Wounded Courage (Lucky Thirteen) Read Online Free PDF

even to my ears. “I’m tired… I don’t want to be locked away anymore… I don’t want to be alone…” My head lolled to the side, the lead weights finally making their way to my mind, and my body finally crumbled.
    He caught me, lifted me into his arms. I rested my head against his chest, curling into him. One arm supported my back, the other under my knees. I closed my eyes, the fight long gone as the darkness crept in. This felt right. It felt good. I believed him when he said I was safe, because the real truth was that Murphy had never lied to me. I hoped there really wasn’t a first time for everything.
    ~*~*~
    Murphy
    Addison’s body went limp almost as soon as I picked her up. I regretted letting Chris drug her, but he’d been right. Addison had bolted the first second she’d had a chance. She’d always been tough and determined. But in those last moments, before she passed out, I’d seen vulnerability and shadows of stress beneath her eyes.
    She fit so neatly into my arms, her body curled toward my chest in sleep. Her head lolled back against my arm, exposing her long, slender neck. Her chest rose and fell softly. Guilt slithered through me as I carried her back to the service elevator.
    I don’t want to be locked away.
    Chris met me at the door. His grayish eyes swept over his sister, his brow furrowed. “She passed out?”
    I nodded, hoping he’d let me carry her. She was his sister, but she was now my responsibility. I could have pulled rank, but then he probably would realize that I wanted to carry her. “Yeah, sedative worked fine.” The guilt I felt sat on my heart, heavy and full.
    I don’t want to be alone .
    The elevator door opened and we got in. Chris cleared his throat, but he didn’t reach for her. That gave me odd satisfaction. “She’s gonna be pissed when she wakes up.”
    I glanced at her, her face peaceful and unworried, so unlike what it was when she’d been awake. When I’d caught her, there had been actual fear in her eyes. Whatever was going through her head when she raised that gun, she’d been afraid of me. Or maybe what I represented. It left a bad taste in my mouth.
    “What are you thinking?”
    “I’m thinking we should probably get White to look at her and make sure she didn’t pull out those stitches running around like that.” I didn’t see fresh blood on her, but that didn’t mean much. I wanted to be prepared.
    “I’ll call White.”
    The elevator doors let us out in the hallway we’d been careful not to show Addison when we’d brought her in. She was stubborn. We both knew if she’d wanted to go, she was going to do it. We’d hoped to avoid that stubborn streak and convince her to work with us before Master Chief had to report to Lieutenant Nelson. I didn’t want Hardy to have to lock his own sister away, any more than I wanted to do it myself. But she had to be cooperative or there wasn’t anything we could do to protect her, and I’d promised her I would.
    I supposed I was lucky, compared to Hardy. I didn’t really have any family to worry about. The Giroux family couldn’t go after anyone that I loved because there wasn’t anyone. Not anyone that were known, anyway. But we couldn’t ignore they’d gone after Devyn and now they’d gone after Addison. They knew more about us than we knew about them. That needed to change, and soon. I had the feeling that Addison was the key we needed to unlock their fortress of information.
    “Murph?” Hardy paused outside his door, his hand on the door knob.
    I was supposed to be their leader. The guy in charge when Master Chief and Lieutenant weren’t around. But I didn’t know what to do with Addison Hardy. “Let’s get her settled and we’ll talk.”
    Hardy glanced at her and nodded. “Right. The room’s set up.”
    “You sure keeping her here is secure? You saw what she did.” She couldn’t have been more than a hundred-thirty pounds, and injured to boot, but she fought like a bulldog. I