16. Holy

CHAPTER 16

Holy

T he first explosion against the gates rocks the ground as we blast through the twisted metal. "Fuck 'em, gents!" Wilde West hollers as he stands in the back of the truck with a missile launcher on his shoulder.

The whizzing sound after he fires is followed by an explosion that shatters all the windows on the front side of the building as it crashes into the front doors.

Sharing a look with my brother, Malice has an evil grin plastered on his face as he takes aim with his assault rifle and begins firing. It's not often we get weapons of this caliber, and if it were any other time, I'd be enjoying the hell out of myself, but Della is in there, and as I watch Asher McCall's Alpha Squad annihilate the security around the building, I worry Della won't leave unscathed.

As soon as Johnny hits the brakes, I jump to the ground and race for the door, shooting anyone in my way. Grabbing a grenade from the belt on my side, I toss it inside before rushing through. Taking out as many soldiers as possible before they realize I've invaded is easier than anticipated.

Bodies drop all around me as Carter and Cowboy join me, hitting those I miss. I hear Malice and Wilde counting down their strikes outside, and for a minute, I'm amused until I feel her.

"This way!" I shout, taking the stairs to the left. Grabbing another grenade, I launch it into an open doorway when I spot three men watching the security monitors. Rushing up the stairs, I follow where I feel her strongest. When we finally reach the floor I believe she's on, an even more impressive explosion rocks the structure, throwing us all around. "This building isn't going to last much longer if you keep fucking blowing it up!" I shout through the open mic we're all wearing.

"Sorry, mate, couldn't help the last one," Wilde laughs.

Pushing on the closed door, I roll through and hit two men before one levels me with a shotgun blast to the chest. Immediately, I know it's fatal.

I fucking failed her.

Carter is at my side as Cowboy takes the rest out with sweeping fire. The smell of burning metal and concrete stinks, and I stare down at my chest, blood pooling in my mouth.

"You have to get her, Carter." I can see he's both sad and angry. He's pissed at me, and so am I. "Protect her," I cough, spitting up blood as I feel my strength waning.

"Don't fucking do this. Cowboy will get you out of here; we'll get you patched up in no time." I grin at his stubbornness. There's no fixing me.

My vision begins to dim when I feel it.

Feel her…

Della. My saving grace.

Her light is a warmth I'd know anywhere, and as the sensation of her healing touch infiltrates my body, I want to fucking scream at her not to do it. To fucking let me go. I'm not worthy of her gift, and she sure as hell doesn't ever need to feel this sort of misery.

"Della." I growl her name as I feel my chest being put back together and my lungs expanding further with each inhale I take.

"Holy fuck." Carter watches, amazed, and I get the feeling he's never seen this happen before. "She's fucking healing you. Jesus Christ, Cowboy, keep an eye out." The other man blinks before scouting around us and tossing another grenade through the door we came in.

"Fuck." The excruciating pain she must be absorbing, because all I'm getting is a sense of relief, angers me in ways I can't express. "Della, stop, fucking stop already." I hate this. I don't want her hurting because of my misfortune.

Climbing to my feet, Carter helps me steady myself before I'm renewed with the energy she's pumped into me. The fucking problem is I can feel her life draining away. Whatever the fuck they did in the three days they had their hands on her has nearly killed her, and this just might fucking finish her off.

"Let's go." I nod down the hall, where I feel her the strongest. "I want Dr. Graves alive," I growl through the comms. That woman will pay for what she's done to Della and everyone else who has crossed her path. This shit is ending, and I'm making sure it never happens again.

"Della!" Carter yells as we burst open every locked door. "Cowboy, grab the girl." Looking past the panel he just kicked in, I see a young girl, maybe early teens, huddled in a corner, scared out of her mind.

Cowboy enters, speaking softly, trying to soothe her fears before she jumps in his arms and nearly strangles the poor man. "Get her out of here," I tell him. He's torn between getting the girl to safety and helping us find Della. Admirable. "Go, Cowboy, she needs out." He finally nods and takes off swiftly.

Nico and Johnny come up the stairs, Brave St. James following close behind as we continue down the corridor. "She's here," I inform them. "Careful with your shots." I'll kill someone if she's hit with friendly fire.

As we near the end of the hall, I notice a door on the far right that is padlocked and chained, and I'm confident that's where my girl is. "Here," I call out. Carter stands next to me, his fury palpable, but what concerns me is I'm losing the sensation of Della. "She's dying," I mutter as I lift my gun and fire until the locks and door are dismantled.

Kicking through the fractured barrier, I enter to find a hole in the floor on one side with fire licking through, and Della slumped in a corner on the other.

"Fuck!" Handing Nico my gun, I rush to her side. "Della, baby, wake up for me." Pressing my fingers to her neck, I feel a faint pulse; her breathing is labored and slow. "Someone find me an IV and some saline; she needs fluids." Picking her up, I carry her to the lone mattress in the room and lay her down.

Blood coats her mouth, chin, neck, and chest, and I realize that she felt more than my injury; she experienced it, as well. Ripping her shirt off, there is blood seeping through her flesh, but oddly, no wound.

"What the fuck is happening?" Carter whispers as he holds her hand.

"I felt her heal me; you saw it, but I think she must have been so weak she took on the wound, too, but then her body began healing itself again." What a fucking mess. But it's the only thing that makes sense.

"I've got Graves," Asher's voice shouts through the comms, and as much as I'd like to go fuck her up right now, Della needs me more, and I'm staying by her side until I know she's taken care of.

"Malice, put her somewhere." Tasking my brother with her means McCall won't get to take her off to some government site where the law'll punish her. No, this fucking bitch is mine.

"With pleasure." The grin on his face is unmistakable through the line.

"I've got the perfect place," Johnny says as he leaves the room to hunt out my brother. I know between the two of them, they'll have her ready for me when the time comes.

Checking Della over for other injuries, I find red spots in weird places on her body, and I'm immediately enraged because I think I know the cause. "Here." Brave hands me an IV and saline bag like I asked.

"Sorry, baby," I whisper as I sanitize the spot where her vein runs in the crease of her elbow. Inserting the needle, I'm quick to set up the saline and open the line fully before squeezing the bag, hoping this will help her come around.

As the bag empties, I'm handed another. "Need to get her to a hospital," Carter urges as I scoop her up into my arms.

"Get us the fuck out of here," I tell the man who will be my father-in-law one day soon. "Hang on, baby." Kissing her temple, I hold Della as close to my body as I can and follow behind Carter while Nico and Brave keep us protected from the back.

A helicopter lands just as we exit the building. Asher, Carson, Malice, and Johnny are waiting. The fucking doctor and a couple of her henchmen are shackled on the ground at their feet while a few other prisoners are sitting in the back of the truck I'd jumped out of on arrival. Cowboy is off to the side with the girl still clinging to him.

As medics exit the chopper, they come directly for me, and as much as I want to tell them to back the fuck off, I can't. Not when Della is in desperate need of medical attention. As I try to climb in with her, I'm shoved back out, being told there's not enough room. Frustration eats at me until I'm told where they're taking her and that there's another chopper on its way.

Watching the bird take flight hurts deep in my gut, and I'd kill to be holding her hand right now, but I know she needs more than I can give. "Hey, man, she'll be fine. Della's a hell of a fighter," Cowboy says next to me, and it's then I notice the girl in his arms is out cold.

"She okay?" I ask.

His eyes stare down at the young girl, and I sense his anger before our eyes meet again. "Her parents sold her to these assholes." Fuck.

Glancing around at the other captives, I wonder how many there were to begin with and how this bitch got her hands on them.