pain in your ass.”

He finally cracked a smile. And then he bent and touched her cheek in a gentle gesture. “I love you too, little sister.”

He stood and glanced back at Eli who was still in the background, standing there, hands shoved into his jeans pockets. Jonah directed a quick glance at Mad Dog and Damiano, and they started for the door.

“We’ll be back later to check on you,” Damiano said.

A few seconds later, she and Eli were alone. He walked slowly to the side of her bed and sat down in the chair vacated by D. He reached tentatively over and curled his hand around hers. His fingers trembled against her palm.

“Ian and Braden?” she asked fearfully.

“They’re fine,” he said.

“Gabe?”

Eli looked down and shook his head. “He didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry.”

His eyes flashed back up to hers. “Don’t be sorry. Gabe was the one who betrayed us. I let you walk into a trap. I let my men walk into a trap. You should have left us, Tyana. You never should have come back for us.”

He broke off and looked to be struggling to compose himself.

“How could I not?” she whispered.

“You took a bullet for me. You took a bullet for my men. You owed us nothing, Tyana. I’m so goddamn mad at you for putting yourself in front of me. It should have been me.”

His thumb stroked over her hand, gentle where his words were harsh.

“I need you,” she said simply, and this time, it was easy to say. Light amidst the pain. Relief.

“And I need you,” he said hoarsely. “Where does this leave us, sugar?”

She pushed the pain and her blurry vision aside so she could focus. Sleep was calling to her, but this was important. Maybe the most important thing she’d ever do. Besides, laying your heart out wasn’t supposed to be easy.

“I don’t know what you want…what you expect from me, Eli. But I can’t change. I’m a part of Falcon. My job is dangerous. Falcon is my family, though.”

The corner of his mouth lifted into a crooked smile. “Jonah has already laid down the law in that regard. I think he was afraid I’d haul you away over my shoulder.”

“I still have to find a way to help D. That priority hasn’t changed. I’m just going to try to be smarter about how I do it.”

“That’s good, sugar, because between you and me, I don’t want you chasing some other guy down and seducing him.”

She smiled and groaned.

“We can do this later,” he said as he tenderly smoothed a hand over her brow. “You’re hurting. I can see it in those gorgeous eyes of yours. You need rest.”

“No. Not yet.” She shook off his interruption and went back to the heart of the matter. “Can you accept that, Eli? Do we have any sort of future together?”

He leaned over and took her free hand in both of his. He brought it to his lips and kissed each finger. “Jonah and I had a little talk. Seems he isn’t opposed to me joining Falcon, and he’s made it clear that’s the only way you and I will be together.” He laughed. “Protective, that one is. I imagine we’ll butt heads because we’re both used to being the boss, but I can deal with it.” His expression grew serious again. “What I can’t deal with is being without you.”

She sighed, part in contentment and part in bone-deep weariness. “That would be perfect. Then I can look out for your ass.”

He shook his head. “Life with you is going to be interesting to say the least, sugar.”

“Eli? What about your team?”

He sobered. “They’ve got some long days ahead. Marcus has examined them and has them on the same regimen he started Damiano on before he grew immune to it. We’ve got some loose ends to tie up with Gabe. A sister we didn’t know he had. I think your team just grew by three men. Think you can handle that?”

She touched his mouth with her hand as his grip around her fingers loosened. “I think you and I will make a great team, Eli. I won’t lie to you and say it doesn’t scare me to death. I’ve never relied on anyone but myself and Falcon. I don’t know how good I’ll be at this, but I want to try.”

“We’ll work it out, sugar. I’m not going anywhere. Now I want you to get some rest, okay? You’ve got a long recovery ahead of you.”

She made a face, but her eyes were already closing. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep them open.

She felt Eli’s lips on hers, light, loving. “I’ll get the nurse to give you something for pain, sugar. Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”