Seeking Eden Read online

  “Don’t you move or I’ll blow your goddamn head off!”

  When the door flew open and the man burst through it, Adam figured it was as good a way to go out as any.

  “Welcome to Hell,” he said to the intruder, and he took a step forward.

  −

  48-

  Tobin held the gun as Dallas had shown him, using two hands and spreading his legs wide. The gun had no bullets in it. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to hit his target even if it did. Dallas had told him the General wouldn’t know for sure the gun wasn’t loaded unless Tobin pulled the trigger.

  “Welcome to Hell,” the man in green said. He raised his hands as though to show he had no weapons, but instead of staying where he was, he moved toward Tobin.

  “I said don’t move!” Tobin shouted, re-aiming the gun.

  The General kept moving, crossing the concrete floor with swift, relentless strides. He stopped just out of arm’s reach, as though taunting him. Tobin kept his hands steady. Holding up the weapon made his arms ache.

  “The fuck are you?” the General asked with a sneer.

  Tobin was really tired of that question. “I’m here for Elanna.”

  “Ah. Tobin. The man with the pussy name.”

  Tobin knew an insult when he heard one. “Give me Elanna, and I won’t kill you.”

  The General jerked his head backward. “There she is, champ. Be my guest.”

  Tobin followed the General’s gesture and saw her. Naked and strapped to the chair, her head hanging down so that her auburn hair fell in limp strands to obscure her face. Dark splatters of what he sickly realized was blood covered her hands and arms.

  He forced himself to look away from her. He couldn’t help her now, not until he took care of the General. Ice coated his throat and made his eyes burn with cold fury.

  “If you’ve hurt her,” he spat, “I will kill you.”

  For one brief moment the General’s expression turned bleak and tired before shifting back to antagonistic scorn. “Go ahead, bright boy,” he said. “It’s as good a way to go as any.”

  The man stepped toward him, into Tobin’s reach, and grabbed for the gun. Tobin gripped it hard, refusing to let go despite being taken unawares. The General drove his fist into Tobin’s stomach, and wrenched the gun away. In the time it took to blink, the soldier reversed the situation.

  Tobin stared at the barrel of the gun, unafraid. Dallas had said it was unloaded. Everything seemed to slow, even the beating of his heart. He would not be beaten. Not this time. Not ever again.

  “Let her go, and I won’t kill you.”

  The General laughed, waving the gun. “Seems to me you lost your chance at that, champ. I’ve got the gun. I have to admit, I’d hoped for a challenge. You couldn’t even give me that.”

  Tobin stepped forward, bringing his fist up toward the other man’s jaw and taking him by surprise. The General took the hit full on the chin, stumbling back a few steps. He didn’t let go of the gun.

  Before the soldier could get his balance back, Tobin leaped on him. Violence had never felt so good. His fists slammed into the other man wherever they landed. With each blow he heard himself yelling out, wordless grunts and cries that ripped their way from his throat without effort.

  The General hooked his leg over Tobin’s and rolled, ending up on top of him. The hand holding the gun was pinned beneath Tobin, and though the other man struggled to pull it free, he couldn’t. Tobin grinned, feeling his lips pull back from his teeth in something fearsome.

  “Your lady is a real nice piece of ass,” whispered the General in Tobin’s ear. “A real good lay.”

  The insult gave him strength. Tobin bucked, tossing the man off him. He rolled quickly, shoving his knee into the other man’s ribs and slamming his wrist to the ground. Still the General gripped the weapon, refusing to let go even as Tobin began hammering his fingers. The General still hadn’t pulled the trigger.

  The gun was empty, but Tobin didn’t trust the guy not to hit him with the butt. The General used his free hand to gather a handful of Tobin’s shirt and pull him to the side. The men rolled, grappling, along the floor.

  Tobin still had no idea what he was doing, only that he wanted to kill the man. Smash in his face. Batter him senseless. Hurt him for hurting Elanna.

  With a mighty heave, the General shoved Tobin off him and managed to get to his feet. He aimed the gun almost casually, then let it hang from one finger. With satisfaction Tobin saw the stream of blood coming from the other man’s nose. He’d made that happen.

  “Not bad for a pussy,” said the General. He wasn’t even out of breath. To Tobin’s shock, he put the gun to his own head. “But I don’t have all night to wait for you to finish the job.”

  “It’s not loaded.”

  The man looked startled and then admiring. “Maybe you do have balls, after all.”

  “Just let her go,” Tobin said. “And we’ll leave. We’ll tell you where we found the stuff, and we’ll go.”

  “The stuff?” For a minute it looked like the General didn’t know what Tobin was talking about. “Oh, yeah. Frankly, champ, I don’t give a fuck about that.”

  He slipped his finger onto the trigger. He aged suddenly, becoming old before Tobin’s eyes. He swallowed heavily.

  “It’s not loaded,” Tobin repeated.

  Elanna began to stir, lifting her head. “Toby?”

  The General’s gaze flicked to her. “How sweet.”

  “You,” Tobin said fiercely, “don’t even look at her. You’ve done enough!”

  “Boo fucking hoo,” said the General. “What love can do.”

  He pulled the trigger. The roar of the gun filled the tiny room, thundering in Tobin’s ears. Elanna cried out, her mouth opening but her scream lost in the echoes from the shot. The General’s head disintegrated into a spray of bone and blood, and his body sprawled to the ground.

  The gun wasn’t empty. Ice coated Tobin’s stomach, making him shake. He could have shot the man. The man could have shot him. But instead the soldier had shot himself, and why? Tobin didn’t know. He also discovered he didn’t care. He’d take his luck how it came.

  “Toby?”

  He heard crying and turned to comfort her before he realized that although her face was dirty and streaked with blood and sweat, her eyes were dry. But still he heard the wailing. Tobin looked to the floor, and saw the basket there.

  “The baby,” Elanna whispered. “Untie me, please, Tobin.”

  He did, fumbling with the straps in his eagerness to set her free. As he unbuckled the last one, Elanna fell forward into his arms. He caught her gratefully, rocking with her on the dirty floor. She clutched at him, pushing her face into the side of his neck and squeezing him hard enough to hurt.

  He didn’t care. She could claw him to shreds and that would be all right, as long as she was safe. She gave him one last squeeze and pushed herself away. She went to the basket and knelt there, reaching inside to pull out the bundle.

  The infant had wriggled free of its blankets, and Elanna wrapped it again. She sang as she comforted the child, a tune without words. She rocked the baby against her chest, letting it root against her breast and latch on, tenderly touching the baby’s head as it quieted.

  She looked up at Tobin. “They were going to kill it.”

  He watched her with the child, watched her mothering it. She looked right with a baby in her arms. She winced as the child sucked, holding her stomach with one hand.

  He was at her side instantly. “Are you all right? Did that bastard hurt you?”

  She smiled and shook her head. “It’s not from him. It’s the baby’s sucking. It’s making my uterus contract. It hurts, but it’s normal.”

  She must have seen the confusion on his face, because she smiled at him and reached out to touch his cheek. “The mother died. They wanted to kill the baby.”

  He thought of the child she’d lost. “I’d say he has a mother now.”

  Her face cru