Saving Akira (Complete)

Chapter 12

    A couple hours later Jon had slipped into bed next to her. Since she looked to him like she was resting comfortably he curled up behind her and draped his arm over her waist. It did not take long for him to fall off to sleep. Akira waited another couple of hours to make sure everyone inside of the penthouse was sound asleep. 

     Once she was sure everyone was asleep she carefully extracted herself from Jon’s arm that had been draped over her. To make sure he did not miss her being there Akira placed a pillow under his arm. She waited for a couple of minutes to be sure that she had not disturbed him. Score! She managed to get out of bed without waking him. Quickly she grabbed a pair of jeans, a sweater, socks, and her sneakers then put them on. She knew she was going to have to leave everything behind but her purse and the fake ID’s. 

     On her way out the bedroom door Akira grabbed her coat since the nights were getting colder now that it was the end of September. Carefully she closed the bedroom door behind and paused one more time to make sure she had not caused anyone to wake up. Satisfied that everyone was still asleep Akira quietly moved through the penthouse to the elevator. This was going to be the hard part since the elevator always made a dinging sound when it arrived. The only other part that might cause a problem is if those on duty saw the elevator stop at the penthouse level.  

      For some reason when the elevator arrived the ding sound was softer than earlier that day. Whew phase one complete. Akira pressed the button for floor 5 which was several floors below the penthouse. When the door slid open she carefully looked around to make sure she had not been found out. Excellent there was no sign of anyone moving around on this level. As fast as she could Akira made her way to the stairwell. Akira remembered seeing an empty apartment on second floor which meant if she could get into it she could shimmy out the window and drop to the ground from there. Yes it was a bit of drop but if she did it right she would come out of it unscathed after all cats always landed on their feet right? 

     Akira practically tip toed down the stairs careful to not make a sound. When she heard someone at the bottom of the stairwell she stopped dead in her tracks and pressed her body against the wall as best she could trying not to be spotted. Ah it seemed it was their break time so maybe getting out was going to be easier than she thought. After everything went quiet again she finished her ascent to the second floor and slipped into the hallway. Almost there she thought as she broke into a run down the hall to get to the apartment she had seen empty earlier. Luckily for her the cleaning crew had left the door unlocked. 

     These apartments were huge! She knew that each unit ran the full width of the building. With any luck there would be a tree she could use to get out of the building. Much to her dismay her shoulder was hurting more and more so it was going to make it a little harder to get out of there but she knew she could do it and knew she had to do it. When she reached the window Akira was ecstatic to see that there was a tree close enough to the window. She slid the window open and cringed when she realized she was going to have to lean out the window and grab a hold of the branch. 

     This was going to hurt but there was nothing she could do about it now. Carefully she leaned out the window and grabbed a hold of the branch dropping herself out of the window putting a lot of strain on her shoulder. Then she felt it. She had ripped her stitches and was starting to bleed. f**k. She thought to herself. The next branch her feet were able to touch so she lowered herself down to the branch and shimmied down out of the tree.  

     Just when she thought she was home free one of her so-called body guards rounded the corner of the building. Damn! She plastered herself against the tree hoping he would not see her or catch the scent of her blood. Holding her breath she monitored where he was. The light at the corner of the building allowed her to see him when he started to sniff the air. s**t he caught the scent of her blood. Without hesitation she broke into an all out run for the park that ran along the backside of the property. If she could make it to the beach she might have a chance of escaping. 

     Scott caught the scent of blood almost instantly when he rounded the corner of the building and then he saw someone make a mad dash towards the park. He just knew it was Akira who else could it be? “Get Jon, Cam, and Daelin up Akira is making a break for it and she’s bleeding. I bet she opened those stitches up. She is heading for the water I would bet you any amount of money. I am already in pursuit.” He barked into the radio to the others. 

     Akira moved as fast as she could and put her heavy coat on that she grabbed hoping it would mask the scent of blood until she could get to the water. She could hear Scott calling for the others to do various things. She was still too far from the water and she knew that when everything went silent that Scott had to have shifted. f**k. I wish I could shift. Do something to help to get away. Akira demanded to her panther. When she had been in danger before her panther had been able to give her a boost in speed or something but all she heard from her panther was a low growl of disapproval for what she was doing. 

     Just when she thought she was not going to make it the water came into sight. Yes! Feeling a rush of adrenaline Akira darted to the water of the inlet. If she did this just right Akira knew she would be able to shake Scott since panther’s much like other cats hated water. The extra time it was going to take him to shift back to human might just give her the time she needed to escape him. When Akira hit the water she knew she was going to regret it in a few minutes. 

     Regardless of her worries she dove under the water heading to hide under one of the private docks. The second the water rushed through her clothes and into her now open wound all she wanted to do was cry out. The pain that seared through her forced her to surface and scream out in pain. Barely able to tread water now due to the pain Akira was a sitting duck and knew that her plans to get away were not going to work.  

     Scott heard the scream and cursed under his breath as he took his human form. The weather had been relatively cool at night so he knew the water was less than pleasant. Not wasting a moment’s time he ran into the water hoping his senses would be able to locate her in the dark. “Akira it is Scott I need you to talk to me so I can pinpoint where you are. I know you are hurt and Jon is on his way honey. Please let me help you. I know you are scared but we can help you. Please call out for me.” 

     As the salt water from the inlet burned her wound making that arm unusable Akira cried out in pain again knowing she needed help or she was going to drown. “Scott!” She screamed out to him. “I do not know how much longer I can tread water my injury has made that arm unusable and my panther is being stubborn she will not help me! Please help me I am here Scott towards the middle of the marina.” She began to sob loudly hoping that it would help him find her quicker.  

      “I am coming Akira hang in there.” Scott called out as he began to swim as fast as he could towards the middle of the marina. The water was definitely chilly and he knew no doubt she was going to start shivering pretty badly soon. “Akira talk to me so I can find you.” He was now concerned even more because he could no longer hear her sobs. Frantically he scanned the water and sniffed the air finally he caught the scent of her blood again.  

     By the time he got to Akira she was face down in the water because she had passed out due to the pain and pure exhaustion. Quickly Scott turned her over so her face was out of the water and facing the sky. “Damn honey, come back to us please.” Carefully he held her up with one arm and the free hand he pinched her nose closed and blew a breath into her mouth a couple of times. Luckily Scott had gotten to her fast enough that she came to spitting and sputtering after those couple of breaths. “Shh I have you Akira, do not fight me I am going to get you back to the shore now.” Scott spoke softly as he began moving back to the shore. 

     Akira did not speak she was still in and out of it due to the pain and exhaustion from her attempt to escape. It took Scott several minutes to get her back to the shore of the inlet. Jon and the others were there and helped him to get her out of the water. Breathlessly Scott spoke, “She needs a blanket to get her warmed up and I would bet she has done a lot of damage to her wound. We need Doc Simmons quickly or an ambulance but I doubt she would be too thrilled with that if she woke up.” 

     Jon scooped Akira up in his arms only to head to the parking lot where Daelin had parked his truck moments ago. “Cam, call her and get her here quickly please? Scott get your ass into the truck too so we can get you warmed up as well. I do not want your Mate trying to skin me alive because you got sick.” Carefully he kissed her forehead as they reached Daelin’s truck. “Hold her for me Daelin while I get in please?” 

     Nodding Daelin took Akira into his arms and held her while Jon got into the back seat of his extended cab pick-up truck. After Jon was situated Daelin gave Akira back to Jon. The look of concern on his face told a story all its own. As for Scott he climbed into the front seat and closed his door. Once Daelin got into the truck he turned the heat on full blast. Cam was on the phone with Noel as he climbed into the back seat next to Daelin. 

     “Noel wants to know how bad the bleeding is.” Cam looked at Jon waiting for an answer but instead he got a response from Scott. “Cam she said that her injury was bad enough she had no use of that arm. I could smell the blood from a distance when I saw her make a run for it. I am pretty sure that it is ripped wide open. Tell Doc Simmons that Akira was unconscious face down when I got to her. I was able to get her breathing again with two puffs of breath.”  

     Cam relayed the message to Noel who was already in route to deal with the fallout of Akira’s attempt to escape while still injured. As they pulled into the parking lot of Jon’s home shots rang out with the bullet hitting the driver side mirror. Thank the Goddess they were turning into a parking spot when that happened because otherwise someone would have been hurt. Jon ducked down covering Akira while the others ducked as well.  

     “f**k! Daelin get us out of here head for Noel’s office. Cam you still have her on the phone? Tell her to meet us there. Scott keep your head down! Once we get Akira looked at we will head to your pride’s compound Daelin if that is alright with you.” Before Jon could even bark out the orders Daelin had the truck in gear squealing tires all the way. 

     Noel was on the phone with Cam demanding to know what was going on and if anyone had been hurt. Once more Cam relayed all the information he could and hung up with Noel. When they were sure they were out of the way of possible harm all four men relaxed. “Scott radio the others and tell them the direction to start looking. I want this sucker caught I want to kill him with my own bare hands!” 

     “Jon calm down Akira needs you to be calm even though she is unconscious currently she is reacting to your agitation look at her.” Cam spoke softly trying not to upset Akira anymore than she already appeared to be. In Jon’s arms she was whimpering and trying to fight as if to try and get away. “We will be to Noel’s in a few minutes. If I had to make a guess she is out cold because of pain. Noel said not to open her jacket until we get her there.” 

     After taking a deep breath Jon nodded as he rocked Akira. “It will be alright cara. I will take care of you so rest all is well.” The soothing tone of Jon’s voice seemed to do the trick because Akira settled down in his arms.