Those five words seemed to suck all the oxygen from his lungs, from the room, hell, from the entire universe.
What the hell did she mean she wanted to help?
Grabbing her hips, Thunder lifted her off him, ignoring her protest, and set her on her feet before him. Fear threatened to swallow him whole, and he shoved to his feet, storming around the room as though he could somehow force time to rewind to before Maya had offered to help them catch that psychopath of a scientist.
“You said he would likely want me back, and I think you're right. I think if he thought he could get me back, then he would. So, I thought that maybe if I played bait, we could draw him out,” she explained, nervously twisting her hands together.
“You thought what?” he bellowed, the volume and tone of his voice making Maya tremble and curl inward. Some distant, rational part of his brain processed that he was scaring her, but the scream of terror in his head drowned everything out.
He couldn’t lose Maya.
Would never agree to willingly put her at risk.
Ever.
“Everything okay in here?” Steel asked as everyone else suddenly appeared in the study. All the additional people only added to the feeling of being unable to breathe as anxiety pressed heavily against his chest.
“Maya wants to play bait,” he snarled, ready to rip the head off anyone who agreed with her. “I think we all know how that game has gone every single time we’ve tried to play it.”
Maybe he hadn't made it clear enough how everything had fallen apart every time they thought they had the upper hand, every time they thought they had a way to get to Dr. Gardner, but obviously, he hadn't.
Obviously, she didn't understand how dangerous the scientist was.
Obviously, she didn't understand how deep his feelings for her already ran.
If she did, there was no way she would propose anything so ridiculous.
“Play bait?” Blade asked, his eyebrows raised like this was the first he’d heard of it, when they all knew that with his enhanced hearing, he would have heard the words the second Maya proposed them.
“Since he wants me back,” Maya replied in a small voice. With each word she’d spoken, her voice had grown stronger, more confident, more sure of itself, but now it was like she was right back at the beginning, her words faint, insubstantial.
That wasn't what he wanted for her, but he didn't know how to balance his terror and anything else. He was fighting a losing battle to keep his emotions in check, and he was worried one wrong word would push him over the edge.
“Just because it hasn’t worked before doesn’t mean it couldn’t now,” Voodoo said thoughtfully.
“Would you still be saying that if it was Indigo in danger?” Thunder snarled. “You only just got her back alive, and now you want to risk Maya? At least Rose had training, and Cassandra had been raised in a military family. Whitney is a genius, and at least Indigo had the benefits of being altered by the drugs. What does Maya have that would in any way level the playing field?”
“Dude,” Lion muttered, shaking his head like Thunder was an idiot.
And maybe he was. His words had been harsh, although he hadn't meant them as an insult to Maya. All he wanted was to cocoon her in bubble wrap and put her somewhere that no one could ever hurt her again.
The idea of her willingly walking toward danger instead of hiding from it made him want to find a way to outrun his very soul so he could stop feeling this horrific, crushing weight of dread.
Expecting to find tears brimming in Maya’s gray eyes, maybe flooding down her cheeks, instead, when he turned his head and risked a glance her way, he found her glaring at him. There wasn't a trace of pain, or sorrow, or hurt in those beautiful eyes of hers, just a rage he hadn't witnessed in her before.
“You can put me down all you want, but that’s exactly why I want to do this. You're right. For thirteen years, I've been completely powerless to do anything about my situation. I didn't get to make a single choice about my life or my body. But for the first time, I have choices. I'm not powerless. I'm not alone. You told me that you thought I was strong and brave. You said that surviving is doing whatever you have to do to get through a situation. You called me a survivor. Were you lying?” Maya arched a challenging brow at him, daring him to either admit that he was a liar or agree that she could handle this, play a role in bringing down the monster from all their nightmares.
He couldn’t do either.
“I said no, and that’s final,” he growled. Before anyone could argue with him, he turned and ran out of the room. Since nobody could match his enhanced speed, Thunder didn't have to worry about anyone catching up to him.
There might not be a way to outrun your soul, but he was sure as hell going to try, because it was that or drown in the fear of losing the most important person in his life.
March 5th
2:59 P.M.
“I can't believe he just ran out of here,” Maya muttered, so angry she was seething with rage. “If he thinks he can just run away from this, he has another thing coming.”