Silver Fire (Guardians) (32 page)

Bishop was sprawled on a mattress, his shirt and pants were undone in the most indecent fashion. Blood was everywhere.
 

“His body is still warm.” Another Guardian was crouching in front of the body.
 

“What the fuck happened here?” Derek demanded even as his gut knew.
 

“Poetic justice?” Maia said behind him, disgust lacing her tone. “Looks like someone took my advice.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Long story,” Maia said. “Shut up and listen. There are bloody footprints on the hallway, barefoot, definitely female.”

She led him to the first room. “Leads here and then...”

They ended up in a kitchen. A surge of excitement fueled Derek with renewed energy and hope as he burst out the backdoor into the fading light of a summer night.

He impatiently whipped out a flashlight from his utility belt and illuminated the ground before him.
 

“There.” Maia pointed out. It was dirt-filled all around the farm house and there were fresh tracks leading into the field.
 

“Sophie!” Derek yelled as he ran straight into the lush, grassy terrain, shining his light all over.
 
Endless questions raced through his head: How far had she gone? Had she reached the road? Was she hurt? “Sophie! It’s Derek!” Where was she?

"Derek.”

Derek turned toward the sound of his name and froze. His flashlight hit shocked gray eyes that squinted at the blinding intrusion. Relief so great swooshed through his lungs. Shifting the light quickly away, he briskly took the last few steps that would reunite him with Sophie.

“Maia, I found them!” Derek shouted behind him.

“I’m right behind you,” Maia snapped, pissed at him for yelling into her ear.

Sophie was sitting up, her legs tucked under her, Beth's head on her lap. She was covered with blood. Derek prayed none of the blood was hers and all of it belonged to that bastard. He sank to his knees beside her.

“Baby,” Derek whispered. He wanted to hug her and clench her tight to him, but he wasn't sure about her state of mind, of what Justin had done to her. His hand shook as he tentatively reached out to brush the blood-streaked tendrils from her face.
 

“Beth. She...she nee..needs help. Oh god...” Sophie stuttered. Adrenaline withdrawal. “I think I killed him, Derek.” A huge teardrop fell from one eye.
 

White-hot fury surged through him. “He fucking deserved it, Sophie. Don’t, for a minute, regret what you did.”

Maia was leaning down, checking the vitals on Beth. “She's burning up, we need to take her to a hospital.”

“I’ll take her.” Manning offered as he approached them. He bent down and carefully lifted Beth off the ground and Sophie reluctantly let go.

“I’ll come,” Sophie said. Derek grasped her around the waist to help her up and was further relieved when she snuggled close to him. He had visions of seeing Sophie all catatonic, but she was surprisingly responsive. Most importantly, he finally had his arms around his woman.
 

“Sophie, we need to get you cleaned up,” Derek told her gently.

“But—”

“I’ll stay with Beth,” Maia said. “Derek’s right. But ...” The female Guardian looked at Derek uncomfortably. He knew exactly what his friend was thinking because the possibility had weighed heavily on his mind for the past 72 hours. “Maybe we should get a doctor to check you out first.”

“I don’t need a doctor,” Sophie frowned.

Maia cleared her throat. “Um, Sophie, did Bishop ever...”

Sophie finally realized what Maia was getting at, her eyes widening in horror. “No! He tried to, that’s why...” She heaved violently. “He...he was going to. I had to—”

“Maia can we not discuss this now?” Derek said sharply. “I’m taking her to the condo and we’ll go straight to the hospital from there. Text me the location.”

Without another word, he ushered Sophie out of the field.

***

Sophie paused in front of the entryway. Derek noticed she had stiffened when they had gotten off the elevator. He sighed. It would have to be quick, like yanking the proverbial Band-Aid off a scab.

“I don’t want to be here,” Sophie said quietly. “I know it’s petty given the circumstances. Maybe you should have taken me to AGS.”

He was not about to argue with her in the hallway. He unlocked the door and pulled her in. Closing the door firmly behind her, Derek backed her against the door gently. Leaning in, he said, “It wasn’t what you thought.”

“I saw you and Layla with my own eyes, Derek,” Sophie said wearily, her head was bowed. “Look, I’m grateful you came after me—”

“It was a set-up, Angel,” Derek said softly.

Her forehead furrowed in confusion as her eyes snapped to his. “I don’t understand.”

“Somehow Bishop had managed to give me Rohypnol and
 
Sildenafil citrate.”

“Viagra?” A twinkle of amusement sparkled in her gray eyes.

“Yeah. Somehow he hacked through Blackstone’s phone to send those pictures of Layla and me. We played right into his trap,” Derek added quickly. He continued filling her in on what had happened, watching the struggle of emotions playing across her face.

“You had her pressed against the wall,” Sophie reminded him.

“I was telling her that I was with you,” Derek said roughly. “That was the only way I could get her attention. For her to leave me alone.”

Sophie shook her head and pushed past him. “I’m sorry Derek, I need time to process this. I can’t get the image of her—”

“I understand,” Derek said quietly. “I couldn’t get the image of your face when you saw us, and I hate I was the one who put that look on your face.”

Sophie nodded, walked to his room and shut the door behind her.

***

Sophie let the steaming hot spray of the shower wash the grit, dirt and blood from her body and hair. She couldn’t seem to get clean enough. Flashes of Justin moving on top of her before she stabbed him with the screwdriver kept replaying in her head. She killed a man, watching his eyes bug out in shock, crimson warm liquid shooting out from his neck and quickly drenching her upper body and dripping down her legs when she scrambled to stand up. Sophie didn’t know why killing Justin bothered her more than when she threw that IED that took out the assailants in the lab.
 

Was it because Justin had touched her intimately and had connected with her in some way? No. It was simply because she premeditated killing him
. S
omehow Sophie knew that the only way she could be free of Justin was if he was dead. The dam that was holding her tears at bay all evening finally broke as she sank to the floor, hugging her knees and sobbed. The events of the past few days: Derek with Layla, Taggart dead, Beth stabbed, killing Justin and building the zefinium bomb assaulted her mind like relentless flashcards. Minutes passed, and she was turning into a prune. Her sobs had reduced to dry heaving.
 

“Sophie?”
 

She watched Derek’s opaque form tentatively enter the bathroom. He saw her pitiful shape through the steamed up shower glass.

“
Christ!
Sophie,” Derek slid the shower door open and walked in fully clothed. He turned off the water and crouched down beside her. “Angel, are you OK?”

“Do I look OK?” Sophie snapped angrily. “I don’t know why killing
 
Justin affected me more than killing the men at the lab? I don’t know if killing him outright was the right thing to do.”

Derek clenched his jaw hard before saying, “That bastard deserved it, Sophie. Do not regret it. You saved Beth too. You were not just saving yourself.”

He hauled her to her feet and brought her out of the shower. Toeing off his soaked shoes, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. He leaned forward and lifted her, carrying her to the bedroom and laying her on the bed.

“I’m going to get the bed wet.”

“You think I give a damn?” Derek said angrily.

“Why are you acting as if you’re mad at me?” Sophie asked.

“Because you’re having doubts about killing Bishop!” Derek was shouting now. “Have you forgotten he killed Polly? He tortured Beth to force you to build a bomb that could kill thousands.” He paused, his eyes glittering with murderous rage. “He fucking nearly raped you!”

Derek spun away from her, his head bowing low, one hand on his hip and another rubbing his forehead. The muscles under his shirt bunched with tension.
 

Sophie got off the bed and approached him, touching his shoulder. “Derek—”

With a guttural sound, Derek hauled her into his arms, crushing her so tightly against his chest. She encircled his hips tentatively; his face was buried in the curve of her neck.
 

“God Sophie, I was close to losing my fucking mind,” Derek said hoarsely. “Imagining Bishop’s hands on you, that he would do to you what he did to Polly...I don’t think I can bear to let you out of my sight again.”

“Derek—”

“So you can forget about needing time to think us over, because I’m not giving it to you,” he stated quietly. He nuzzled the length of her jaw before tentatively brushing her lips, as if seeking permission to kiss her. Sophie opened her lips beneath his and his tongue slipped through gently but deeply. She was acutely aware that the towel had fallen to the floor and she was naked pressed against him.

Ending the kiss reluctantly, he muttered, “I need a shower too.”

He pulled back further and took in her nakedness. His eyes were heated and filled with longing. He finally tore his gaze away and picked up the towel on the floor and wrapped it around her. “Go get ready, Angel. We leave in half an hour.”

Sophie felt a measure of relief. Justin had not left any lasting fear of physical intimacy. She definitely felt desire, but more than lust, she reveled in the comforting cocoon of Derek’s arms.

***

“You should have let him kill me,” Beth whispered. Sophie had her friend put in a private room. The surgeon had cleaned the wound and removed infected tissue. Right now her friend was pumped full of antibiotics and some pain meds, so Sophie was ignoring any crazy words or speeches that might tumble out of Beth’s mouth.

“Uh-huh, as if I’d like to see you get stabbed to death,” Sophie retorted.

“I don’t know, Sophie. I can’t even look at you right now,” Beth said, turning her head away from her.

“What?”

Her friend sighed. “You built a weapon of mass destruction because of me.”

“Are you blaming me or you?”

“Both.”

Sophie looked at her friend who was right now staring up at the ceiling. Beth had always been her protector, her anchor, the person who always gave her confidence whenever she doubted herself, and the person who couldn’t ever stay mad at her.
 

“Beth, how can you say that?” Sophie asked incredulously. “If the roles were reversed, wouldn’t you have done the same?”

“I know that’s going to be your excuse,” Beth replied. “But tell me Sophie, do you honestly not feel guilty?”

“Of course I feel guilty, but you shouldn’t!” Sophie said, her voice rising.
 

Derek cracked the door open. “You two keep it down, I could hear you outside.”

“OK!” Sophie snapped.

Derek smiled at her—which infuriated her more—before he closed the door.

“Listen to me, Beth Turner.” Sophie returned her attention to her friend. “This is on me, not you. I had the research, I created the trigger and the cores. Bishop used you as a pawn. You were convenient. He could have snatched Stephen or Derek and could have used them instead to make me bend to his will.”

“I don’t know, Sophie,” Beth said sadly. “Right now I can’t bear to look at myself in the mirror or at you.”

“Stop being unreasonable!” Sophie said in frustration. “How can you even consider this to be your fault? You were kidnapped, Bishop knifed you, and now you’re laid up in the hospital because of me. Because of me, Beth. Stop blaming yourself. All you’re doing right now is making me even more guilty. Was that your intent? To guilt trip me? To what end, Beth? I have enough guilt coursing through my veins to last me a fucking lifetime.”

“You said fucking,” Beth murmured as she returned her gaze to Sophie and gave a wry smile.

“You stupid goose,” Sophie replied with a light laugh. “All my yammering and that’s all you heard.”

“Ah, baby girl, what are we going to do?” Beth whispered.

“Derek told me contingency plans were set into motion when we got kidnapped,” Sophie told her. “I don’t have the details. But I would do everything I could to prevent the devices from going off.”

“Promise?” Beth’s eyes fluttered close.
 

“Yes,” Sophie whispered as she stood up and planted a kiss on her friend’s forehead. Beth’s breathing evened out as she succumbed to a heavy, drug-induced sleep.

She stood up and exited the room. Derek and Stephen were standing in the hallway chatting.

“All good?” Stephen asked.

Sophie sighed. “Yes. Just a slight disagreement.”

“Sounded like more than a disagreement to me,” Derek replied, studying her face intently.

“Regardless, it’s between Beth and me,” Sophie told them firmly.

“I’ll stay with her tonight, sweetie,” Stephen said. “Why don’t you go home and get some rest.”

Home. Sophie thought sadly. Where was her home right now?
 

***

Damian Stoltz stood at an abandoned airfield hangar located on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. A Gulfstream 550 touched down smoothly on the runway, taxiing slowly toward the warehouse-like structure.

Stoltz’s jaw tightened as he recalled the events of the past 48 hours. Opperman reported a breach in his data network and so had his techs at SASTac. Whoever broke into their system was an expert hacker. All signs pointed to either the CIA or an affiliate agency known as Artemis Guardian Services who was keeping tabs on Blackstone International. Events came to a head when Bishop kidnapped Dr. Leroux. According to Opperman, Bishop was obsessed with the blonde scientist, but Justin assured Opperman that the woman was necessary to complete the bomb. Christopher Blackstone was not happy that Dr. Leroux was kidnapped and demanded that she be released as soon as the bomb was tested.