Fallen Grid by Vincent Valentean

Author:Vincent Valentean [Valentean, Vincent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-26T04:00:00+00:00

38

Stewart stumbled along the street leading toward the military base where his companions were being held. The ill-fitting uniform John had pilfered for him was just a little too tight for comfort. But the state of it, splotched in the blood of the soldier who’d initially worn it, served his purpose well.

Stewart’s many injuries had been healing nicely, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing at the moment. He had to pass as a wounded soldier seeking asylum. If his bruises were fading and his wounds all scabbed over, he wasn’t going to fool anyone into thinking he required emergency care.

John had an answer to that problem, and while Stewart had understood the need for these measures, he didn’t appreciate them. Basically, John had to beat him mercilessly to open up some of his wounds. He also had taken a sheet of sandpaper and ground it into the flesh around Stewart’s forehead.

By the time he was done, Stewart certainly looked the part of a wounded soldier who needed immediate aid.

He’d wondered if John had taken some kind of pleasure in the action. He still remembered the way John had asked him about Judy. Stewart had been around enough alpha males in his life to understand the biting tone of jealousy from an ex-partner.

He was wondering if something romantic had been going on between Judy and Stewart. Of course, nothing had ever happened between them, but Stewart had often noticed the undeniable spark of connection they often had shared.

He’d pondered the meaning of this connection many times. It was possible it could be love, but Stewart wasn’t sure love was something Judy was looking for from anyone. She’d been burned by her marriage to The Wolfe and confided in him about her tortured feelings for the father of her dead children.

John Wolfe had nothing to worry about when it came to Stewart as some kind of romantic rival. But Stewart also didn’t believe Judy would ever take John back after all they had been through. It was also very possible John wasn’t even looking for such a connection, and this had all been born of Stewart’s anxious mind.

His mind was holding a lot of anxiety right now. He wasn’t sure if the throbbing in his head was caused by the pounding of John’s fist or the pulsing nerves that spiraled along the grooves of his brain.

High-pressure situations were nothing new for Stewart. In his time in the service, he’d embarked on many high-priority missions, with the lives of many counting on his ability to maintain composure under pressure.

But those missions had been undertaken for the masses, a faceless blob of humanity that had no individual identity. It was easy to look at one’s duty to the people of their nation and consider them one unknowable entity. It was easy to dissociate from that, to fall on duty and orders and not be guided by emotions.

This was something else entirely. This was a personal mission meant to save the lives of two people he cared for.

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