She let out a keening cry at the sound of his voice so strong and deep.
“I’m here, Katherine. I’m on my way to you right now.”
He spoke to her the entire way back, so that she couldn’t for one second doubt that he was alive, and when he burst through the door, he came straight to her, gathering her up in the warmth of his strong arms. Only then did the chills that had racked her truly subside.
Katherine clung to him as the women quietly left them alone. Kong spoke to her softly, soothingly as he held her. “I’m here. I love you, Katherine. I’ll always come when you call.”
They stayed like that for several minutes until Katherine suddenly jerked her head back to stare at his chest. He was still wearing the dress pants from earlier, but he’d shed the blood-stained button-down for a black t-shirt. Her hand rose, her fingers trembling as she tentatively touched his chest where he’d been shot, finding no wound or bandage.
“How? I saw him shoot you. I saw the blood…” Her chin quivered but she quickly got a handle on it. Swallowing hard, her eyes met his, and he saw the confusion in her gaze. She didn’t know, he realized. She must not have been told. She must have thought Godwin had killed him.
“I thought you knew.” He hugged her close, burying his face in her hair. “I’m so sorry.”
“Knew what?”
Kong raised his head. “The Beasts, the majority of us, can heal almost any injury.”
Her eyes went to his chest again. “How is that possible?”
“Something engineered into our DNA that stumped the scientists that were brought in after we were freed. Only the lead geneticist knows the secret and she refuses to talk.” Not that Kong cared what that unknown marker was. Usually, the only thing he cared about was that it made him a more efficient soldier. Today, he was grateful for it for Katherine’s sake. If he’d died, it was likely no one would have found her in time. The very thought made his lungs constrict painfully.
Katherine grabbed hold of his shirt and frantically tugged it loose from his pants. “I need to see.”
Placing her gently back on her feet, Kong helped her pull his shirt off and stood still as she looked at his unmarked chest.
Her fingers traced delicately over his sternum. “That is amazing. There isn’t even a mark here.” She tipped her chin to look at his face. “If I hadn’t seen you…” Tears welled in her eyes but she blinked them back as she breathed deeply through her nose.
“Luckily, he missed my heart or I would have been out longer.”
“Outlonger?” she asked in clear disbelief. “Are you telling me you could survive being shot in the heart?”
Kong nodded. “We can’t regrow limbs, but as long as we’re well fed and well rested, we can heal almost anything else. We might be unconscious for a while as our bodies make repairs, but we’ll wake up. Lark took two bullets, point blank to the head, and survived.”
That hadn’t been all that long ago, either. When she woke up, she’d suffered some temporary memory loss, but she’d healed up with no problem.
“Wow.” Katherine looked gobsmacked and while he wasn’t surprised by the reaction, he’d rather talk about her.
Gently, he feathered his fingers over her cheek. “How are you doing?”
She waved away his concern. “It hurts, but I’ll heal.” She shot him a teasing look. “Just not as fast as you.”
So fucking strong.
“Were you able to find out how that psycho knew my father?”
General Davies had permitted Kong to tell Katherine about August Cleary, that he was even now being brought in forquestioning, he just wasn’t sure how she would take it. She’d already been through hell today.
At his continued hesitation, she prompted, “Kong?”
“Here, let’s sit down.”
She came willingly, settling onto his lap and Kong absently combed his fingers through her hair. In a low voice, he told her about Terrence Godwin – who he’d been to Kong, and how he’d become entangled with her father – then, he dropped the bomb. “We believe your father is trying to start a war. He’s being brought to Black Bay now and will be detained for questioning.”
She was silent for so long that Kong began to worry. “Katherine? Are you okay?”
“Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Who profits more from a war than the person who makes the guns?”
Surprisingly, her tone was neutral, matter-of-fact –toomatter-of-fact. He wondered if it had fully penetrated.
