Chapter Three

Shelby

“She isn’t responding. I can’t just finish treating her when she has very clearly not given consent.” The doctor’s frustrated voice sounded far away, as if it were traveling from the other end of a tunnel.

My vision remained out of focus until the memory faded, and when it sharpened enough to take in my surroundings, a pair of golden eyes stared at me from inches away. A squeak that my damaged throat turned into an odd noise of surprise had them drawing back just enough to take in the rest of the face they belonged to.

I remembered it, or thought I did anyway. In response to the penetrating gaze, I slammed my lids shut, hoping he’d go away.

“Hey, pretty girl,” he whispered, prompting me to peek at him enough to glare. My ire earned a low chuckle from him, but I didn’t flinch when he lifted a hand to brush a featherlight touch down my nose. “I see you remember me this time.”

I didn’t want to engage, not even in my limited fashion, with the memory of Milo so fresh on my mind. In my only manner of defense, I screwed my eyes shut as tightly as the aches in my face would allow.

“River! I told you and Rain to leave her alone. Why are you in here again?”

Again? That made it sound like they’d been watching me while I was asleep. The barely at bay panic crept up my throat in an ever-tightening noose until I strangled on it. My eyes flew open involuntarily, seeking help from any quarter as I suffocated.

“Aww, pretty girl, none of that now. We’ll fix you up.”

“River, what the hell are you doing to my patient?” The doctor sounded as hysterical as I felt, but it wasn’t her broken chest and face unable to handle hyperventilating. Frankly, I didn’t care what he did if he could make it stop. It fucking hurt .

The man, River, stood so that my dimming vision had an up-close view of his belt buckle, a shirt tucked into jeans, and nothing else. I sure felt the cool rush in my arm through the IV though. The relief wasn’t instantaneous, but it was darned close. So was the floaty drowsiness that set in.

I watched, detached, as River backed up to reveal his counterpart blocking an irate doctor and another man. Blake , my addled brain supplied when I searched my spotty memory. The one that the doctor had wanted to bring in.

“ We did what you failed to, Sherry,” River snapped. It took me longer than I thought it should have to realize he was answering the doctor. He shifted to the side, leaving the other three in my line of sight.

The woman was pissed. She started going off about how I’d refused her offer of sedation and my decision should have been respected. That was true enough, but I no longer cared, closing my eyes again to shut them all out. Whatever the men had dosed me with, combined with the panic attack wearing me out, left me in a barely lucid state. I just wished they’d shut up so I could go to sleep. Instead, I had to tune out their bickering. I had no interest in it, so there was no reason to bother listening in.

“Hey, firecracker,” a deep voice drawled in my ear. My startle reflex was slow to react, but I turned my head a little too fast and immediately regretted it when I bumped my cheek on his chin.

I moaned at the discomfort, further irritating my throat and jaw, and the man jerked back, apologizing in a hurry.

“Shit, girl, I didn’t mean to do that.” His amber eyes, eerily similar to his cousin’s golden ones, held a heap of regret. With the throbbing in my face settling down, I was inclined to accept it wasn’t intentional. I managed a thumbs-up, and he instantly grinned, his lips splitting to reveal slightly crooked teeth.

“How’s she doing, Rain?” his cousin asked. I’d missed the swap while I was attempting to be an ostrich, and even with my fuzzy head, I berated myself for letting my guard down. I didn’t know any of these people. They’d brought me to wherever I was, which certainly wasn’t a hospital, and patched me up. Didn’t mean they didn’t plan to break me apart again.

As I stared up at Rain, he studied me, the sudden wrinkle between his thick brows a testament to his concentration.

“I think she’s considering how to get rid of us, cuz.”

Astute.

“Blake, get these two out of here. I’ve told you they have no boundaries,” Sherry continued to harp.

Rain rolled his eyes, but it was River muttering, “She’s just got her panties all twisted up that we wouldn’t put her in a sandwich,” that had me staring in shock and my heart rate doubling.

“River,” Rain admonished while watching me have a silent meltdown. All teasing fled from both of them. Rain crouched down but kept some distance between us. “Shelby, he didn’t mean anything by it. You’re safe with us, I promise.”

My whimper was answer enough—I didn’t believe him.

“C’mon, boys, you all step out so I can help Sherry finish up in here.” Blake appeared behind Rain, stopping just shy of touching him.

Eyes narrowed, annoyance plain on his face, Rain twisted to address the man attempting to usher him out. “No. Sherry already said she didn’t want you in here, and we’re not leaving her to get poked and prodded while she’s upset. Jerry told us to take care of her, that she needed us. That’s pretty damn obvious, Blake.”

The mention of the kind steward piqued my interest, but only enough to stare warily between the look-alike cousins instead of keeping my eyes downcast and futilely hoping they’d go away.

River noticed, though, and ran with it. “Jerry called us to get you out, pretty girl. We promised to keep you safe, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

With a noise of frustration, Sherry elbowed her way between the men crowding my bedside. “Shelby, do you want any of them to stay? I’ll get Gavin to remove them if you want them gone.”

Whether it was the potency of the sedative, or I was too tired to fool with them any longer, I made a decision. The sliver of trust I had for the one man that had never tried to hurt me, who’d gone so far as to warn and try to help me, would extend to the cousins this one time only. Besides, I didn’t have a soul in the world in my corner; even Mama had turned her back on me. I was going to be forced to stay in the fucked up world I’d found myself, and the need to cling to someone for shelter cemented my admittedly questionable judgement. I acted before I could chicken out.

Lifting my arm was out of my repertoire, but me pointing at the two men and giving a thumbs up was answer enough for them to proceed.

I wasn’t sure what I’d just done once two matching grins popped up in response, but I was sure I’d find out. As for the tight smile Blake gave me before he turned to leave, well, whatever offense I’d made to get that reaction wasn’t my problem or my business. Nor was the nasty look the doctor shot them before she pasted on a professional smile for me.

“Well, now that that’s sorted, can we finish?” I gave the barest of nods, ready to sleep for a week after the incident, and flicked my finger at the men. “I think she wants you to face away. Is that right, Shelby?”

Another thumbs up was my reply as I closed my eyes and planned to pretend that the whole thing was all a bad dream.

***

Rain

Looking down at the battered, red-headed waif, I did my best to hide my surprise. I hadn’t expected that she’d give in and let us stay. Notwithstanding Jerry’s request, which was valid and seemed to have done the trick, I was drawn to the girl. River was too. Protecting her was at the top of the list, but the urge to do whatever necessary to stay at her side was overwhelming. Men like River and me, we didn’t ignore that sort of thing.

People called us superstitious, backwater hicks, amongst all other sorts of things, most of which we hadn’t had a hand in, like our parentage and upbringing. They didn't like that we were different and blamed it on our mothers. My mam and his, half-sisters who fell in love with the same man, eventually took to calling us cousins since it was easier than explaining anything else and less embarrassing when we were old enough to understand the sneers and slurs. River and me, we were inseparable from day one, and where one went, so did the other. It only made sense we'd think along the same wavelength and of course that didn't help the whispers and slights at all.

Our father hadn’t stuck around once he realized poking fun had had twice the consequences, but my mam and my auntie, they rode it out. Raised us to be as fierce and smart as they were, then got far away from the likes of the Rittenhouse tragedy. We stayed to help make it right, but our mams? We sent them on a permanent vacation, keeping up with the occasional call and postcard with a picture of whatever beach they were on at the time. They were safe and happy; that was all that mattered to us.

As I stared at Shelby, I had an inkling that the flutter in my chest and the itch between my shoulder blades were telling me to watch my back. This was going to spell a whole lot of trouble down the line. But River never faltered, no, he was right there with me, feeling all the same things. Usually, it was our dicks that caught the feels, and that was only long enough to rock some chick’s world for a night or two. It certainly wasn’t whatever fixation we had on the too-thin, too-hurt woman we were guarding.

We’d known she was special even as Carter carried her limp form to us, cutting across the lawn in a careful jog. Shelby had been wrapped in a sheet soiled with more than just blood. I’d taken one look at her blue face under the cuts and bruises and instantly cataloged the abuse she’d been served. It was a given I was going to pay it back tenfold in retribution as I tallied up what I could see—just as soon as I’d tucked her body away in the ambulance.

River had met my furiously cold stare once I dragged my gaze from my charge, addressing Carter without looking at him. “Who are we taking care of, Rittenhouse?”

“No one,” he snapped back. “I have to get back in there and clean up a mess. You need to get her breathing again before she has brain damage, if the bastard didn’t already—” The panic-laced grief in his voice brought our attention straight to him. Surely he could see she was gone. “Just fix her, please! Jerry called you to get her out, now do it.”

He gave one last pained glance at the woman I cradled in my arms before he put the mask, one he’d perfected over the years, firmly back in place. River humored him and brought his fingers to her damaged neck, shock in his eyes when they flew to mine. He yanked her from my arms and took off at a sprint to where we’d parked.

That was the instant that fate, the universe, or whatever anyone wanted to call it fixated on me and made me hers. Once River realized she was alive, and her assailant was dead, a vicious desire to protect her had taken him over. In that moment his eyes had met mine and I’d known it instantly—we planned for her to be ours in whatever capacity she'd allow.

Knowing full well that we’d have to deal with our exiled leader at a later date if we went through with keeping the woman, providing she didn’t die, I gave him a two-fingered salute and followed after River while Carter raced back to his prison. I knew some of what went on over the years, had a basic understanding of the shit that had gone down when Dirk had married, but my intuition told me whatever had happened in that house before I took Jerry’s call had changed the course of all our lives.

Shelby’s whine of discomfort drew me back to the treatment room at the compound. I kept my stare on the wall but reached behind me, unerringly finding her hand where it rested on her side. River shot me a warning glance from the side. I ignored it and left my fingertips in the barest contact with Shelby’s, waiting for her to decide if she wanted to take my hand, or not. We knew we were pushing her, but we also knew what our intentions were. Anything after that would be up to her to accept or reject, and we would honor her decision, period.

Another whimper that sounded suspiciously like a muffled sob, then her fingers crept into my upturned hand. I didn’t waste any time, gently weaving my fingers through hers, and not a moment too soon. Her grip was stronger than I would have thought she could manage, and I immediately worried that she was going to hurt herself with the strain.

“Almost done, Shelby,” Sherry promised, though ‘almost’ could be relative as all get out.

I was two seconds from breaking my promise not to look when River started a low humming. The sound was loud in the quiet room, but it covered Shelby’s ragged breathing. The poor thing struggled to get enough air through her nose, but there wasn’t anything to be done for it but calm down before she hyperventilated.

Shelby dug her nails into my skin, surely leaving more than half-moon indents. “Hurry up, Sherry,” I snapped while rubbing my thumb across the delicate bones of Shelby’s wrist. I badly wanted to turn and kneel next to the bed, but I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t make matters worse and ruin any chance of her trusting us.

“I’m working on it, just another minute,” Sherry replied, voice tight with irritation and forced patience.

I could just imagine the look she was giving my back. Rolling my eyes at her attitude, I nudged River.

He paused for a second, letting the room fall silent for the most part, then he took up singing a French love song, one of his favorites. Neither of us spoke more than a word or two here and there, but he’d memorized it just the same, because he’d liked the sound of it.

I felt Shelby startle a little and hoped it was from surprise at my cousin’s voice and not something that hurt her.

By the time he’d finished the song, Sherry was cleaning up, and Shelby was tugging at my hand. Turning, with River following immediately, I did what I’d held back from since she’d let us stay. I kneeled down so my face was level with hers.

“Hey, firecracker, feeling better?” I asked. Slowly, she nodded against the pillow before wincing a little and lifting her face so her cheek didn’t rub. It was difficult to see her bloodshot eyes, the capillaries burst from that piece of shit husband of hers strangling her. The bruising was just as bad, and I knew it went from her hairline, all the way to her hips. If he wasn’t dead, River and I would have made sure he suffered before we dumped him in pieces at the bottom of a kudzu-infested ravine.

River crowded in, dipping down to push Shelby’s hair back from her face as Sherry huffed something. I caught that she was going to get Gavin but ignored the rest. Blake could handle what was needed from here—if we could get Shelby to let him.

When she pulled, obviously wanting to unlace her finger from mine, I reluctantly let her go. I was surprised when she pushed my fingers down until I realized she was trying to trace something in my palm. River caught on first.

“I think she’s saying thank you. Is that right, Shelby?” We both looked up, waiting on her answer, but she tapped my hand again.

A thumbs up. I was disappointed it wasn’t more, but from her droopy eyes and the ordeal she’d just gone through, on top of her injuries, I imagined she was plumb worn out.

“We’re gonna get you settled, and when you wake up, maybe we could wash your hair if Blake clears it?” My voice was nonchalant, like it didn’t matter either way, but my chest clutched as I braced for rejection. River went still next to me, his only tell that he was as invested in her answer as I was.

Shelby glanced back and forth between the two of us, uncertainty in her whiskey-brown eyes. Finally, when I started to think she wouldn’t answer, she tapped my hand again.

That damn thumb was up again, but I’d take it. She could have just as easily flipped us off, but I didn’t think she was quite brave enough to do much of anything besides agree. We’d wear her down, show her we meant no harm, and protect her to boot. If she’d let us.