The Recruit (Book Three) (2 page)

Selena sobered
and sighed heavily. “I know, Hannah. It’s just – so many of us are
dead, we lost at least half of the recruits in the attack and the
other half are scared shitless and want to bail. Richard is dead,
we’ve got a new guy coming in, Chen’s hand was cut off, and you’re
a fucking Lycan. If we don’t try and find something to laugh about,
we’re going to go insane.”

Tears were
starting to form in Hannah’s eyes again and Selena gave her a brief
hug. “That reminds me. I was looking for you to give you some good
news.”

“Oh yeah?
What’s that?”

“Chen’s
awake.”

Hannah
stiffened before scrambling to her feet and wrapping the blanket
around her body. “I need to see him. I need to see him right now,
Selena.”

“I know, but
maybe you should stop at our room and put some clothes on first.
What do you say?”

Hannah smiled
faintly. “Yeah, okay.”

Chapter 2

“Chen?” Hannah
sat down gingerly on the side of the hospital bed and stared at
Chen’s pale face.

“He may have
fallen asleep again.” Barb said quietly. “He’s very weak.”

She squeezed
Hannah’s arm. “How do you feel?”

“Fine.” Hannah
smiled up at her. “I’m glad you’re okay, Barb.”

Barb sighed. “I
count myself lucky that I was at the farmhouse and that the damn
leeches didn’t swarm it, as well. I just wish that Richard had been
there with me.”

Tears began to
form in her eyes and Hannah stood and hugged her tightly. “I’m
sorry, Barb.”

Barb wiped
briskly at her face. “Your mom and dad and the twins are at the
farmhouse. I haven’t been back there yet but your mom’s been
texting me. She’s worried about you.”

“I know.”
Hannah said guiltily. Her mom had been texting and calling her cell
phone repeatedly and other than sending a single text telling her
mom she was fine and not to worry, she hadn’t spoken to either of
her parents. Mannie had taken the twins to the farmhouse and
instructed them to stay put, and she knew that she needed to go
there and see them and her parents.

“You should go
and see her.” Barb said sternly.

“I will.”
Hannah promised. “I just – I don’t know how to tell them that I’m,
you know…”

Barb shook her
head. “They’re your parents, Hannah. They’ll love you no matter
what you are. Besides, you’re still you.”

Although Hannah
wasn’t entirely sure that was true, she just smiled at Barb and sat
back down on Chen’s bed. “Thanks, Barb.”

“You’re
welcome, honey. I’ve got some other patients to check on. I’ll be
back in a bit.” She drew the curtain around the bed and Hannah
reached out and took Chen’s hand. She stared at his left arm, at
the bandage that covered the stump and felt a wave of nausea and
guilt go through her. It was her fault that Chen –

Chen shifted in
the bed and opened his eyes, staring blearily at Hannah.

“Hello,
master.” She said softly.

“Hello,
Hannah.” His voice was hoarse and laced with weariness and she
squeezed his hand tightly.

“How do you
feel?”

“Tired. My arm
hurts.”

“I’ll get Barb.
She’ll give you some more meds for the pain.” She started to stand
and Chen tightened his grip on her hand.

“No. Do not
leave me.”

“I won’t,
master.” She smiled at him before kissing his cheek.

“How did you
kill him?” He suddenly asked.

“I stabbed him
through the heart with my shiny sword.” Hannah gave him a
half-hearted smile.

“I knew you
were faster than him.” Chen replied.

“I wasn’t.” She
said softly.

“What do you
mean?”

“He stabbed me
in the chest.”

He stared
unblinkingly at her and she gave him another tentative smile.
“Will, he was there and he, well he…”

She trailed off
and he sighed softly. “He bit you.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t say
anything and she gnawed at her bottom lip. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for
what?”

“I don’t know.”
She said miserably. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t stop him from taking
your hand. I’m sorry that I wasn’t the person you trained me to
be.”

He shook his
head immediately. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Hannah.”

She shrugged
and stared at their clasped hands for a moment. “You should try and
get some more rest, Chen. I’ll sit with you until you fall asleep,
alright?”

He nodded and
closed his eyes. She studied his pale, drawn face before her gaze
dropped to his left arm, and blinked back the sudden tears.

* * *

“Come in!”
Mannie snapped.

Reid opened the
door to Richard’s office and poked his head in. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

He hesitated
and then sat down in the chair across from Richard’s desk. Mannie
was typing something on the computer and he waited patiently for
him to finish.

When he was
done, Mannie sat back and rubbed at his forehead wearily. “What’s
up?”

“Just checking
in to see what the plan is.”

Mannie laughed
bitterly. “The plan? I have no fucking idea, Reid.”

Reid frowned.
“You’re temporarily in charge, Mannie. We need someone to take
control of the place. The recruits we have left are freaked out.
They’re talking about – “

“I know!”
Mannie shouted. “Jesus, you think I don’t know what a fucking gong
show it’s been the last three days? Half our recruits are dead,
Richard is dead, Chen is missing his goddamn hand, Will’s gone
AWOL, and Hannah’s a fucking werewolf! You think I don’t know how
fucked we are?”

“Okay, okay,
calm down.” Reid held his hands up in a soothing manner. “I just
thought maybe the Board of Directors had spoken to you.”

Mannie,
breathing hard, closed his eyes for a moment. “Jesus, I’m sorry,
Reid. It’s just, Alison is dead and I…”

He trailed off
and Reid nodded solemnly. “I know, man. I’m sorry.”

Mannie took a
deep breath and blew it out harshly before staring at the
blood-stained carpet behind the desk. “The new guy should be here
by the end of the week. They’re sending a clean-up crew today, and
they’re bringing in recruits from some of the other facilities to
help us patrol until they can install better security
equipment.”

Reid shook his
head. “The security equipment should have been in place months ago.
They were idiots to think that we didn’t need it. We’re a training
facility for God’s sake! You’d think they would have put extra
effort into protecting their new recruits.”

“Yeah, well,
lesson learned.” Mannie said quietly.

“Do you think
the vampires will attack again?”

“Honestly, I
have no idea. I don’t know if there are other leeches out there who
know where this place is, or if that fucking Samuel brought his
entire army with him. We have to assume that others do know. I
talked briefly with Hannah after the shit was all over and done
with, and she said that although Samuel didn’t come right out and
say it, he implied that he was part of a bigger group. That
vampires across the country were working together and that they
would take out the facilities one by one.”

“There’s no way
that’s happening.” Reid protested. “Vampires can barely stand each
other. Do you honestly think they could form large groups
country-wide without killing each other?”

“That asshole
Samuel managed to do it.” Mannie replied.

“Yeah.” Reid
sighed.

“The Board of
Directors wants us to try and get things back to normal as quickly
as possible. They’ve informed me that we’re to return to training
classes by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”
Reid shook his head. “They do realize that one of our instructors
is lying in the hospital missing his damn hand and another is
running around the woods, right?”

“They know
about Chen. I haven’t said anything about Will.” Mannie
replied.

“Why not?”

“Because the
Board of Directors is already freaking out that Will turned Hannah.
I have no fucking idea how they found out, but they know and
they’re not happy about it.”

“He saved her
life.” Reid said quietly.

“Yeah, but
there’s been talk that he did it for other reasons too.”

Reid stared
thoughtfully at him for a moment. “We were both there when he
turned her. Do you think he did it for a reason other than to save
her life?”

Mannie shook
his head. “No. And honestly, if I had been in his place, I would
have done the same thing. You’ll do whatever it takes to save the
woman that you lo –“

His voice broke
and he stared at Richard’s desk as Reid waited patiently. After a
few moments he cleared his throat roughly and shuffled some papers
on the desk. “The Board wants us to get back to normal as quickly
as possible, thinks it will be better for the remaining recruits,
and I can’t fight them on this. Besides, the new guy will be here
soon and he’ll do what the Board wants, so we might as well try and
get the recruits back into a normal routine before he arrives.”

“I’m not sure –
“

There was a
knock on the door and at Mannie’s shout to come in, Selena entered
the office. She nodded to Reid before sitting down in the chair
next to him.

“You wanted to
see me?”

“Yeah. How’s
Hannah doing?”

“Fine.” Selena
said cautiously. “She’s visiting Chen right now.”

“Good, good.”
Mannie nodded distractedly as he opened a file folder on Richard’s
desk and combed through the papers. “Listen, this is a hell of a
time to say congratulations but we’re trying to get things back to
normal as quickly as possible.”

“What are you
talking about?” Selena frowned at him.

“You’ve passed
the program. You’re no longer a recruit.” Mannie gave her a small
smile. “Richard meant to tell you before…”

He trailed off
and Selena grimaced. “Thanks, but I’m quitting the program.”

“You’re what?”
Mannie gaped at her.

“I’m quitting.
I’ll pack up my things and be gone by the end of the week.” Selena
said calmly.

She walked
toward the door as Mannie stood up. “Selena, wait! You can’t quit.
We need you now more than ever.”

“I’m sorry.
I’ve made my decision.” She slipped out of the room as Mannie
stared at Reid.

“What the fuck
just happened?”

“I’ll go and
talk to her.” Reid left the office as Mannie collapsed back into
his chair and dropped his head into his hands.

* * *

“Selena! Hey!
Wait up!” Reid jogged down the hallway as Selena quickened her
pace.

He tugged her
to a stop. “Just hold on a minute, okay?”

“What, Reid?”
She asked impatiently.

“Listen, I know
what happened was awful, and I know we lost a lot of good people
but quitting isn’t going to make you feel better.”

“I’m not
quitting because of what happened here.” She replied.

“Then why are
you?” He asked.

“Why did you
kiss me?” She asked abruptly.

“What?”

“Why did you
kiss me?” She repeated.

“Hell, I don’t
know. I was pretty sure we were going to die and it seemed like a
good idea at the time.”

“Right.” She
pulled her arm free. “Goodbye, Reid.”

“Selena, wait!”
He took her arm again and pulled her into Chen’s training room. He
shut the door and leaned against it. “Tell me why you’re
quitting.”

“It doesn’t
matter, alright? I just – I can’t do this anymore.” She shoved at
his large body. “Get out of my way.”

“No, not until
you tell me why you’re quitting.”

She glared at
him. “Get out of my way, Reid. I won’t ask you again.”

He shook his
head. “You can’t just – “

She scowled at
him and when she tried to punch him in the stomach, he blocked her
arm and swung her around until her back was pressed against the
door. She kicked and punched wildly at him and he grabbed her
wrists and pulled them above her head, pinning her against the door
with his hands and body.

“Tell me,
Selena.”

“Fine!” She
shouted. “I’m quitting because I’m useless at this, alright?”

He blinked in
surprise. “Are you kidding me? You’re one of our best, Selena.”

“Bullshit!” She
spat at him. “I go into every single fight terrified that I’m going
to die. I’m – I’m so scared that I can hardly think straight.”

“We’re all
frightened.” He said softly.

She snorted
angrily. “That isn’t true and you know it, Reid. Hannah isn’t
afraid, and neither is Will or Chen or Mannie.”

“Just because
they don’t show it, doesn’t mean that they – “

“Did you know I
was in the military?’ She interrupted.

He nodded as
she sighed heavily. “I was really good at my job. You know that? I
was one of only two women in my unit, and one of the greatest days
of my life was when one of the guys in my unit told me he trusted
me to have his back more than anyone else. I was tough and I wasn’t
afraid. I knew what I had to do, what I needed to do, and I did
it.”

She sighed
again. “With this though, I just – I can’t do it. Hannah’s a
civilian with no prior training and she’s better at killing
vampires than I am. She was a college student for God’s sake! I’m a
liability, Reid. Every time I go hunting, I put the lives of the
people who are with me at risk because I’m afraid and I don’t know
how to stop being afraid.”

She started to
cry and he hesitated before releasing her arms and pulling her into
his embrace. She stiffened against him and then put her arms around
his waist and clung tightly to him as he rubbed her back.

“Don’t compare
yourself to Hannah or anyone else, alright? Besides, you saved my
life, and when it counted you did what needed to be done. You were
right there beside Mannie and me in that common room killing
vampires, remember?”