Savage Escape (Savage Security #1)

Chapter 22

22

CADEN

“ A nd checkmate.” The voice was deep and male and... only slightly familiar. No inner alarms rang. But that was probably only due to drugs clogging up her brain.

Her mind felt slurry. Like only part of her was present and the rest of her was floating somewhere just above and just slightly out of reach. Caden couldn’t decide if she liked the feeling. It didn’t hurt. In fact, she didn’t hurt at all, which was odd because she knew she was supposed to be hurting. There was a muffled dull throb radiating from somewhere she couldn’t pinpoint. That was pain. She knew it, but it was too blurry to feel.

She was fucking drugged. Again.

The usual rush of fear-induced adrenaline didn’t slam through her at the thought, though. She was cognisant enough to remember where she was and who she was with.

The brothers. The ridiculous number of brothers.

One of them, Caden couldn’t recall his name, needed to get punched. His name just wasn’t coming to her. Annoying and exasperating, however, were descriptors that popped up pretty quick. It should have been frustrating how slowly little bits of information leaked into her brain, but she was too drugged to feel it. Probably morphine.

“There is no checkmate in chessckers. There is only Twinkie and not Twinkie.”

Why she wasn’t panicking at the distinct sound of males surrounding her was almost cause for panic. But she didn’t. There was no reason to panic because she was warm, so very warm, and that meant she was safe. Although she wasn’t sure why it meant that. And she knew it was stupid to think she was safe when she was drugged and there were male voices around her. But the warmth she was feeling was accompanied by a familiar weight. She knew that her drugged mind tried to grapple for the name that belonged to the weight but it wasn’t coming to her. Now she was getting frustrated.

“No, my dear poor sweet, na?ve brother, the rules state that upon a half-eaten Twinkie, which you ate, checkmate can be invoked if said invoker has both the Butterfinger and the half of the Oreo with the frosting on it. And I’ve got both.”

She could smell him. She knew him. She liked him. What the hell was his name? Fucking morphine. Goddamn Reid. He smelled clean and her drugged nose could detect no trace of blood or cordite. He smelled like Nate, that was almost his name, smelled when he wasn’t three days into a captive torture situation. Like laundry detergent, tater-tots, and ketchup. The thief couldn’t help but grin stupidly as she sniffed at the warm weight, all but smothering her.

Nate. Nate. Nate. There were more letters to it. More sounds as well.

“True, but I’ve got the gummy bear riding the cinnamon bear, which makes all half-eaten Twinkie-invoked checkmates null and void.”

“Since when did your cinnamon bear get knighted?”

Caden gave up trying to get her brain to work. Whatever Reid, that exasperating, annoying one, had her on would wear eventually, and she’d be back to full bacon.

Holy shit, she wanted bacon.

And cinnamon rolls.

And twice-baked potatoes.

“Well, Holden, Carl was knighted after he took your fortress of Skittles. I can understand why you would have repressed that particularly painful memory of my owning your ass.”

But more than bacon and maybe even more than twice-baked potatoes. She wanted to sleep. Actually sleep. Not be half awake listening for trouble. She wanted not to be drugged and holed up in a dark corner of the world somewhere no one could find her and just sleep for days.

“Fine then, no checkmate, but I do believe that I can move here... and do... oh man, well, that just tastes like victory.” There was an outraged gasp and some distinct chewing.

These people seemed nice enough, and they had the Him that Caden wanted to keep. They were brothers. And wasn’t family supposed to be loyal?

But they weren’t hers and she couldn’t let down her guard. Because of that all-important thing that she didn’t have anymore. What was the thing? It was a word... a T word... but it was mostly an idea... and it was supposed to be an integral part of relationships. Toothpaste?

Sweet Jesus, did she need some of that. Maybe Nate would share his toothbrush.

“How dare you eat Carl! He had a wife and three kids to feed you vindictive asshole and you know cinnamon bears are my favorite!”

“Carl should have decided against a knighthood and gone for the wizard badge if he didn’t want to get ate.”

“You let him roll onto her again?” That voice was more familiar and somewhere in the slurry that was her mind, she got the distinct impression that he was the one that needed a good punch. Her limbs were not in working order, though. Everything was too slow—too delayed. They weren’t listening to her commands. “You two have one job! Monkeys could do it!”

“Every time we pull him off, he just rolls back over on her.”

“Besides Cade—” Alarm rang faintly in her mind. That was her. Caden was her. She didn’t want their focus. Focus was bad. “Gets all kill-y and foul-mouthed when he’s not on her.”

“Kill-y? How the hell can she be kill-y when she’s got morphine pumping through her?”

“She’s not out. When Nate’s not smothering her, she thinks we’re the enemy and tries to fight us.”

“Or curse us. And boy, howdy, I can tell that they would be doozies if she wasn’t so high and slurring her words.”

“Not out!? How is this woman burning through my drugs so quickly? She is tiny and thin and she’s got barely any sustenance in her—I don’t. She should not be awake still!”

Reid came closer. She could hear him mumbling to himself and she willed her arms to move, to punch out at him. God dammit, she didn’t want to be drugged again.

But then the slurry in her mind became worse and the rest of her floated off and the world started to go black. But that was okay because Nathan was moonlighting as her human blanket again, and Caden trusted him to have her back.

“Listen to me, you…” Caden had been waiting for Reid to show his lying face for the past hour. She was still groggy and somehow her voice refused to do the menacing thing she scared so many people with. “You punk .”

Reid stopped mid-step to look at her, eyebrows scrunched, and looking for all the world like she’d just called him a scum-sucking rat bastard. She wanted to pull out the big guns and call him something worse, but, for whatever reason, it was difficult to insult Nathan’s brother.

“ Punk ?” Reid was outraged. Good, Caden hadn’t thought it would offend him, but apparently, it worked. “ Punk ?!” His tone implied that it was the vilest insult that had ever been thrown at him and he was flabbergasted as to why he was being treated so horribly.

“Yeah, punk ! I agreed to let you drug me for an hour— two tops. I’ve been out of it for four fucking years!”

“It’s been three days, max .” His eyebrows smoothed out, and he rolled his eyes. Like she was being dramatic, and he was the only reasonable person in the room.

“ Three days! Reid!” Caden would have hauled herself upright, out of bed, and right into his stupid annoyed face, but the drugs in her system were making it hard to focus, let alone move. “I can’t believe—you fucking—I said two hours—you… punk !”

Maybe it was the drugs that were softening her anger towards the asshole, but she couldn’t make herself say anything worse. And Caden knew so much worse.

“No, you’re the punk !” Reid shoved a finger at her like he’d just delivered a knockout hit and he expected her to pass out from the shock of the insult.

A delirious giggle bubbled up in the back of her throat, but she didn’t let it escape. This was serious, dammit. She was pissed off.

“You had so much damage done to your person that it would have been inhumane. Do you know how many hours I spent on stitching up your back alone?!”

“I could take it.”

“Caden. You. Are. Not . Invincible.” Reid, hands on his hips, spoke so slowly that, had she been able, Caden would have reached up and punched him right in the kisser. “All you goddamned soldiers thinkin’ you’re the toughest sonsabitches in town—you’re not! You’re human! With nerve endings and fucking trauma enough already without me adding to it!”

“I told you I can handle it!” What was not getting through? Caden wanted to strangle the man.

“Well, I can’t.” He said it with so much authority that Caden fell quiet. “Don’t even be moving around just yet. You know how much time I put into your stitches alone?”

“You are insufferable. Do you know that?”

“ I’m the insufferable one? Me ?”

“Yes, you .” This man was easy to offend. Noted.

“Well, this insufferable person is going to take out your IV. I hope that’s not too insufferable for you.”

“Are you two done fighting?” Kade waltzed into the room with a stack of stuff in his arms.

“We’re not fighting.” Caden folded her arms across her chest and glared. “One of us is being reasonable and one of us is being insufferable .”

“Yes, they are,” Reid stated as he pulled the tape and IV off her arm.

“Sure sounds like you’re fighting.” Kade set his stack down on the side table and plopped himself in a chair next to her bed.

“What’s all this?” Caden ignored him and motioned to the pile of crap on her bedside.

“Good ol’ competition.” Kade threw his arms wide and grinned. “Since Reid says we’re not up for combat yet, we’ll just have to settle for board games and the like until we can actually spar.”

“Why are we competing?”

“So I can reclaim my title as the biggest badass in the family.”

“I took that title?” Caden liked the sound of that, though she wasn’t sure when and how she’d taken the title from him.

“Yeah, remember when you fucked up your own arm to get the drop on me? You beat me, therefore you’re the biggest badass in the family. But not for long. I’m pretty good at board games.”

“I’ve never played a board game in my life.”

“Great, then I’ll wallop you and reclaim the title.”

“It doesn’t really count though because I beat your ass in sparring and this is not sparring. So I’m technically the champ until we can fight again.”

“Yeah, but that’s what the board games are for. Seeing who’s the most badass until then.”

“You’re on then.”

By the time Maddox found them, they had exhausted all the board games and card games twice over. Caden had won all but three of the board games and Kade had walloped her at cards. They’d moved on to small physical challenges that Reid couldn’t object to, like who could do the Vulcan salute (Caden) or who could twist their tongue all the way around (Also Caden). Caden was in the lead, with Kade right behind her.

“Okay, okay.” Maddox entered the room rather abruptly. “Did you figure out who the biggest badass is yet, or what?”

“I am,” Caden said with no small amount of satisfaction. Kade scowled at her, but couldn’t refute that fact.

“Whatever. We’re doing video games next time.”

“Okay, get out. It’s my turn.” Maddox shooed Kade out of the room.

“Your turn for what?”

“Hangin’ out.”

“With me ?”

“No, with the bedside table. Of course, with you.”

“Oh.” Caden was shocked, but tried to be all kinds of nonchalant about it. “Okay. What’s all that?” Caden motioned to the baskets in his hands.

“We’re having a spa day. These heathens only let me do a spa day with them every once in a blue moon.”