Page 41 of Savage Escape
His brother cast a disapproving look before he motioned for Reid to see to him and Holden back out to notify the rest. Holden sent him a searching look and scowled at him before quickly doing as he was ordered.
“You did it anyway, didn’t you?” He tried to sound offended and pissed, but it came out all relieved and grateful. Not at all what he was trying for.
“What—the tracking node? Of course, I did.” Like embedding a tracking node in the flesh of a family member was the most natural thing in the world and he was daft for even commenting.
Nathan had fought that fight before and it never came to anything other than the knowledge that his brother was obsessively paranoid and protective. So he decided to bring the topic back up when Caden wasn’t dying and he had some food in his belly.
“Well, then what the fuck took you so long?”
“You said you weren’t gonna do this again.” Reid, the family medic, was shrugging out of his backpack and looking all accusatory and disappointed. Like Nathan had purposefully sought out trouble and got himself captured. “Just like you said, you were gonna stop drinking soda.”
“Not me.” Nathan dodged his brother’s hands and motioned towards the lump on the bed. “Caden, she’s hurt. She passed out. Some of her ribs are broken. Her arm might be too.”
“Trucks ready. Area is clear.” Holden glided back into the room and nodded towards Jackson before turning to once again scowl down at Nathan. “Some vacation. What the fuck happened this time?”
Jackson stepped aside to talk into his radio and then his cell phone. Holden slapped his uninjured shoulder and more bodies filed into the tiny room.
“Reid, if she’s awake, don’t touch her without letting her see you first. Tell her who you are.”
Nathan couldn’t turn his head without suffering a shock of pain, so he couldn’t see if Caden was awake or not. He didn’t want Reid to lose a hand or get dead.
“Nathan! God dammit!” Suddenly Nathan was engulfed in a bear hug and being painfully squeezed. “I thought you were dead this time for sure.”
“Ease off, Maddox—shit. I’m injured.” Nathan pushed the man away and couldn’t help but smile when Maddox threw his head back and laughed. It was more relieved than amused Nathan could understand. Maddox stepped back and bumped into Dax and Kade, who’d slipped in the door behind him. Apparently, they all had to see for themselves that he was alive.
“What the hell happened to you?” Nathan tried not to visibly cringe as he took in Kade’s two black eyes, puffy broken nose, and the slight hunch on his left side.
“Your girlfriend is what happened to me.” Kade, the six-foot-something, highly trained, ex-comando, was snarling and glaring.
“Caden?” When had they even crossed paths? “Why the hell didn’t you tell her that you’re my brother?”
“Oh gee, I don’t know Nathan—it didn’t come up in conversation. Oh wait, maybe that was because there was a firefight going on and I didn’t know who was the enemy and who wasn’t.” The man’s teeth were flashing with every other word. “And fuck, I thought the family resemblance would speak for itself.”
The sheer amount of indignant sarcasm was, in Nathan’s opinion, uncalled for. Aside from the fact that they were both tall and beefy and carried the surname, there were a few distinct differences. The one Kade was referring to was the fact that he was black, while Nathan was almost painfully white in comparison.
“She beat his ass, too.” Dax was grinning from ear to ear. Gleeful that Kade had finally been so thoroughly beat. “I saw the whole thing—I was surprised he didn’t assume the fetal position and cry. I woulda.”
“I wasn’t expecting her to break her own damn arm.” He glanced surreptitiously out the window. “Now, can we get the fuck outta this goddamn country? Shit always goes south in Moscow.”
Reid giggled from his position near Caden and Nathan arched an eyebrow in question as did the Savages around him.
“Coriolis effect.” Reid craned his head to the side and just waited. Like why the hell didn’t they know what he meant and why the hell weren’t they laughing at an obviously funny joke? After a moment when no one so much as cracked a grin, the man shook his head, muttered something under his breath about stupid Neanderthals not getting a simple joke, and returned his attention to Caden.
“It’s okay, Reid, maybe someday you’ll be a real boy?—”
“Oh kiss my ass, Maddox.” Reid scowled. “It ain’t my fault you’re too thick to get a joke.”
“A joke has a punchline, not some random ass reference to inertial force.” Maddox was rolling his eyes.
“Oh, so you understood the reference, but just decided to hop on the bandwagon and pretend like you didn’t get the joke.” Reid was angrily stuffing his supplies back into his pack.
Nathan breathed in the sounds of his family and allowed his muscles to relax. His brothers were there. He didn’t need to know anything else for the time being. Caden was going to be okay. He was going to be okay. They’d escaped.
“What joke?” This time, Kade chimed in.
“Can she be moved, Reid?” Jackson cut in, voice growly and raspy, shutting down the argument and glaring at them all collectively.
“Yeah, it looks like it. You wanna carry her, Dax?”