Page 37 of Deadly Storms (Sunrise Lake #3)

“He’d taken the two mercenaries with him that had been good to me.

I knew when he came back and found me dead, he’d kill some of the men he’d left behind.

He’s truly insane. Iyad had given me a knife, and I was going to kill as many as I could before one of them killed me or I died from loss of blood.

I’d planned my death out very carefully. ”

She raised her gaze to his, her eyes meeting his. Her heart stuttered. Clenched hard in her chest. “You came out of the storm like an apparition. An angel of death. Rainier. ” She breathed his name, once again caught up in the terrible memory of that night.

Scorpion’s mercenaries had forgotten all about her, busy protecting themselves against the sandstorm. They hadn’t thought—or cared—to protect a helpless girl.

“You’re here with me now, Qadri . You’re safe, far from him.”

She shook her head. “I’m terrified Scorpion will make good on his vow to me—that I can never escape him. That he’ll come for me and anyone around me will be in danger. My friends. My parents. Now I know I’m bringing that same danger to you.”

“He’s the one afraid for his life.”

Rainier’s assurance was delivered in that same calm, steady voice he’d used when he’d taken her to his safe house and meticulously addressed each of her wounds.

He didn’t sugarcoat anything when he talked to her about her wounds or the infection she had or what she would experience in the future with the trauma she’d suffered. He didn’t do that now.

“You’ve always believed you influenced my decision to kill those men holding you prisoner because you were so determined to do it, but that isn’t the truth, Shabina.

I cut off all emotion when I’m sent out.

That’s the only way I function in the field.

Finding a sixteen-year-old girl nearly dead, tortured beyond what I’d seen in some of the worst cases, I was grateful I didn’t feel.

Knowing your guards abandoned you in that sandstorm while they protected their own skin would have made anyone go a little insane, but I don’t operate that way. ”

He trailed his lips down her cheek following the path of tears. Her heart clenched and then pounded in reaction. He’d never done that before in all the times he’d held her. That was new, and she liked it far more than she should.

“I had already planned to kill those men. I had taken a contract to find and kill Scorpion and any of his associates. That contract was with several countries, none of which, at that time, was the United States. It just so happened that my rescue mission brought me straight to his camp. Unfortunately, he was gone and so was his inner circle.”

Shabina frowned, trying to think back. Her memories were hazy.

She’d been so ill. “He was so angry. He often was, but he’d gotten a message and told everyone that he had to leave immediately.

He usually left behind at least two of the men he called his cabinet, but this time he ordered all of them to go with him.

At one point, I think he considered taking me, but I was so far gone, he was afraid if he moved me, I’d die. ”

“You know for certain he received a message before he left?” There was speculation in Rainier’s voice.

She nodded. The tears were beginning to finally slow, leaving her hiccupping. She was such a mess. She took the tissue he handed her. Rainier always seemed to be prepared for any emergency.

“He was so angry after reading it. Most of his men were afraid of him, and as soon as he began to rage at everyone, they got as far from him as possible. I wanted to make him angrier. I hoped he would kill me. When he was that angry, he looked for any target, and I was often his favorite. I did manage to draw his attention, which normally would have brought him straight to me. He would have beat me with his fists, but he’d already stabbed me multiple times in the thigh and had his men take turns with a whip. ”

“Why was he so angry with you?”

“I tried to escape. I was very weak. He’d gone through his starving-me phase, and that hadn’t made me comply.

For me, it was just another way to maybe leave the world.

A couple of his men had stopped him before he killed me after he dragged me back to camp, but the punishment was the worst I’d ever gone through.

Again, his men stopped him, or I know I would have died.

He had turned calm after the camp medic told him I wasn’t going to live.

He told him if I died, the medic and his entire family would die. ”

“That’s Scorpion calm?”

Her body gave a shudder as she took a deep breath, doing her best to regain control. “He isn’t a calm man.” She looked up at him. “He killed the guards that were so good to me, didn’t he?” There was despair in her voice.

“They were dead the moment they signed up to work as mercenaries. All those men were. He’d planned to kill them all along.

Deadly Storms just helped him out. In any case, baby, those guards participated in raiding other small tribes and killing innocent people.

They may have objected to how far Scorpion was going to torture a young teenage girl, but don’t forget they were paid to kill innocents. ”

He was right. She hadn’t thought about that. She should have. It was just that they were the only ones to show her any kindness.

Rainier stroked a hand down the back of her hair. “Let’s get you cleaned up and comfortable, Shabina.”

Instinctively, her hands tightened on his shirt. That usually meant he was going to leave. He needed to leave, but it was the last thing she wanted.