Malichai took the airboat into the canal, hoping for the best. All of them felt a sense of urgency. They’d have to prepare a makeshift operating room and Trap would have to do what he did. He wasn’t a surgeon, not like Wyatt, but he was a good doctor and he read more books and attended more seminars and classes, watched more operations, than anyone else. He retained everything he read or saw. They’d have to trust that he could find out just where Wyatt was bleeding and repair the damage.

Are you hanging in there, Wyatt?

Trap’s voice roused Wyatt out of his comfortable stupor. He didn’t want to think, it was too difficult, but something in Trap’s voice made him answer.

I’m here. Pepper’s hangin’ on to me. She won’ stop givin’ orders. Who could sleep with her bossy mouth? He loved her mouth. Her sweet, sweet instrument that made him feel so good. I love her mouth. Even when she’s bein’ bossy.

I’m not going to put you all the way under. I’ll need your help.

Wyatt’s heart jerked hard in his chest. Trap had to be worried to tell him that.

I’m tellin’ you, Trap, it’s just a little repair. The leg’s good. It’s just bleedin’ a lot, but the one in my chest, I thought I’d taken care of it, but it didn’ hold.

I can do it, Trap assured. But diggin’ inside you is not my favorite thing. Not under these conditions and in your grand-mere’s house. If I make a mistake, that woman owns a shotgun and the one staring at you with moony eyes can bite with venom. Then there’re the three little vipers…

Wyatt laughed. Coughed. Hurt like hell. Shut up before you kill me. Unless that’s the plan, to do me in before we get to the house.

It might be a better option. You’ve got Ezekiel’s blood going into you.

If I need more, use Pepper. I want to see if her blood will give me any immunity against snakebites.

After I give you her blood, do you plan on letting one of the little ones bite you? Trap asked curiously.

Wyatt took a breath to steady himself. He needed to just drift away, go to sleep, but something just wouldn’t let him do that. It took a few minutes for his brain to figure out Pepper was locked on to him like a missile. She was firmly in his mind, whispering silly nonsense to him. Talking about the children. Telling him the differences between their personalities, so he could identify them more easily.

Every time he started down the road to sleep, she would whisper again, so low he had to really listen to hear her voice. He loved the sound of her voice. He loved the way it filled his mind and made him feel as if he were a part of her. Sometimes she talked about her dreams. Things he knew she would never tell him if she wasn’t so worried about him. Intimate, personal things she would be embarrassed if he remembered once Trap operated on him.

Keep talkin’, Pepper, he encouraged when she choked back a sob. I can feel the boat slowin’. We must be close to the house. Talk to me. I don’ feel the pain when you’re talkin’. And he didn’t so much that he’d just let go. He couldn’t do that to her.

I’ve been afraid for so long, Wyatt, she confided. Once I fell in love with the children, I didn’t know how I was going to get them out of there or care for them. I’m still scared. How can I be a mother when I never had one? I’m trained to kill, not to nurture. You’re so different. So is Nonny. You both know how to love. I didn’t even know what a family was supposed to feel like until I met you. Don’t leave me.

Wyatt concentrated on the tremor in her voice. Her tone told him she really was terrified that she would make mistakes with their children.

I don’t know how to be a girlfriend or a wife. I don’t even like most men. The ones I met weren’t very nice. How can I be someone special to you when I won’t know how to treat you? What to do or say? I’ve honestly never been so terrified.

He wanted to reassure her that they would do just fine. They’d find a way to make it all work. That’s what he was best at – making things work. He couldn’t find the energy to talk anymore, not even when he knew she needed him to. It was all he could do to concentrate on the sound of her voice and keep himself awake.

I thought it would be so much better outside of the laboratories and schools I spent my life in, but at least there I knew what was expected of me. I knew what the rules were. I feel as if I’ve been thrown onto an alien planet and there’s no guidebook to tell me what’s venomous and what isn’t.

He found that an interesting choice of words. Pepper dealt in venom. She’d been bitten several times and knew what it was like to suffer the effects. She had to be really afraid to compare freedom to a snakebite.

I love that you want me for myself. I never thought that could happen. I don’t even know who I am on the outside, but I love that you do.

He made an attempt to squeeze her hand. He was very aware of her fingers in his, but he couldn’t tell if he’d succeeded.

I didn’t know I could feel such love for anyone. It happened so fast, before I had a chance to think or know what I was doing. I’m afraid, Wyatt, all the time, worried you’ll discover I’m not nearly the person you think I am. That doesn’t matter, because you have to stay with me. I need you. The children need you even more than they need me. Stay with me, Wyatt.

She needed reassurance. Babe, I’m not goin’ anywhere. He forced his brain to work, to let her know she wouldn’t be alone.

She went very still. In his mind. Her fingers moved ever so gently in his. I’m pouring my heart out to you, Wyatt, but I didn’t think you could really hear me. I’m sorry. I wanted to keep talking to you. I thought if I did that I could hold you to me.