“Fletcher…please.” Addy’s sob trembles out and she attempts to wipe her eyes only to bump into her goggles.
She rips them over her head and puts her face to Fletcher’s. Iva searches his pockets with one hand, the other holding back the flood of blood. I groan and bite my tongue when the numbness fades from my side but my limbs are still dead. The healing is a stinging burn now and my eyes water.
“Shit, I need more bandages.” Iva is muttering to himself and turning every pocket out.
Clinking glass hits the rocky ground and tubes of neon green and dark red clatter together. Iva holds up a syringe and a tube of serum. He’s frozen on what's clutched between his fist.
“Nnnn.” Is all I manage.
“Addy.” Iva’s lips don’t move. "He's lost too much blood."
"Don't you leave me." Addy screams into Fletcher's face. Her tiny fingers white as she presses into his lifeless cheeks. "Dorian. You promised." She whispers again and again, rocking her tiny body over his.
Her tears run rivers over his closed lids. She shakes his head in her hands, as if she could wake him from this. "You and me against the world, always. You promised." She chokes on her sob and breathes muttered gasps into his ear.
She whispers fast angry threats and choking pleas begging him to stay. My eyes squeeze shut refusing to witness anything other than Fletcher coming to. I let loose a rising feral roar of frustration, of anger, of uncage rage that batters my heart to tear free.
"I can't find a pulse." Iva whispers.
He removes his hand from Fletcher's chest, the blood has stopped gushing from his wound. No, he's not dead. He can't be. His stupid, too wide grin flashes in my mind and then we're on the transport here. The lines on his forehead smooth and the small genuine grin that brings out a hidden dimple takes over after I agree to take care of Addy.
No. He can't be dead. Because I made a promise too. I grunt with effort to scan his vitals and find a thready, uneven pulse that slows with each beat. Addy straightens up with a fire building in her blue swimming gaze.
“We have to…” She stops short, her mouth flapping open and closed seeing the serum Iva holds out to her.
“Nooooo.” I throw myself onto my back and my legs tingle with life.
Above me Luce roars and the clash of metal against metal is suffocating my focus. I have to move. My brain aches with the effort but I don’t let up. My head is still turned toward Iva. If I could blast that damn serum with a beam of energy I'd burn it to dust. We don’t even know what I took from the lab. What if it’s not the same formula Targe used on himself. Fletcher still has a pulse, there's still a chance.
“It’s your call, Addy.” Iva says.
“No, it’s poison.” I’m panting on the ground. “Demonic poison.”
“It saved General Targe.” Addy whispers. Her hand shakes as she reaches for it.
The sky above darkens and the ground thumps beneath me. Addy snaps her head to the looming threat, her eyes narrow, and she’s on her feet. “Iva, do it.”
She grunts with a leap over me and the thwack, thwack of her crossbows follow.
“Luce, draw his attention.” The captain yells and the fog swirls with the force of Luce’s mace spinning somewhere close by. “Holden, stand down.”
Iva shifts his attention down to mine. He brings the syringe to his mouth and uses his teeth to pull off the needle cap. The tendons in my neck scream with my effort to move, to stop Iva.
“Oren!” The captain is getting closer.
The strain in her call is just enough to push through the numbness. I thrust myself up into a sitting position and scream through my teeth. The base of my skull sears white hot like someone is driving a metal spike through it. I stagger to my feet, to Iva, ready to melt his syringe into the rocks.
“Don’t do it.” I warn him and my warrior marks blaze blue.
His eyebrows shoot up, but it isn’t from my reaction to his plan to inject Fletcher with demonic poison. He’s intent on what’s behind me. My legs wobble as I clumsily dart to the side. The whoosh of Holden’s sword cutting the air is accompanied by the ring of my blades emerging from the ether.
I spin and raise my weapons, crossed in front of me in time to block the downswing of Holden’s broadsword. The sword that's coated in dark red blood. My side burns from the open wound trying to stitch together as I stretch my arms above my head. His glowing green eyes blaze underneath his lowered brow.
An inhuman growl rumbles from his chest. It’s a wet, guttural howl that makes my skin crawl. My arms shake. My legs barely keep me from sliding back from his mass coming down on me. But my limbs warm with the power to push this fight away from Fletcher.
The tip of a glowing whip latches to the point of Holden’s sword. It crackles and twines around it, sparking in a ferocious grip. It’s the distraction I need to take a step forward and push Holden back. His thighs bulge in an effort to keep me in place. My energy sputters, more than divided for my healing and I can’t keep this hold much longer.
“Now!” The captain’s whip releases and a sizzling trap net is thrown over Holden’s back.
“Ahhhh.” His sword flails in dangerous arcs as he attempts to throw off the net.
I gasp to catch my breath, wincing with every inhale. He bellows in agony and I turn in the direction of the wall. The other warriors are not able to see through this thick fog but they’ll definitely be able to hear this. How would they react to the squad attacking Holden? His ranting stops and the clang of metal hitting the ground ushers in an eerie stillness.
Kane rises from Holden’s slumped form and recaps the paralytic shot in his hand. I'm damn glad they carry those around now. I couldn't have taken him.
“Sound off.” The captain orders.
One by one the squad responds. I press a hand against my injury and hurry back to Iva. It hurts like hell and there's a disturbing loose feel to my insides with each step, but I can't stop. The medics load Fletcher onto a gurney and raise a white sheet over his face. I trip over my steps and my vision narrows. I reach out to grab Iva’s arm. He side steps into a group of white medical uniforms and strips the sheet off Fletcher's face arguing with them.
Iva won’t look at me and I can’t wrap my hands around him to find out what he did. I try to scan Fletcher's vitals but I don't have anymore to give. My head drops and my knees crash into the rocks below. My power drains and siphons to my side, to heal what I reopened. I just need a few minutes to rest.
The fog retreats and summons rushing combat boots and warrior commands in its wake. My knees throb as I scan the ground around the thick pool of Fletcher's blood. I check the area to be sure Iva picked up every test tube that escaped his pocket. An uncapped bloody syringe lies discarded among the rocks, loaded with an empty vial.
