Wrath's Storm: A Masters' Admiralty Novel by Mari Carr (desktop ebook reader .txt) 📕

None of them had spoken a single word during the ride. Annalise looked shell-shocked, battered and bruised—inside and out. Meanwhile, he, Vadisk, and Jakob appeared as if they’d just walked out of a war film, filthy and bloody after coming far too close to being blown to Kingdom Come by the car bomb.

Exhaustion—mental and physical—had taken them all down quickly last night. Walt had wanted to take Annalise to the hospital. There was a severe contusion on her arm, as well as several on her shins, and the start of two black eyes. But he’d held his tongue. Not forcing her to go to the hospital was only the second-worst medical decision he’d made yesterday, after the blind injection he’d given Jakob.

They’d returned to the room they’d vacated earlier in the day, climbed into the bed together, and fallen fast asleep. They hadn’t even undressed or washed up, hadn’t done more than slip off their shoes.

Walt glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was nearly noon, but he didn’t have the heart to wake them. He’d only spent a few days aware of Annalise’s stalker, of the horrors the man had subjected her to. Meanwhile, she and Jakob had spent years wallowing around in that nightmare. With the threat removed, they were obviously catching up on years of lost slumber.

If they weren’t still knee-deep in the hunt for a serial killer, the doctor in him would have suggested at least a few days of serious bed rest for both of them, and he probably would have prescribed a sedative to ensure that happened.

Glancing at his phone, he realized he’d missed an early-morning text from his new friend Vadisk. The man said they were getting a one-day reprieve, but that the admiral of Hungary intended to pay them a visit.

Apparently, the admiral was looking for answers. Answers Walt knew they couldn’t provide. Not without betraying the fleet admiral.

Walt sighed as he looked at the bed once more, surprised to find Annalise had turned toward him, her gaze on his face.

“How do you feel?” he asked softly, not wanting to disturb Jakob.

Annalise’s brow furrowed, and he got a sense she was genuinely searching for a response to his question. He could almost imagine her doing a mental check-in, trying to analyze her condition. Finally, she said, “Numb.”

After the avalanche of emotions she’d released yesterday, he wasn’t surprised. “Maybe that’s a good thing for now.”

She gave him a ghost of a smile. “Maybe it is.” Then she twisted her head to look at Jakob. “How is he?”

“The effects of the venom, and the nerve blocker, should have subsided by now.” Walt walked over to the bed and sank down next to her. “I would like to examine you.”

He’d wanted to do at least a field exam last night since they weren’t going to the hospital, but Annalise had refused, allowing him to do little more than a cursory exam, insisting she was fine.

“I’m fine,” she persisted.

“You aren’t getting another bye, Annalise.”

Before she could continue the fight—or ask him what that meant—Jakob rolled toward them, propping himself up on his elbow. “Let Walt look at you.”

Annalise sat up gingerly. Walt kicked himself for not demanding to examine her last night, but she’d been emotionally fragile and he hadn’t wanted to push.

She tried to take off the T-shirt, but stopped, unable to hide her wince of pain. Walt gently took her hand in his, holding it steady, as he stretched the material until he was able to pull her arm out.

“Shit,” he murmured, a similar curse coming from Jakob as well, when their gazes landed on the large black bruise covering one entire shoulder.

“Wine bottle,” she said quietly.

At Walt’s questioning glance, she elaborated. “He hit me with a wine bottle.”

Jakob growled. “He died too quickly.”

Walt sighed and shook his head. “Jakob,” he started, perfectly aware that he and the Ritter would never see eye to eye when it came to the value of a human life. Jakob saw the world in terms of good and evil, an eye for an eye. Walt, however, had sworn to preserve life—all lives—and the lightness or darkness of the souls within those bodies was immaterial.

Jakob didn’t give him a chance to contradict him. “He deserved to suffer more.”

The tone in Jakob’s voice told Walt he would never be convinced otherwise, so he returned his attention to Annalise.

That was when he saw the bite mark on her neck—and for the flash of a second, Walt found his own humanity wavering, his anger toward Axel and the pain he’d caused Annalise sparking a desire for payback.

Walt swallowed the foreign feeling down, digging deep for the clinical detachment that allowed him to do his job competently, without emotion getting in the way of the work.

He ran his fingers over the bruise on her shoulder, gently probing. Given the range of motion she’d already displayed, he was fairly certain she hadn’t suffered a break, but even so… “I want to get an X-ray of this arm. I don’t think it’s broken, but there could be a hairline fracture.”

She sighed. “Does that have to be today? I really don’t want to get out of bed. I just feel…”

“Numb,” he said, repeating her earlier assessment.

“And tired. Though I don’t know how after last night. I can’t remember the last time I slept so soundly. I didn’t dream and I didn’t roll over.”

Walt cupped her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “The X-ray can wait until tomorrow. I agree that bed rest is the best thing for you today.”

Reaching behind her back, he unfastened her bra, his eyes locked with hers, awaiting a signal from her that this was okay.

She gave him a slight nod and he gently pulled the bra off. There were several fingerprint-sized bruises on her breasts and her nipples looked tender. Axel had been rough with her, brutal even.

“Annalise,” he whispered.

“They’re only bruises. They’ll fade with time.”

Walt hoped that was true. While her body would recover