14. June 15th

JUNE 15TH

Sylvan

For the secondtime that day, in a matter of a few short hours, Sylvan was waking up to the soft brogue of the Irishman. While his face and voice were certainly pleasant to wake up to, it was rather embarrassing to be doing it again.

Standing from his crouch next to the lounge's sofa, he reported, "She's awake."

"Sylvan, are you trying to kill me?" Sylvan closed her eyes and tried to block out the worried anger of her friend, but it was no use. Kai wasn't going to let this go, but Sylvan honestly wasn't sure how she was going to explain this. After all, what was she supposed to say?

Sorry, I didn't realize that one of these people you claimed could help me had recently blindfolded me, tied me up, and caused me to orgasm so hard that I basically launched into space.

Instead, Sylvan reverted to her usual apologetic self, hoping that would make this whole situation disappear. "I'm sorry, Kai. I don't mean to be a bother to you."

The indignation of her friend was overrun by a deep voice rumbling from the doorway. "Maybe instead of worrying about being a problem for others, you should be more concerned with who's being a problem for you, little Flame."

She closed her eyes as a shiver and a wave of nausea swept over her at that voice.

How the hell does someone get turned on and sick to their stomach at the same time? Only me.

"TB, what-the-ever-fuck is wrong with you?" Kai hissed, her focus temporarily diverted. "Why is my best friend passing out at the sight of you? And what's this ‘little Flame' hipposhit?"

Without looking at the woman, Sylvan could feel Kai's eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of them, and the tone of voice suggested she was pissed and suspicious all at once.

This is going to be more embarrassing than waking up to the doctor guy again.

"Kai, you know I love you, but could you please stop shrieking?" Sylvan begged, her hand over her eyes. "My head is killing me, I don't feel well, and I've had way too many shocks today."

"I am not shrieking," Kai emphasized each word on its own. "You have yet to hear shrieking, although that may be coming."

"Kubrick, Demon. I need to talk to Flame. Alone," TB added.

Please, someone say no!

Demon spoke up. "Can you open your eyes for me, sweet colleen?" His hand brushed her forehead. Sylvan opened her eyes and looked at the handsome surfer-doctor whatever he was. "I want you to stay lying down for a bit yet. Don't move until you feel strong enough to support yourself. Do not, under any circumstances, allow anyone to bully you into doing otherwise." He looked pointedly at the two other people in the room. "There's bottled water and a chocolate bar on the table. Both will help with recovery. You cannot leave this room until both are gone." Demon stood, picked up his gear, and looked pointedly at TB. "If she gets lightheaded again, prop her feet up a little higher. More water couldn't hurt. If she's cold, there's an extra blanket." Then he was gone, his flip-flop slaps echoing down the hallway.

She closed her eyes again, her hand still covering them.

"Syl, are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Sylvan actually heard Kai's body vibrating through her voice. Whether it was out of concern or curiosity, she had no idea. Probably both.

"I'm fine, Kai."

Sylvan could hear the glare on her friend's face as she rounded on TB. "I don't know what's going on here or how you know my friend, but I want answers. She's too weak right now, and I refuse to bully her after all she's been through, so get ready, Total Asswad, because I'm coming for you later." Sylvan registered her friend's tone change completely when it turned to her on the couch, that sisterly-bestie thing coming on again. "I'm just down the hall if you need me, hun."

Without lowering the shield she had created with her hand or opening her eyes, Sylvan waved goodbye to Kai. The light hurt her eyes even when closed, but looking at him would hurt much, much worse, so the hand over the closed eyelids served as double protection.

No words were exchanged, but Sylvan heard her friend purposely shoulder-jack the giant man in the doorway. He said nothing in response. All she could hear was the hum of an appliance and the soft whirring of the air conditioning as it came through the vent.

Gradually, the brightness of the lounge they'd taken her to dimmed. When she peeked beneath her fingers it was to find that TB had dimmed the lights and then turned the blinds downward so that the bright sunlight from outside was mostly blocked. He stood over by the window, staring out through a gap in the blinds, shrouded in partial shadows, saying nothing.

She licked her lips. "Which name is the correct one? TB or Lobo?"

"Lobo is my club name. TB is my nickname."

"And what does TB stand for?"

"Total Bastard."

She blinked. "What's your real name?"

"I don't have one."

Her hand tilted up, and she looked at him with one opened eye. "Excuse me?"

"The only name I know anymore is TB." He shrugged. "I'm selfish, cruel, often sadistic, impatient, vulgar?—"

A pain hit Sylvan behind her right eye, and she winced, rubbing her forehead above the orb. "I get it, I get it. You're a total… you know."

Gently swinging her legs over the edge of the couch she lay upon, she sat up gingerly. She reached for the water bottle, cracked open the cap, and after a small swallow of water, she straightened her spine. Exhaling, she asked the question she didn't want to ask. "What do I say when people ask how we know each other?"

He shrugged. "The truth."

She huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"It won't be news to my team, so the only one who might be shocked will be Kubrick. Waters will give her a demonstration."

She refused to process that. "Why would your team know about us?"

"That conversation is for another time." She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand and cut her off. "I promise. I will explain, but not now." He crossed over to her seated form, his arms crossed over his chest. His entire body was tight with tension. "Start talking."

Elbows to her knees and body hunched over, her fingertips massaged her temples. "Do we have to do this right now?" she asked. "I don't feel well."

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on? I would have helped you."

Okay, I guess we're doing this now.

Did you really think he was going to let you avoid this?

No. But a girl can dream.

"How was I supposed to know you could help me? I didn't even know what you did for a living. Still don't. How could I possibly know that my research subject could help me when we weren't sharing personal details per your request?"

"Why didn't you at least go to the police?"

"You think I didn't? How stupid do you think I am?" He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, she snapped at him. "Don't answer that. I can guess."

"You can read minds? Excellent. That will save us a helluva lot of time."

"It's written all over you like graffiti on the sides of train cars," she muttered.

She watched his jaw muscle tic before he spoke, "I do not think you're stupid. Don't put words in my mouth. You have every right to be scared, and you can be as pissed at me as you want for our history, but it was an honest question."

She felt herself getting angry, her body and mind equating his smart remarks with the police officers' lack of sympathy for the whole situation. Her whole body tensed. "I went to the police," she ground out. "They said he hadn't done anything except talk to me, and while I maybe didn't like what he said, he hadn't actually made a threat of any kind. Apparently, a woman needs to wind up beaten in an alley or murdered in her own home before someone takes this kind of thing seriously."

After another swig of water from the bottle, her fingers began plucking at the label on it. "And to top it all off, the one weasel even suggested that since I ‘write pornography' for a living, I'd invited his attention, so I really didn't have a reason to complain. Told me I was teasing the guy. Leading him on, so what did I expect? I mean, great gravy—" She looked up at him. "What?"

On the outside, his body hadn't changed, nor his face, but something was definitely different.

"Go on. Let it out. Be pissed," he rumbled. "I'm pissed, so you definitely should be. No one has the right to treat you as less than."

She couldn't hold back the bark of laughter. "No one, huh? Not even you?" She sighed, waved off the questions she had asked, then closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead like she was in pain. "Ignore that. Not even sure why I said it."

When he replied, his voice was softer. Almost apologetic. "Nope. Not even me." He turned and began walking away. "We're not done here. For now, rest. Someone will be back in a bit to let you know what's going on." He stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at her. "We're not going to leave you stranded, little Flame. I promise we're going to make sure we catch this asshole for you."

With that, he exited. Sylvan lay back down on the couch, her hand back to shielding her eyes.

Only I can get myself out of a mess, think I'm safe, and then get myself into another mess. If it weren't for bad luck…