Collateral Damage

His expression was inscrutable as he stared at her. “You and your sergeant need to come with us.”

She’d sooner be shot at by that triple-A again.

Ipman glanced at her for direction and she relented, knowing she didn’t have a choice. She started walking toward Liam, careful to keep her gaze averted so she wouldn’t have to look at him. He turned away before they reached him anyhow, heading back toward the Spec Ops part of the base. Though she knew she’d done the right thing under the circumstances by ma

She’d broken a shitload of regs by hopping on board that Chinook, let alone by firing a weapon she wasn’t even qualified on. Still, considering the base had been under attack, she was pretty sure she’d be in the clear.

Ipman was silent as they made their way through security into the Spec Ops area. Liam glanced back once, as though to make sure she was still following, then strode for the nearest building. The young crew chief who’d recruited her held the door for her—Yates, the nametag on his utilities read—and offered her an encouraging smile that did nothing to dispel Honor’s dread before following them up the hallway lined with offices.

At the second one from the end she and Ipman waited outside while Liam and the others spoke to whoever was inside. Okay, her shoulder fucking hurt now and her shirt was stiff with dried blood. Maybe she—

Yates stuck his head out. “Come on in.”

Hands fisted at her sides, Honor stepped inside to face the two-star general seated behind the desk, trying to ignore Liam standing near the wall to her right.

“Shut the door,” he said to Ipman, his grim expression telling Honor everything she needed to know. This wasn’t going to be any fun at all.

As he started firing questions at everyone she started to fade out. She could see the general’s mouth moving, plainly read the anger burning in his gaze as he spoke to Liam, but the words didn’t register. She remained in place, expression impassive as he began to tear into her and the others, then stopped suddenly, his gaze flashing to someone behind her.

“Ms. Girard.”

It took her a second to realize that Ipman had already addressed her once. She looked over at him, startled. “What?”

His eyes shot to her right shoulder then back to her face. “You’re bleeding.”

She nodded once, opened her mouth to tell him she knew, that it wasn’t serious, but Liam suddenly stepped forward. He took one look at the back of her and muttered a curse under his breath. His hand reached for her, but the harsh expression on his face made her flinch and step back.

Liam froze, his hand inches from her upper arm. He stared at her for a long, painful moment before lowering his arm and turning his attention to the general. “Sir, permission to take Ms. Girard to medical.”

“No, it’s nothing,” she protested, embarrassed at the unwanted attention. But when she glanced down she realized her upper sleeve and back were saturated with blood. Guess maybe I’ll need more than a band-aid then.

“Fine,” the general said, “but this still needs to be dealt with.”

Ipman gently took her elbow. “I’ll take her.”

To her surprise Liam cut Ipman a lethal look that would have made a lesser soldier shake in his combat boots. “I’ll take her.”

Honor bristled. His territorial, apha-male bullshit was neither welcome nor appreciated, especially since she knew she meant shit to him personally. “I’ll take myself,” she muttered through gritted teeth and turned for the door, just wanting to escape.

Her hand was slightly unsteady as she pushed the door open and strode out into the hall. Before it swung shut Liam was there, only a few steps behind her. “Honor, wait.”

He’d only called her that because they were alone. For some reason hearing him say her name hurt more than whatever was buried in her shoulder. Steeling herself against him, Honor squared her shoulders and didn’t respond as she strode for the closest exit.

She’d already made the mistake of waiting for him once and she wouldn’t do it again.

Chapter Five

When Honor didn’t slow or even acknowledge his presence, Liam cursed under his breath and broke into a jog to catch up to her. He couldn’t blame her for ignoring him, since he’d been giving her the cold shoulder for the past few months. Their past didn’t matter at the moment though, and he didn’t give a shit whether she wanted to see him or not because he was going with her to the hospital.

By the time he caught up to her she was already pushing the exterior door open. He reached past her to hold it open, splaying his fingers against the glass. It wasn’t a surprise that she didn’t look at or acknowledge him but he was losing patience with her refusal to admit how badly she was hurt.

Not knowing what to say, he followed her toward Joint Craig Theater Hospital, sweeping his gaze over the back of her as they walked, taking in the blood soaking through her upper sleeve. Why the hell hadn’t she told him she’d been injured when he’d called out to her back at the hangar? Even though they weren’t together anymore, she had to know he would have helped her, right?

Guess not, genius.

His jaw clenched as he followed her, his eyes zeroing in on the damage. There were a half dozen quarter-sized holes in the back of her body armor vest and the upper half of her right sleeve was now almost completely saturated with blood, spreading out toward her shoulder blade. She must have been hit before hopping on his bird. He felt a surge of admiration for her. He respected the hell out of her determination and toughness.

Liam shook his head. If not for the Kevlar she’d have suffered broken ribs, maybe even internal damage, depending on how far the shards penetrated. The thought made his stomach knot in fear and the raw intensity of his reaction shocked him. Considering how hard he’d fought to get over her and move on, it was a giant sucker punch to realize he hadn’t. Not even close, if the giant fist squeezing his stomach was any indication.

He couldn’t stand the brittle silence between them a moment longer. “What happened?” he asked, staying right beside her.

“It’s nothing, only a flesh wound. Just needs to be bandaged.”

Like hell. He knew firsthand what shrapnel wounds felt like and knowing her she could have other injuries she wasn’t going to tell him about. Only a flesh wound? She had no idea what the wound looked like under there. “Honor. What happened?” he repeated, with less patience this time.

She let out a hard exhalation, as if his presence was trying her tolerance, and didn’t bother looking at him. “It’s no big deal and I’m fine. Go back to the debriefing. I don’t need help walking to the hospital—I know the way.” Her sarcastic tone made it plain she specifically didn’t want his help.

Liam eyed her pale face, unwilling to listen. There was no way in hell he was letting her go to the hospital alone when she was injured and bleeding that bad. He might hold a grudge but even he wasn’t enough of an asshole to leave her alone right now.

A thin rivulet of blood snaked down her right forearm and dripped off her wrist to the ground. The sight triggered a powerful and instinctive urge to comfort and protect, something he’d mistakenly thought he’d buried long ago. Despite what she’d said, he knew her wound wasn’t nothing. He also understood why she was acting this way.

When it came to self-protection, he was an expert. Since her his walls had walls, so he recognized the signs. Though he understood why she’d want her shields up around him now, it frustrated him that she’d freeze him out like this when she clearly needed someone. Before the epic meltdown with her family that had changed everything between them, she would have turned to him for help without hesitation. The thought set off a sharp twinge of regret in his chest.