Free The Exchange Part 1 by N. Isabelle Blanco Page B
Authors: N. Isabelle Blanco
that just lost most his blood,” he mumbles under
his breath.
Sapphire giggles next to me. The sound eradicates my annoyance instantly.
Hell, I’ll diss Gage and let him have at me all day if it means getting that reaction
out of her.
“Lean him up against here,” Gage says once we reach the darkest part of the parking
lot. They prop me up against the wall and he moves back. “I’m going to go rent us
a room. Think you can stay on your feet for long?”
My reply to that? I give him the finger.
Sapphire, still tucked into my side, giggles at the way Gage glares at me. She presses
into my shoulder, trying to muffle her laugh.
My arm tightens around her and brings her closer. What? It’s a reflex.
Okay. Fine. There’s no way I can deny that I did it on purpose.
Don’t care, either. I’m lightheaded, annoyed, worried for the rest of the crew, and
Sapphire’s safety. Her small body pressed to mine feels too damned good and right
now I can’t pass that up.
“I need your number so we can stay in contact,” Gage tells Sapphire.
It takes me a few seconds to assimilate that question, process it’s meaning, and when
it hits me, I tense so hard I almost fly off the wall.
He’s asking for her number.
He should have it. For security and communication reasons, he needs to have it.
The newly awakened, possessive creature inside me prowls back and forth, hissing.
Snapping its teeth at Gage and trying to convince me that his face is the perfect
target for my fist.
I push it back with every bit of strength left in my body. Because he’s my teammate.
My friend. Because in just a day, the girl next to me has come to mean… something to me and her safety comes first.
I watch as they exchange numbers. The beast inside me throws back its head and roars.
Clearly, I am now functioning at a whole new level of idiocy.
Not mine. Never will be.
Have you ever be been so angry at yourself that you have to fight back the almost
uncontrollable urge to bash your head into a wall? I’m there right now.
It’s time to get my head out of my ass. No matter what it takes.
Gage tries dialing the others one more time. One by one, the calls go to voicemail.
He lowers his phone, eyes locked with mine.
Right now, we cease to be rivals, and go back to being what we’ve always been.
Comrades.
The rest of our team might be dead. Or worse, captured. That fucked-up fact bounces
back and forth between our stares.
“Call me if something happens. Stay out of sight until I come back with the room key.”
With that, Gage is gone, swift steps taking him back out of the parking lot.
Once he’s out of sight, I squeeze Sapphire’s shoulder. “You okay?”
She shakes her head, smiling. “Shouldn't I be asking you that?”
“I’m fine.” I’m not, but she doesn’t need to know that my legs are straight-up watery.
A rescan of my vitals repeats those damned words again.
Systems failing. Blood loss at 15%. BP at 75/50.
I shut the scan down.
Sapphire moves to stand before me and tilts her head back. I don’t let go of her shoulder,
nor do I move my arm. I have her in a one-arm hug. One I should break, and it’s not
that I don’t want to—well, I don’t, but I also can’t.
She places her hands on my upper abs. I inhale sharply as my heart skips a beat. “I
can reprogram the nanobots now. We have to speed up platelet reproduction and seal
up the wounds.”
I cup her neck in both hands, stopping her. My wounds grate against the insides of
my gloves. I ignore it. She’s talking fast. Too fast. And now that I’m really looking
at her, I notice how dilated her pupils are. She’s stuck in hypervigilance and there’s
no way all this shit isn’t getting to her. “Sapphire, are you okay?”
Sapphire brushes it off with a small smile. “I’m fine. I—”
“Don’t need to lie to me.” I cradle her face in my palms. It shuts her right up and
almost prevents me from being
his breath.
Sapphire giggles next to me. The sound eradicates my annoyance instantly.
Hell, I’ll diss Gage and let him have at me all day if it means getting that reaction
out of her.
“Lean him up against here,” Gage says once we reach the darkest part of the parking
lot. They prop me up against the wall and he moves back. “I’m going to go rent us
a room. Think you can stay on your feet for long?”
My reply to that? I give him the finger.
Sapphire, still tucked into my side, giggles at the way Gage glares at me. She presses
into my shoulder, trying to muffle her laugh.
My arm tightens around her and brings her closer. What? It’s a reflex.
Okay. Fine. There’s no way I can deny that I did it on purpose.
Don’t care, either. I’m lightheaded, annoyed, worried for the rest of the crew, and
Sapphire’s safety. Her small body pressed to mine feels too damned good and right
now I can’t pass that up.
“I need your number so we can stay in contact,” Gage tells Sapphire.
It takes me a few seconds to assimilate that question, process it’s meaning, and when
it hits me, I tense so hard I almost fly off the wall.
He’s asking for her number.
He should have it. For security and communication reasons, he needs to have it.
The newly awakened, possessive creature inside me prowls back and forth, hissing.
Snapping its teeth at Gage and trying to convince me that his face is the perfect
target for my fist.
I push it back with every bit of strength left in my body. Because he’s my teammate.
My friend. Because in just a day, the girl next to me has come to mean… something to me and her safety comes first.
I watch as they exchange numbers. The beast inside me throws back its head and roars.
Clearly, I am now functioning at a whole new level of idiocy.
Not mine. Never will be.
Have you ever be been so angry at yourself that you have to fight back the almost
uncontrollable urge to bash your head into a wall? I’m there right now.
It’s time to get my head out of my ass. No matter what it takes.
Gage tries dialing the others one more time. One by one, the calls go to voicemail.
He lowers his phone, eyes locked with mine.
Right now, we cease to be rivals, and go back to being what we’ve always been.
Comrades.
The rest of our team might be dead. Or worse, captured. That fucked-up fact bounces
back and forth between our stares.
“Call me if something happens. Stay out of sight until I come back with the room key.”
With that, Gage is gone, swift steps taking him back out of the parking lot.
Once he’s out of sight, I squeeze Sapphire’s shoulder. “You okay?”
She shakes her head, smiling. “Shouldn't I be asking you that?”
“I’m fine.” I’m not, but she doesn’t need to know that my legs are straight-up watery.
A rescan of my vitals repeats those damned words again.
Systems failing. Blood loss at 15%. BP at 75/50.
I shut the scan down.
Sapphire moves to stand before me and tilts her head back. I don’t let go of her shoulder,
nor do I move my arm. I have her in a one-arm hug. One I should break, and it’s not
that I don’t want to—well, I don’t, but I also can’t.
She places her hands on my upper abs. I inhale sharply as my heart skips a beat. “I
can reprogram the nanobots now. We have to speed up platelet reproduction and seal
up the wounds.”
I cup her neck in both hands, stopping her. My wounds grate against the insides of
my gloves. I ignore it. She’s talking fast. Too fast. And now that I’m really looking
at her, I notice how dilated her pupils are. She’s stuck in hypervigilance and there’s
no way all this shit isn’t getting to her. “Sapphire, are you okay?”
Sapphire brushes it off with a small smile. “I’m fine. I—”
“Don’t need to lie to me.” I cradle her face in my palms. It shuts her right up and
almost prevents me from being
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