Page 47 of Red Marked

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I mean you no harm. I swear.” I know my words mean nothing, but I say them anyway.

I force my hands open and lower my eyes to the fire. Then I push a slow breath out through my nose, then another, until the burning under my skin cools to something I can manage.

I look back up.

The pregnant female has big brown eyes with dark smudges under them. She’s too thin for someone with child.

“This is Flint from Draig Island,” Star tells them, her voice gentler than anything I’ve heard from her tonight. “He is going to get you home.”

The girl studies me.

“I worked for Draig Security for many years. I’m helping with a project here on Mistveil Island. I have already spoken with the authorities on our island. There is a team preparing to arrive tomorrow. I will ask that they bring Dr. Robyn Keller along with them. She is⁠—”

The younger female with whelp gasps, her eyes going wide.

“What is it?” Star asks.

“I know Dr. Keller and her PA, Carla, quite well. Carla more than Dr. Keller.”

“How do you know Carla?” I ask her, frowning.

She nods. “I work…worked at the coffee shop right by the hospital,” she says in a tiny voice. “Carla came in all the time to get coffee for the two of them. Dr. Keller only came in a few times, but I know who she is.”

“I know both of them well,” I tell her. “They are mated to my best friends, Ridge and Magma.”

“Carla is mated?” The female’s eyes widen, and her mouth falls open.

“Yes, she is expecting twins.”

“Really?” She gives the ghost of a smile, which quickly turns uncertain. “And you say that Dr. Keller is mated to Ridge. When I was…when…” She looks stricken and visibly pales. Her eyes start to fill with tears.

Star puts an arm around her and pulls her in close. “You’re safe, Koa. You’re going home.”

It’s a pretty name. I feel so bad for her. I can’t imagine all she has been through. I only have to look at her to know that it has taken its toll. It’s clear that she keeps reliving the nightmare over and over.

The female nods, standing a little taller. “The coffee shop I worked at makes the best cappuccinos on Draig.” Her chin wobbles. A tear breaks loose and runs down her cheek. “I was working the day they came. The day I was taken by that feral male. It⁠—”

The rest doesn’t make it out. Her face crumples, and she folds in on herself, both arms wrapped around her thin body. Tears start to fall.

Star pulls her into a hug. “I’ve got you, Koa.” She wraps the young female in a hug with one hand cradling the back of her head. The other two move in closer.

“I’m sorry,” she sobs. “I still can’t talk about it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Star whispers into her hair. “It’s fine.”

Except none of it is fine.

I want to maim and kill, but I force myself to calm the fuck down. My dragon is raking at me to be let loose on something, and there is nothing here to fight. Nothing here but a terrified pregnant girl who needs me to be the opposite of the male who did this to her.

It takes her a few minutes to calm down.

Star keeps her arm around the female, who wipes her eyes, sniffing.

“I’m so sorry for what you suffered.” My words sound hollow.

“It’s not your fault,” she says in a broken voice.

“I run security for a program built to rehabilitate these pricks.” I look at Star when I say it. “That’s what the clinic is. That’s my job. I’m beginning to think I made a bad decision taking on this role. They made me believe some of them are salvageable.” I look at Koa’s belly, at her wet face, at the fists she has knotted against her chest. “It turns out I might have been wrong about coming here. I was made to believe it was good, meaningful work. I’m so sorry.”