by Vicky Savage
“Yeah, good to see you too, Damien,” I say. “Nice snake.” His serpent tattoo is clearly visible now, slithering up the side of his cheek and whispering in his ear. He leers at me, but his mega-watt grin is not quite as dazzling as it once was.
My mind shifts to overdrive, calculating my chances against Damien’s gun. But before I can act, a Unicoi battle cry cuts through the air and I glance up to see Makoda hurtling toward Damien, his sword held high. Damien swivels slightly, steadies his aim, and coolly pulls the trigger. A loud blast echoes through the cave, and Makoda crumples like a broken doll.
“No-o-o!” I cry.
Unfazed, Damien turns the gun on me again. “These brave Unicoi warriors… no match for a gun, eh?” His laugh is chilling.
“So, what do you think of your boyfriend now?” he asks, jerking his head toward Ryder. “I told you he was just a stupid boy. I think that soon he will be a dead stupid boy, just like his friend there.”
I glare at him but don’t reply. My blood sizzles with hatred and determination. I will not allow this monster to win! I will find a way to kick his ass and get Ryder out of here, or I will die trying.
He lowers his weapon, stepping closer to me. I flinch away from him, and the bald guy pulls my arms tighter from behind. The wolf-head necklace slips out of the neckline of my top.
“What is this?” Damien asks, grasping the dangling pendant with his left hand. “A trinket from your lover?” He lets it slide from his grip, and then he slowly traces the curvature of my breasts with his filthy fingertips. “I told you what you need is a real man,” he says, licking his lips suggestively.
“And I told you what would happen if you ever touched me again without my permission.”
I rear back, throwing all my weight against the burly guy behind me. Summoning every ounce of strength I possess, I spin my body to the left, kick up with my right leg, and clock Damien under the chin with the heel of my boot. I feel his jaw crunch as it fractures. His eyes roll back in his head, and he collapses in a heap. The gun clatters to the stone floor, skittering away from him.
The beefy guy still has my arms pinned, as Damien hits the ground, and I’m about to try a reverse kick to his groin, when an object comes flying through the air, and lands squarely on top of his naked head.
He yowls loudly, releasing my arms and grasping at the thing on his head. It looks like a mess of straw to me, but it’s hissing and spitting, and clawing the hell out of the guy’s chrome dome. In a flash of recognition, I realize it’s the hungry Hillcat from my first night in Domerica. It pays to have friends.
I dive for Damien’s gun, scrabbling on my hands and knees across the hard floor, while the cat makes mincemeat out of the guy’s scalp. I grab for the gun just as a hand scoops it up and out of my reach. Shit!
I sit back on my haunches, half expecting to find the barrel pointed at my face again. But the guy who snagged it is holding it out for me to take. He isn’t a Noir, but he isn’t one of us either; then I place him—the hottie with the pale green eyes from the restaurant in Unicoi. I seize the gun.
“Who are you?” I ask.
“I’m Asher, a fellow Transcender,” he says. “We need to talk.” Then poof. He vaporizes into the air at the same instant an enormous sword slices across the spot where he was just standing. He reappears at once, three feet to the right and deftly kicks the sword from the hand of a startled Noir. Catching it midair, he uses it to impale the man through the arm.
“What the…?” I say, not believing my eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to speak with you,” Asher says.
“I’m a little slammed at the moment.”
“I know. I’ll find you afterwards.” And he disappears again.
I don’t have time to look for him. The battle is still raging all around me, and I know I have to find a way to end it—now—before anyone else winds up dead. I need to get Ryder out of here and to a hospital fast.
I’ve never fired a weapon in my life, but I use both hands to point Damien’s golden gun at the ceiling, and I squeeze off a round. The report creates a deafening explosion inside the cave. Dust and debris from the ceiling fly everywhere. The Hillcat high-tails it out of there, leaving Baldy moaning and clutching his head.
“Listen up,” I shout. “The next person who moves gets capped.” I steady the gun. “Everyone drop your weapons.” Swords and knives clatter to the ground. With relief I see more of our guys standing than Noirs.
“Drew, get over here.”
He springs to my side. “Take this thing.” I hand him the gun and he scans the crowd for anybody going for a weapon.
“I’m getting Ryder out of here.”
“I’ll help you,” Alexander says, lifting Ryder from the stone bench.
“What about Makoda?” I ask.
“Dead,” he replies.
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”
Another explosion rocks the cave, this one louder and messier than the gun report. I duck the flying debris, but a thick cloud of dust makes it difficult to see what’s happened. Someone must have set off a KXT charge.
A noisy clatter of hooves erupts to my left, and the Noirs’ horses stampede from their pen. Damien’s remaining men take advantage of the pandemonium to flee the cave also, concealing themselves among the frightened animals.
Drew pops off a random shot at the escaping herd, but doesn’t hit anything. He curses loudly.
“Send your men after them,” I say. “And make sure Damien’s tied up,” I jerk my chin toward his unconscious figure on the floor. “We’ve got to get Ryder to the hospital—now. Alexander, can you carry him to our horses?”
“Yes.” Ryder is draped over his shoulder.
“Drew, I’m sorry to leave you with this mess. I’ll find Father and send him to help. The Xtron may still be in the cave. You’ll need to search for the rest of the explosives too. Let’s hope the Noirs didn’t run off with it.”
Sheer bedlam reins outside the cave. Terrified horses crash over the cliff, while others run madly along the trail. A number of scuffles have broken out along the treacherously narrow spit of road. As we weave our way along, dodging the tumult in our path, another explosion sends rocks and chunks of bushes and trees shooting from the side of the hill.
Alexander and I move quickly to the horses. He carefully lays Ryder over his saddle and climbs up behind him. The ride is rough, and I’m thankful Ryder is unconscious and can’t feel the pain of being jostled down the rocky terrain.
We meet Father and the others on their way up the hill. They followed the sounds of the explosions to find us. I quickly explain to Father what happened, and describe the location of the cave to him and Captain Hornsby.
“But, be careful,” I tell them. “Several of Damien’s men got away. They may still be nearby, and they have explosives.”
“Jade, I’m coming with you,” Father says. “Hornsby and his men can handle this. Ryder needs immediate attention.”
“Thanks, Father.”
“One of my brothers is dead up there,” Alexander says to Captain Hornsby. “We must see that his body is returned to his family for a proper burial.”
“I’ll take care of it, son. I give you my word,” Hornsby replies.
Once we reach the bottom of the hill, we ride swiftly to the Enclave hospital. On our arrival, several nurses and aides rush out to help us, but Alexander insists on carrying Ryder inside. Father directs us to an operating room, where Alexander gently settles Ryder’s unconscious form on the table.
For the first time, I notice that Alexander’s arm is bleeding. “You’re hurt!” I say.
“It’s nothing.” He shrugs it off.
“You need to get that taken care of,” Father says and calls to a nurse.
“See that his injury is tended to,” Father tells her, and she leads a reluctant Alexander from the room.
Father immediately begins to work on Ryder’s leg. He uses scissors to cut through the fabric of his pa
nts. The congealed blood causes the material to stick to the skin, but Father expertly peels it away revealing a deep gaping wound.
A middle-aged woman with steel-gray hair and kind brown eyes steps to Father’s side. “What can I do, doctor?” she asks.
Father instructs her to start an IV. “He’s lost a lot of blood,” he tells her.
“This is not going to be very pretty, Jade,” he says. “You may wish to wait outside. It shouldn’t take long.”
“I’m staying.”
“Then you might as well make yourself useful.” He pulls a tray of instruments next to me. “Everything we need is there. Put on some gloves.” He fills a syringe with what I assume is a local anesthetic.
“When I ask for something, it will be on the tray. Locate it and hand it to me. Sally will help you.” He looks to the nurse with the kind eyes. She smiles and nods at me.
“Got it,” I say. “Just make him better.”
“I’ll do my best, sweetheart.”
Although the wound is deep, Father is able to locate the bullet quickly and remove it from Ryder’s thigh. He tells me there is no irreparable damage, but there’s so much blood I don’t know if I believe him.
I lose count of the number of stitches it takes to join the tissue together again. Sally places a fresh gauze bandage over the incision and wraps the leg with additional bandages to keep it stable. The whole procedure takes about two hours.
“I think he’ll be more comfortable at the house than he will be here,” Father says. “And I can more easily monitor him throughout the night if he is there. Please arrange for the orderlies to transport him on a stretcher,” he says to Sally. “Jaden, you go on ahead and see that his room is ready.”
“Yes, Father, but are you sure he’s going to be all right?”
“If he remains unconscious for long, we will consider giving him more blood. It was lucky you found him when you did, Jade. If he had bled much more, the result may have been different. As it is, I believe he’ll have a complete recovery.”
“Thank you Father. I don’t know what I would have done if ...” I trail off.
“Best not to even think about that,” he says, kissing my forehead. “Now go and get his bed ready for him. And sweetheart…”
“Yes?”
“You make a damn fine nurse.”
* * *
When the hospital orderlies place Ryder in his bed, he begins to come around a bit. “Jade,” he mumbles.
“Right here, love,” I say taking his hand as I sit in a chair I’ve placed next to his beside.
“Where am I?” he asks, groggily.
“At Father’s house, in your room.”
“Where is Alexander?”
“He’s at the hospital, but he’s fine, Ryder. He just needed some stitches.”
“And Makoda?
I bow my head and bite my lower lip. “He… he didn’t make it,” I say with a sob.
Ryder stares at the ceiling, and a tear slides down the side of his face. “Anyone else?” he asks quietly.
“No, everyone else is fine.”
“This is a very sad day, Jade.”
“Yes, I know. But Ryder, we did get Damien.”
“Was he responsible for killing Makoda?”
“Yes. Damien shot him too.”
He turns his eyes to mine. “Did I lose my leg?”
“No! Father treated it. You’re going to be fine.”
“I guess that is a small consolation,” he says. “I do love dancing with you.”
I bring his hand to my lips and kiss it gently. “Get some sleep, love.”
“Don’t leave me,” he whispers.
“I won’t, I promise.” I stroke his forehead gently and he closes his eyes.
FORTY-SEVEN
Ryder drifts in and out of wakefulness through the night. The medication seems to control his pain, but occasionally he moans softly or tries to move. I spend my time holding his hand, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest beneath the sheet. I gaze at our intertwined fingers, thinking back to a few days earlier when we stood in front of Mother, and I announced my intention to marry him. It feels like eons have passed since then. I lift his hand and hold it to my cheek, breathing in his familiar scent.
“Jaden,” Father says quietly from the doorway. “You should be in bed. You are probably suffering from shock yourself.”
I smile and shake my head. Father has assured me over and over again that Ryder will be fine, but I can’t bring myself to leave his bedside for fear he may need me. Father crouches beside my chair. “I won’t force you,” he says. “But at least climb up on the bed next to him and lie down. I’ll put a blanket over you.”
“Do you think that would be all right? I don’t want to hurt him.”
“He’s heavily sedated. He won’t feel a thing.”
“And, it’s fine with you? I mean, if I sleep next to him on the bed?”
“I’m not particularly concerned about propriety at the moment.” He pulls a coverlet from the bottom dresser drawer. “Up you go.”
“Thank you Father.” I carefully crawl onto the bed and rest my head on the pillow next to Ryder’s.
“Try to sleep for awhile. I’ll check on you both later.” Father spreads the soft blanket over me and I close my eyes.
* * *
I pass the next two days in a kind of haze, camped out at Ryder’s bedside. I’ve completely abandoned my responsibilities on the Unicoi migration project, dumping the whole thing on Ralston and Chimalis. Ralston tells me they’re making excellent progress, though, and I figure they’re probably better off working without me, anyway.
By the afternoon of the second day, Ryder is improved enough to eat solid food. We share some lunch and talk a little.
“Has the Xtron been recovered yet?” he asks.
“No. But everyone in the country and scores of soldiers from Dome Noir are looking for it. We’ll find it, Ryder. Don’t worry.”
“Any progress in the search for Damien’s men and the KXT?”
“Not that I’ve heard, but I’m sure they’ll be captured soon. They can’t stay hidden for long.”
The news seems to disappoint him, and he loses interest in his food. I remove his tray and tuck the sheets around him as he drifts off to sleep again.
The house is unusually quiet today. Father’s at the hospital, and Erica has the afternoon off. Ralston stopped by earlier to say that he and Chimalis were going into town for a few hours. I’d like to go outside and take a walk or ride Gabriel, but I don’t dare leave Ryder, so I retrieve my book from the nightstand and settle myself in the bedside chair to read.
I sense rather than hear someone behind me in the doorway. As I turn, I’m shocked to find Asher leaning against the doorframe watching me.
“What are you doing here?” I say in an alarmed whisper.
He smiles a lazy smile. “I told you I would find you. I could never get close to you at Warrington Palace. This place is much easier.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? What do you want?”
“Can we talk for a minute?” He nods toward the hallway. I put down my book and follow him, pulling Ryder’s door closed behind me.
“Are you some kind of stalker or something?” I say, although he doesn’t seem menacing at all. “Because I warn you, one scream from me and an army of servants will come running.”
He’s dressed in unusually modern clothing, blue jeans and a leather jacket. He laughs a sexy little laugh, green eyes twinkling. “I should think you would more likely just clobber me yourself. I understand your Tae Kwon Do skills are rather impressive.”
“How do you know about that?”
“I know a lot about you—possibly more than you know about yourself. I’ve been trying to get you away from Agent Ralston so we could talk. The IUGA won’t let us near you. I thought you would want to know that they’re manipulating you Jaden, and they’re lying to you.”
“What do you mean?” I ask skepticall
y. “Lying about what?”
“The fact that you are a Transcender, for one thing.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “That’s ridiculous. I can’t travel between worlds at will. I’m here by accident.”
“You have the ability. You only lack the training,” he says. “Your showing up here couldn’t be called intentional, but it isn’t the kind of cosmic accident they’re telling you it is either. It was an uncontrolled shift. Not bad for a first-timer, actually.” He tilts his head and one side of his mouth quirks up.
