Pan's Salvation (Dueling Devils 5)

“Get her home, keep her calm and be patient. Minds are fragile, complicated things. Too much pressure and they can snap. Go easy and walk lightly. This ain’t her world. I sense she’s on the edge of reeling out of control.”

Maybe she’d be better off without me. Look at what I laid at her feet, trying to introduce her to my family.

Lark stirred on the couch.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Doc said.

“Hartley?” Lark whispered.

“I’m here, little bird.” He sank down on the edge of the couch beside her and took her hand.

“I want to leave.”

“We will. We’re getting you some new clothes to wear okay. You can go out like this.”

She sat up and he could see the minute she remembered. Panic flooded her eyes. “I need to get them off now.”

“Okay baby, I’ll help you.” He moved back as she sat up, then helped her shrug out of her shirt. “Lay back, I’ve got you.” He unzipped her pants and pulled them down as she wiggled back and forth. The red streaks made his stomach hurt. She deserved more than blood streaks, bad memories and instability. He didn’t want to break her so badly she couldn’t be fixed.

“God, it’s all over me,” she whispered.

“Hey, we can clean it off.” He gripped her chin.” Look at me, Lark.”

She met his gaze.

“I need you to keep it together for me. Can you do that?”

Lark took a deep breathe. “Yeah, I’m good. I can do this. Is Chase okay?”

“She’s going to be fine. The bullet went clean through. As long as she keeps it clean and stays off her feet, she’ll be good as new.”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Hartley.”

“Do what?” His heart raced in his chest.

“Any of this.”

“This isn’t our normal. People don’t show up every day blitzed out of their mind and hell bent on some twisted version of revenge.”

“No, but hypothetically speaking, it could, right?”

He scowled. “What kind of question is that? I can’t tell you yes.”

“But you can’t say no.”

“It’s a hypothetical question, Lark. What do you want me to say?”

“The truth. That was our deal, right? Honesty.”

“Yes, but you’ve been through some fucked up shit. Now’s not the time to get too deep

about anything.”

A knock came at the door.

“Yeah?” he barked.

“Clothes.”