by Mina Carter
Laarn grinned, weapons in his hands as the canons on the bots whined when they powered up.
“My kind of plan.”
THEY WERE GOING to kill her.
Jess bit back her whimper, not wanting to give the men who held her, her arms twisted painfully behind her back, the satisfaction. Dropping her head, she let her hair cover her face and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
She’d been dragged into the main hall of the villa a few minutes ago to find it packed with warriors. The furniture had been cleared to the side to make room for them all to stand in lines, like they were in church. Forced to her knees on the hard stone floor in front of them, Dvarr stood a few feet away, chanting.
She winced as she moved, trying to clear the rubble and dirt digging into her knees. Lifting her head, she looked around. The floor hadn’t been swept, and the cobwebs gathering in the corners of the room said the villa had been unlived in for a while. Which meant no owners to come home and find a bunch of fanatics had taken it over.
Dust motes danced in the air as Dvarr spoke, twirling in the shafts of sunlight from the vents above them. For a moment she allowed herself to get lost in their simple dance, stretching out the moment of just being alive as long as she could and pushing back thoughts of the horrors she knew were to come.
His voice rose and fell hypnotically. It was a language she vaguely recognized as Latharian, but couldn’t make out properly. Like it was an older version of something similar. Perhaps there were other languages on their planet—like French, English and others on Earth… It was beautiful, even if it did fill her with dread.
Whatever he was saying, his audience were rapt, their eyes trained on him fanatically. She shivered at the looks on their faces as panic and fear welled up.
Dvarr was going to kill her. Worse, he was going to cut the baby right out of her body. Her gaze focused on the knife in his hands. Curved and serrated on the back, its wickedly sharp inner blade glinted in the dim light.
A whimper broke from her lips and she struggled again, but it was no good. The two men at her side held her easily, their hands biting cruelly into her arms and shoulders. They were so close she could smell their sweat and the sickly-sweet odor of whatever they’d used to draw a red line down one side of their faces. The same red line as all the Lathar in the room had… a sign of their cult or whatever they called their group.
Tears formed at the backs of her eyes, welling up to stream down her cheeks in scalding rivers. There was no way out. It wasn’t fair. Always in books or films there was something clever the heroine could do to extricate herself from a tricky situation, or the hero charged in at the last moment to save the day.
This was real life, though, not a story. No one knew where she was and it was becoming painfully apparent that real life didn’t give a shit about her expectations and what was fair. The universe was a cruel and unforgiving thing… there would be no happily ever after for her and her baby. No crib in the beautiful room next to their bedroom in the palace. No seeing Laarn hold their daughter for the first time. More tears ran down her face as her heart twisted savagely in her chest… she’d never see if she had her father’s eyes.
Dvarr turned to her guards. “Get her up here.”
She was yanked to her feet, kicking and screaming as she was hauled in front of the fanatic leader. One of the guards growled, quelling her fight by pulling an arm back and punching her in the jaw. Her head snapped around, agony and blackness welling up as blood filled her mouth. She managed to spit it out, woozy as Dvarr made her stand in front of him, tsking under his breath as he had to support her with an arm around her ribs just under her bust.
He continued chanting, the sound making her head swim. She watched in horrified fascination as he lifted the blade. It hung in the air above her, the edge caught in one of the shards of sunlight piercing the shadows of the room.
It plunged downward. Tore into her stomach.
She gasped, looking down. Blood welled around the blade, turning her skirts scarlet. Eyes wide, she watched helpless as Dvarr’s hand tightened around the hilt, seesawing the blade through her flesh, and she realized the terrible screaming in her ear was coming from her own throat.
The sound of pain and suffering was only drowned out when the doors exploded inward, killing three warriors instantly, and the gap was filled with warriors.
It was too late.
She smiled as her gaze met Laarn’s horrified one, the angle shifting as Dvarr dropped her to the ground and raced forward to face the intruders, willing him to understand it was okay.
Then her eyes fluttered shut and she couldn’t open them again.
17
“ N O!”
Laarn saw Jess fall and his heart felt like it had been torn clean from his chest to tumble to the floor next to her. A feral, wounded bellow escaped him, ripping its way up from the depths of his soul to give voice to his pain. Launching himself into movement, he tore into the warriors in front of him, carving a path with blade and assault pistol.
No one who stood before him survived. Red-striped faces fell and were instantly forgotten as he fought his way toward the crumpled figure on the other side of the room. The war cries of his fellow warriors sounded behind him but he paid them no mind, his entire focus on reaching Jess. Everything passed in a blur, so fast, yet it felt like an eternity until he reached her, falling to his knees by her fallen form. His weapons clattered discarded to the dusty floor, no use to him now.
“Gods, Jess… can you hear me?”
For a moment, he was frozen, paralyzed into place as his hands, usually so sure, hovered above her crumpled body. She lay on her back, her hair spread around her head like a dark halo, the horrific wound in her abdomen staining her dress and the floor around her bright scarlet. She was so pale and still that his heart stuttered, all his senses telling him that he’d lost her.
Then her eyes fluttered open and his healer’s instincts kicked him in the ass. Shoving his hand down over her stomach to apply pressure, he bellowed over his shoulder for his healer’s pack and a stretcher.
“You’re going to be okay, Jess. I promise,” he told her, groveling in the dirt next to her to smooth the hair back from her face. “Just stay with me, love, please.” He was begging where everyone could see him, the proud lord healer brought low, but he didn’t care. He’d give anything to save her, including his rank, title… even his life.
She blinked at him, her eyes unfocused and he thought she was slipping again, his heart giving a savage lurch. Then her small hand crept over his.
“Save her…” she whispered, her voice weak. “You didn’t… want me… or her. But save her, please…”
Her eyelids fluttered down and he panicked, grabbing with one hand at the pack someone dropped down next to him.
“What? No… Jess, stay with me.” Tearing the pack open, he reached for pressure-sprays one-handed, snapping them open and pressing them into her flesh around the tear in her stomach.
His keen eyes studied the site of the wound, watching as the pressure sprays took effect and slowed the bleeding down, but it was only a patch. It wouldn’t hold long. Shit. Where was the damn stasis stretcher? It was taking too long. Before he could open his mouth to yell, though, he heard Daaynal’s deep voice shouting at people to move out of the way.
“Stay awake, love,” he urged Jess. “Tell me what you mean. I’ve always wanted you.”
Her eyes took longer to open this time, and her voice was so weak that he had to lean forward to hear her. “Heard you… Karryl… You were going… terminate. Didn’t want to be bond—” Her words cut off as her head fell to the side, her delicate frame too weak to keep her conscious, but he heard her and her words sliced him right down to the soul.
She thought he didn’t want her. Had used her last strength to beg him to save their baby, no thought for her own life. In that moment Laarn was truly humbled, his little mate displaying a strength that had nothing to do with speed or muscle or combat ability. S
tanding back, he kept a sharp eye on the stasis team as they loaded her gently into the stretcher and activated it. He only let himself breathe a small sigh of relief when the unit was active and he could see her vitals level out.
The fight was done, but he didn’t even spare a glance for Dvarr and his men, either those that had been captured or those who lay dead on the floor around them. Walking by the stretcher, he paused for a moment when Daaynal caught his attention.
“How bad?” The emperor didn’t mince words, his hand on Laarn’s arm and his expression concerned.
“Bad.” Laarn didn’t bother to hide the distraught note in his voice. “I need to operate. Now.”
Daaynal dropped his hand, nodding. “Go. We’ll sort this.”
Laarn paused for a moment, his gaze sliding to the prisoners. Dvarr was on his knees, force restraints around his ankles, wrists and neck. Hatred surged, hard and fast, almost cutting off Laarn’s breathing.
“Him. Make sure he’s still alive when I’m done,” he snarled. “I want to fucking gut him myself.”
With that he turned and followed the stasis stretcher out of the ruined building. Before he could exact revenge, he had to save his woman.
They were rushed back to the palace with a drakeen bot escort. The big machines surrounded them, making sure people on the streets moved out of the way. Laarn had the impression of curious faces, then sorrow and anger as those in the crowd realized that one of the human women had been badly hurt.
“Gods guide you, Lord Healer.”
“Gods bless the Terran lady.”
“May the gods save her.”
Voices called out blessings and well-wishes as they passed, and Laarn managed a smile or two in thanks. It was reassuring that most of the Lathar weren’t of the same mind as Dvarr and his asshole followers. Most of them seemed genuinely upset and worried about Jess’ health. He made a mental note to pass that onto Daaynal later but then realized he didn’t have to. Two of the bots surrounding them had Imperial marks, so what they saw, the emperor saw.
Tovan waited for them at the entrance to the healer’s hall, his arms folded and his expression forbidding. As soon as he saw them, he hurried forward, peering into the stasis stretcher. At the sight of Jess lying there, motionless and covered in blood, he paled, visibly shaken as he looked up at Laarn. “We heard on the comms but I didn’t think… he tried to…”
Laarn’s voice was hard as he motioned the stretcher in ahead of them, all his emotions locked down. “Dvarr tried to cut the baby from her womb. I’ve applied pressure patches but we need to work fast or we’ll lose them both.”
“That animal,” Tovan hissed, his expression furious. “Never in my life have I been ashamed to call myself Lathar, but I am now. How could any male worthy of the name hurt such a lovely creature as Lady Jessica?”
Laarn looked at him, noting his expression and the faces of the healers behind him. They were furious and he knew in that moment that no purist out there would ever receive treatment from an Imperial healer ever again. Tovan took a shuddering breath and looked at him directly. “The main theater has been prepared for you, my lord. Please, come this way…”
When they walked into the main area, sweeping through the drapes in a rustle of plastic, Laarn was surprised to find not the usual one, but three operating units set up.
“We won’t let you take this one alone, my lord,” Tovan said quietly. “You’ve been in battle and the lady is badly injured. We’ll be standing by in case you need us to take over. Between us all, we can save her.”
Laarn inclined his head. Tovan had been one of the most outspoken of the healers against the possibility the Terran women could be the saviors of their race, so to go from that to being willing to take on Jess’ pain and save her… it would have warmed him through had he been thinking right.
“Support only, monitor her vitals and inform me if any other issues crop up. Do not initiate the link unless the worst happens,” he ordered, knowing damn well the only way he’d hand over responsibility for Jess’ healing was if he no longer drew breath. “She is my woman and my responsibility.”
The other healers nodded, stepping out of the way as he stripped off his armor and leather jacket, letting them drop unheeded to the floor. Stepping through the decontamination unit, he kept his eyes locked on Jess as he approached the uplink unit. Arms out, he just nodded as Tovan and his assistant slid the gauntlets over his hands and wrists, locking them into place.
“Neural interface ready, surgical unit online,” Tovan said, looking over. “Ready when you are, my lord.”
“Do it.” Laarn’s voice was clipped and firm. “Take me in now.”
“Aye, my lord. I’ll ease you in—”
“No!” Laarn barked. “She’s in pain, a lot of pain. Give it to me, all of it.”
He heard the hiss as Tovan prepared to argue but then silence. Protocol was to ease into the uplink, giving the healer time to prepare to take the pain load, but they didn’t have time for that. Just one look at Jess’ vitals said she was in trouble and he needed to work fast.
“Transferring.”
Laarn grunted as pain exploded through him, all centered in his lower stomach. It was a cutting, biting agony that stole his breath and nearly his reason. The wound was… would have been mortal. He could feel the very wrongness of it. It should have killed her but somehow hadn’t.
Straightening, he activated the unit, his keen eyes already spotting where he would need to be working. The blade had dug deep, curling around her womb and nicking it, but not cutting into the amniotic sac. The baby was okay… would be okay… if he could save her mother.
“Heart rate increasing…”
Tovan’s voice sounded in the background, a constant update on the readouts Laarn wasn’t paying attention to at the moment as he started to work on the terrible wound in Jess’ stomach. He worked fast, sweat pouring from him as he fought his own fear and feelings to maintain the link with her. To take her pain away even as he worked to repair the damage to her body. He created new molecular strings, binding them together to mend the rent flesh. He stitched cells, mended veins and arteries but try as he might, as soon as he mended one area, another failed.
“Shitshitshit…” He began to panic. He couldn’t do this. Couldn’t maintain the neutral focus he needed to operate when it was the woman he loved on the table. His grandfather had been right. He couldn’t be lord healer and love as well.
“Blood pressure dropping. We’re losing her!”
Tovan’s voice was sharp and almost at the same moment, Laarn felt a new presence alongside him, brushing his mind with reassurance.
“Who’s uplinked?” he demanded, his voice sharp with anger. He’d told them all to stay out. His grip on this was tenuous enough. He couldn’t have someone else in here fucking it all up further.
“No one! There’s no one else in there with you, I swear,” Tovan replied, confusion in his tone.
Laarn blinked, his hands still as he analyzed the new presence. He’d uplinked with others before, usually for training, but he’d never felt a healer this strong. Never. He blinked as the new healer added their strength to his, allowing him to take the lead in a quiet, understated way. He breathed a sigh of relief as some of the pain load reduced and he could focus.
Starting work again, he kept his focus on repairing the terrible wounds but also studied the new presence alongside him. As his hands moved, part of his mind was detached from what he was doing, working through the puzzle. Whoever it was, they were easily as strong as he was. Tovan swore no one had uplinked through the other units, and a quick query proved that was true. And he’d never heard of anyone being able to remote uplink to a surgical unit. Ever. Yes, it was possible for the bots, but not surgery. So that meant whoever it was, was in the room and not uplinked. Which narrowed down the candidates to just the two people in… the… link.
It couldn’t be Jess, the healer read as Lathar… Laarn blinked, his hands stilling for a moment as
he focused on the other presence. A healer he’d never met, one as powerful as he was himself, maybe even more so… He sent an incredulous query and was met with a burst of pleasure, love, and a greeting.
His daughter.
Tears rolled down his face. Somehow, impossibly, his daughter was already aware and just as determined to save her mother as he was. With the added strength, his hands moved faster, faster than he’d ever thought possible. Where before he’d been mending at the molecular level, he went deeper, at the nano-molecular and beyond, checking the atomic layer. He’d never been this deep before, and curiosity spurred him forward until a small chide from his daughter’s presence wrapped around his and pulled him back.
Full of wonder, he returned to his task, the sense of urgency gone now. He could see at a glance what he needed to do to save Jess’ life… the life of the woman he loved. She was everything, his life, his love… his very reason for being, and he loved her. He’d thought he couldn’t have both, love and be lord healer… his grandfather’s words that love weakened a healer had always haunted him, but as he worked he realized something.
His grandfather had been wrong.
Love, his love for Jessica, the love he had and felt returned from his daughter, it was everything. Denying his feelings had only hampered him as a healer. Denied him his true power. So he let go of his mental blocks, the fetters he’d trained to put on his emotions. Instantly, a jolt of power flowed through him, surprised voices from the healers in the room heard but not listened to as he surged into motion. Repairing. Rebuilding. Healing.
Finally, he was done, removing the last traces of the scar across his little Terran’s abdomen with a smile. His body ached with remembered pain and tension racked his broad shoulders but he didn’t care. He’d done it. He’d saved his mate’s life.
They’d saved her.
With a burst of gratitude and love directed at his daughter, he wrapped his mental presence around hers for a long moment in the nearest he could get to a hug. Warmth filled him in return and for a moment, he saw her in his mind’s eye—tall and slender, with his eyes and Jess’ dark curls, she was stunningly beautiful. And… he realized, his gaze dropping to her scarred arms… a healer like him. With a curve of her lips, the image disappeared and he dropped out of the link, convinced he’d just had a glimpse of the future.
