All the King's Men Read online

  “Versed going in.” said a voice in the background.

  Morgan put his hand on his shoulder and said firmly, “Charlie, step outside.”

  “I can help—let me help—” Charlie pleaded, as he shook his head. “I should stay here… Morgan, please!”

  “You can help by going out there, and waiting with the others, Charles. I won’t ask again, that’s an order!” Morgan insisted. The lights flickered and the floor shook beneath them. A hush fell over the room, save the noise of plastic crinkling and metal tools hitting the sterile trays as the staff refused to stop working. The goal was to keep Danika alive, even if it meant enduring the dramatics of the scene around them

  Danika could hear tidbits of the argument going on between her uncle and Charlie, but there was nothing she could do as she slowly drifted off. “Ok, that’s enough! We need room to work, if we want to give her a chance to survive this. So, step outside. Now.” The doctor threw in his two cents over his shoulder.

  Morgan glared, a glimmer of victory in his dark eyes. “You heard him.”

  “Both of you. Out. We wanna keep her alive as much as you do, believe me. But right now, if anyone is gonna need some damn quiet, it’s going to be me!” With that, the doctor turned back to his patient and they were ushered to the waiting room by a nurse, where they met up with the rest of the team. Morgan quickly filled them in on Danika’s condition as they waited impatiently for an update.

  A few minutes later a familiar face appeared in the doorway. The doctor addressed them as a group. “Family of Danika Carlisle? She’s stabilized for now, but still very critical. The bullet created an opening for air and blood to collect in her chest. That caused her lung to collapse and put pressure on her heart. I placed a tube into her chest to drain the air and blood out which will keep her lung from collapsing again. Scans are showing that she has two broken ribs and internal bleeding—it seems like the bullet nicked her liver. If that bullet had been four inches to the left it would have been a direct hit to her heart. She’s very lucky to be alive right now. We can’t make any promises but we’re going to do the best we can for her. The OR is being prepped and we’ll be taking her up for surgery to stop the bleeding, but you can be with her for a few minutes until then. Two visitors only though, and no more drama,” he said, eyeing Morgan and Charlie. “She’s fairly sedated, but any additional stress could cause her to deteriorate again.”

  They thanked him for the news and he left, moving on to the next emergency.

  As they all huddled together, Olivia leaned in close to whisper, “Listen, we need to get her to HQ. Aldo will be able to deal with this much better than the doctors here. They don’t understand our kind.”

  “What? No, she’s too unstable to go anywhere right now! The doctor even said she’s lucky to still be alive!” Charlie argued, unfurling his arms as he’d had them crossed over his chest.

  “Olivia’s right. The police will be here soon with their own questions, and the longer she’s here, the easier it will be for someone to come in and finish what they started. We can treat and protect her back at base.” Morgan spoke matter-of-factly, thinking logically even though his niece was barely clinging to life. “You haven’t been around long enough to see all of what Aldo is capable of yet. He can fix the bleeding better than they can, and without leaving a giant scar.”

  Sloane rose from his seat, shoving his hands into his pockets as he joined the group. “She has enough of those as it is.”

  Charlie winced at Sloane’s remark. He hesitated at first, and finally nodded; trusting that the leader was making the best decision for not only his team, but his niece.

  “This is our chance. Let’s get her and go. Frost, you hear me?” Morgan spoke into his comm, “we need the fastest route in possible.”

  “I hear you, boss. Charlie, go to Dani’s room. Give me a good shot of the place with those glasses, I need to figure out exactly where she is in there.”

  “Got it, on my way.” Charlie said.

  Charlie, accompanied by Morgan, walked purposefully back to Dani.

  “I got what I need.” Frost’s voice crackled in their ears. “Boss, that thing that Callie and I’ve been working on… I think we’ve got it down well enough that we can open a door to HQ in the north wall of the room there. It’s not gonna last long though, so you’ve gotta get her through ASAP.” The rest of you will have to take the long way back.”

  A small white circle appeared on the wall by Dani’s bed, about the size of a basketball.

  “Is it working?” Frost asked.

  Charlie piped in. “If we had an injured cat to pass through it would be great. We need much more than that Frost!”

  “Shit, I’m trying, give it a sec!” Frost replied.

  The circle seemed to sputter, then gradually increased in size until it was a proper doorway.

  A wrinkled face with white eyes appeared in the center of the circle. “You guys trying to make my job harder or just outright kill her? Hurry up!”

  Even with the sharp words, Aldo’s face was a welcome sight to the two men. They gently lifted Danika but the doorway was already shrinking down again. They quickly started passing her through, but the multiple IV lines, chest tube, and monitoring leads attached to her slowed their progress.

  “Frost!” Charlie said in a pained voice, “it’s closing fast!”

  “I can’t hold it, you’re too far away!”

  Danika was halfway through now, but the portal was down to the size of a small window and the men were frantically trying to pry the attachments off her.

  Suddenly, Aldo reached through, the blade of his scalpel glinting as he sliced through the last of the wires. They heaved her the rest of the way into the Ward, her toes disappearing just as the opening began flickering, then it died out completely.

  It was silent for a moment before Morgan spoke. “Everyone, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  *

  Aldo was a docile man, and though he had perfect places for quips and witty comments, he rarely raised his voice. “Settle down, Goddammit, and give us some space!” The team had practically flown back to HQ, and it was like the hospital all over again with everyone crowding around the injured woman.

  The crew started to peel off until only Aldo, Callie, and Koa remained. With great reluctance, Morgan retreated to the hallway, accompanied by Olivia. Charlie followed. Once outside, they were met by Sloane who was quietly hovering by the window, with his back to the wall and his arms folded. For the first time, he had nothing to say to them, no sarcastic quip or inappropriate icebreaker to kill the mood, as he wasn’t in the mood to be himself.

  “She better not die, or it’s your ass, Charlie.” Morgan snapped, breaking the silence. He stood firmly in place, his arms folded, with his back to Charlie. Those watchful eyes of his were unable to focus on anything but the action going on inside The Ward, beyond the curtain.

  “I-I know, sir,” Charlie responded, meekly.

  “No, you don’t, son,” Morgan shot back, a little more weight to his tone. “Danika’s all I have left.”

  Charlie caught wind of what he meant, and he sighed. The pain in that truth was immense. Everyone convened here was filled with such tension and it was getting to him, Atlas being crushed by the burden of the world’s emotions. He rubbed his temples, trying to steady himself, and not fall into the madness that was threatened by the claustrophobic sensation crushing his morale.

  Sloane inched closer to Morgan, and his bright red eyes flickered in his direction.

  “What is it, Mr. Sloane?” Morgan asked.

  “If you’d like, I can assist the Doc.” Sloane raised an eyebrow.

  Morgan knew what Sloane was implying; the assistance of the shadow that lived inside of him. A visceral spirit, a ferocious demon that gave Sloane the ability to work against nature, including the power of healing properties. They’d only explored that once before, with Carter, but Morgan saw what it had done to Sloane. It nearly destroyed his soul,
and he couldn’t possibly ask him to do that again. “Sloane…”

  “Worst case scenario.” Those black and red eyes were so insistent. As far as allies went, Sloane was an old partner and thus the closest to Danika aside from Frost. His usual attitude of sarcasm and dark humor were set on the backburner, shifting to something serious in the matter of her life or death. It was determination that spurred him in the moment, and even though repercussions were dangerous, Sloane still left the offer on the table.

  Running a hand over his mouth in a small flourish, Morgan nodded. “Okay. Worst case. Just give Aldo a bit.”

  “Fine.” Sloane replied, as he tried his best to stuff the demon back into hiding.

  “I-I’m sorry, sir.” Charlie sounded disappointed in himself, his weary voice came from somewhere behind them.

  It was tempting to lay into him again with another swipe, another snip, and cut him down, but Morgan bit his tongue. Even with the relief that Danika had the best people waiting for her, and rooting for her, plus the extra security he’d ordered on the perimeter, he was on edge. He paced at the window, struggling to keep his eyes off the shadows moving behind the curtain as Aldo was busy at work. After a beat, he shrugged and turned his dark eyes over toward Charlie. “Matthews—You’ve got the ears and eyes on the ground. Did you see the shooter? Or how far away it was?”

  Charlie’s distressed eyes looked up, surprised he’d been called upon. “No, sir. It was too dark—it came from hundreds of yards away, maybe even a mile. With a gun like that? I mean, they had to be a professional. When I heard the call—”

  “What call?” With his eyes back to their normal blue, Sloane turned around to join the conversation, his body clear of the demon for now.

  Olivia squinted, stepping forward to chime in as well, “What the hell did you hear?”

  “I heard…well—” Charlie stood there, hands on his hips, just stunned. He already knew this was going to sound worse than what it really was, but he licked his lips and wound up to speak again, but nothing came out.

  “Unless you’d like your ass frozen and shattered into a million irreparable bits, you’re going to answer me straightaway and quickly.” The fury ignited inside of Morgan, and this was the first time the team had seen him this angry. His eyes were alight with a hot amber glow as he tensed. “Or how about getting broken in half by my bare hands?”

  Sloane and Olivia shared the shock of Morgan’s abrasive outburst.

  “Sir—I-I just heard them make the call to shoot!” Charlie responded, raising his voice so he could be heard clearly, but by the looks of it, his plan backfired and they looked offended by his tone. “Dani and I—we were walking outside of the party to leave, waiting at valet, then I heard something over the comm.”

  Morgan flexed. “No one was on comm, son.”

  Charlie gulped, feeling the pressure, as if he was running out of time to plead for his innocence in the matter. “I swear! It was really quiet, but at the same time it was so clear. It was like it was in my earpiece, or something that sounded like it! Someone gave the order to the shooter. They just said to take her out, and I didn’t know what it meant or even where it came from, I-I didn’t see. Then I told Danika to move, and tried to push her out of the way… but it was too late.”

  Morgan’s lip twitched, and those molten eyes were intense and glowing. He was riled. Livid. He peeked over to see Doc’s glowing hands as they worked over his niece, as the guilt and doubt corroded his trust of Charles Matthews. “I vouched for you, Charles. Don’t make me regret that. The only thing saving you right now is that you pushed her four inches out of the way of certain death. For now, this agreement still stands. You can stay here and train. You can be a part of this team. But in the meantime? You stay the hell away from her.” Morgan turned heel and started to walk away from the scene, aiming for his office and some quiet until Doc and his crew were finished up in the Ward.

  *

  Danika’s eyes fluttered open. It was a lot less majestic than one of those princess movies, but at least she was awake. Her lashes fought to separate, encrusted in the sleep that made it even less glamorous and strengthened that disgusting feeling. She wished it had been a peaceful rest, but she had woken up several times in the night to find Frost or Charlie—defying Morgan’s orders—in the guest chairs, deep in their own slumber beside her. They were just brief awakenings, enough to peek, but she was never able to fight off the meds long enough to acknowledge anyone. It comforted her to know there were people willing to wait beside her, even though she would have told them to get their asses home instead of wasting it by gaining back and neck problems in those uncomfortable chairs.

  Morgan was her current visitor, which wasn’t too much of a surprise since he mostly lived on base. Still, it was amusing to see him seated anywhere outside of central command. He was sleeping, his neck against his shoulder, curled up in what looked like a very uncomfortable way to sleep.

  Eventually, he awoke with a soft yawn, his eyes widening to see her awake as well. “Well I was going to say: ‘Good morning, Sunshine’, but you look anything but sunshiny.”

  “Sunshiny in a nice little spot in hell, maybe,” she croaked. “Hello to you t-too, old man.”

  Morgan huffed as he stretched and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs. “Who are you calling old?”

  “No one else in the room, right?” Danika smirked. She still had her wits about her, despite her condition. “Is that why you’re here, to give me shit the second I woke up?”

  “Ahh, of course not.” Morgan scratched the back of his neck with a wry smile.

  “How the hell did I end up here?” She asked, slowly realizing that the last thing she’d remembered was being wheeled into the emergency room at the hospital.

  “Took some drastic measures to move you. They got you stable, but we needed Aldo in on this one. And we wanted to get you back here where there’s more protection.”

  That was all she needed to know. Whatever red tape or paperwork he’d have to deal with on record would be up to Morgan. All that mattered to Danika was that she was somewhere more comfortable than a damn hospital. “Good thinking. Tell the good Doc thanks, would ya?”

  “Of course.” Morgan nodded.

  Danika reached down and felt the padding of bandages on her stomach.

  The bullet hole itself had sealed up, and Aldo’s healing light offered more for recovery than the standard medical procedures, but Danika still felt like her insides were rearranged. Internal organs were going to take a while to heal up, though faster for her since her body mended itself relatively quickly thanks to her mother’s blood. Still, pain, weakness, and the nausea from medication would be present.

  He continued, “You might have rapid regen, but there are some things even Doc’s light couldn’t touch and nature needs to take its course here, Dani. Don’t even think about getting out of bed. Not now.”

  “Alright dad… It’s been a couple of days, like you said. My chest still feels like it’s been flattened, but I’m breathing, my heart’s beating and I need to get my legs moving.”

  “Not yet.” Morgan shifted to lean forward onto his knees, casting his eyes downward before looking up at her with deep concern. “Dani, you were shot.”

  “I know. I was there,” she snarled.

  “Dani—You were shot by one of King’s men, and by reputation, he doesn’t miss. This guy shoots to kill.”

  “You know who it was?” Danika could hardly feel her face, but the crease between her brows was defined enough to see the change in her expression. “What, did he tell you that himself?”

  “Don’t know him but…” Morgan ran a hand through his tousled dark hair, noticeably undone without any product, and pulled that hand down through his beard. He thought for a second, then nodded. “Yeah. We know who he is.”

  Danika felt sick, not only from the medication but also from this news. Her face remained neutral as the information settled into her head while she listened. Flas
hes of that night came back to her, the stampede of people running by her. Lots of screaming. Olivia had rushed up to help, Sloane stood nearby. She saw Charlie’s face… he looked so terrified.

  “The bullet went clean through you but did plenty of damage on the way. Shattered a couple ribs, collapsed your lung and skimmed your liver. You were bleeding pretty badly and could hardly breathe. You could have died; it was very close to hitting your heart.” Morgan didn’t mention the fact that Charlie was the reason the bullet hadn’t killed her. Instead, he set some photographs on the little pull-up table they used to serve meals to those confined to the bed. The photos were less than appetizing as they showed of her wounds. Danika grimaced thumbed through them, seeing her gory entry and exit wounds, as well as some pictures that were taken during surgery.

  Freaking gross, man. I didn’t need to see my insides today.

  When he sensed her disgust, he placed another photo on top of the pile. It was grainy and had obviously been zoomed in. “He was fleeing the scene but Callie had a drone in the air for surveillance. We pulled this frame from the video she was shot of him before he got away. Not the best picture, but Facial Rec managed to pull his profile. His name is Franco Serra, also known as the Rook. Former military, dishonorably discharged on his last tour overseas. Alton King’s elite guard and sharpshooter.”

  “Well, yippee,” Danika said, flatly. “So why did that piece of shit coward try to kill me?”

  Morgan puffed out a breath and shrugged. “That’s what we want to know.”

  She scoffed and struggled to push herself up, tapping her fingertip on the picture. “Better yet, how about we find this sonofabitch and kill him?”

  “Dani…” Morgan rose from his chair and immediately assisted her, bracing his hand against her back and easing her against the mattress. His insistence on keeping things civil instead of using her methods of ancient savagery made her roll her eyes. Franco had tried to kill her, possibly not knowing her healing properties. She had time to go over all of the ‘what if’s’ in her head, and the fact of the matter was, she was supposed to die out there.