Gordo’s head flew in one direction. Blood sprayed everywhere and then his body fell over to the side. Mischka had stopped screaming. Bane reached them and slid to his knees beside her. He shoved Gordo’s dead body away, pressing his hands to the stains turning her brown jumper a muddled black color in the middle.
“Mischka. Gariad.” He swept away the strands of hair blocking her face with trembling fingers. Her eyes were closed. Red dots and other gore formed a gruesome arc over the right side of her face from chin to forehead. Moaning, Bane ripped her prison uniform down the middle, baring her body and the wounds.
Shredded. Gaping holes. Her entire torso was a pulpy mess.
“No, please, no.” Eyes burning with unshed tears, Bane jammed his hand into his pants pocket and whipped out a medi-pak. He slapped a pressure bandage on her left side for the injury gushing the most. It continued to flow in a river of red beneath her.
“No, no, no!” he pleaded as he set his hand over another injury directly at the center of her chest, where a piece of metal protruded. So much damage. He couldn’t stem it all.
Torkel squatted beside him and handed Bane the pressure bandage from his own kit. Then Geile and Gregir came into view. Several more Jutak warriors appeared in his peripheral vision and passed him their bandages. Bane placed them wherever blood flowed until Mischka’s torso was covered in white squares that saturated a deep red all too quickly.
He was too fearful of moving the weapon that had caused the destruction and it stuck straight up like a cruel taunt.
“Move, Bane. Maku is here.” Torkel gripped his arm.
It was dazed confusion that allowed his Unit Leader to carefully guide him to the side. He slumped back on his haunches, his hands palm up on his splayed thighs. They were stained a deep, rich red.
“Empty your medi-paks. I need all the meds you have. Everyone!” Maku yelled as he dropped beside Bane and Mischka.
Bane dug in his pockets and pulled out what remained in his kit. Others did the same. Maku’s hands flew furiously over Mischka. Tubing, injections. Muttered curses. Bane couldn’t take his gaze off of her. She lay motionless. Shouldn’t they be rushing her to a medical center?
He looked up, searching. In an instant, Torkel was at his side, a hand on his shoulder. Gathering his thoughts, Bane spoke through the lump clogging his airways. “We...we have to get her to a medical center, Torkel.”
“Not yet,” Dr. Maku snapped without looking up. “We can’t risk moving her.”
Pity flared in his Unit Leader’s eyes. Weakened though they were, Vee and Kyele joined him, concern glinting in their eyes. Rydak, Uri and Khane settled around him.
Bane glanced at his Team Leader. He didn’t intend to ask but it was impossible to hold back his hope. “Rydak?”
Rydak looked to Maku who spared a glance up from what he was doing to shake his head. Regret darkened Rydak’s pale gray eyes. “Bane, Dr. Maku doesn’t th—”
He couldn’t catch his breath at the denial. He’d do anything. Beg. Whatever it took.
“Please. She’s...she’s mine. If you save her...if you—she’s mine,” he finished roughly.
Lips pressed tight, Rydak dropped to one knee on the opposite side of Dr. Maku. The moment Bane claimed Mischka, he made her family and Rydak had a weakness for familial bonds.
He tugged off one of the black gloves he never removed outside of his home with his Chosen, Lissi, and placed his bare hand on Mischka’s forehead. Bane didn’t take his gaze off of the connection.
Rydak wasn’t a healer. He was an empath who suffered terribly from the gift he’d been born with but there had been times when he could use his skills to lend strength to another. As a recipient of such an act in the past, Bane didn’t care how it worked as long as Mischka didn’t die.
Time ticked by in immeasurable units, loud and persistent at the back of his head until Maku blew out a breath and sat back on his heels.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?!” Bane asked.
Gaze tinged with grief, Dr. Maku faced him. The invisible clock stopped and Bane’s breath seized. He studied Mischka’s slack blood-stained features. She wasn’t dead. Couldn’t be. His hands clenched and he surged to his feet. “No!”
Vee and Kyele each grabbed his arms. Bane started to shake them off when Rydak moaned, eyes rolling as he tipped to the side. Torkel leaped across the space to catch him and attempted to sever the connection by yanking his arm. “Enough! You have to stop, Rydak.”
“Wait,” Rydak bit out, keeping his hand pressed to Mischka’s head, a look of determination stamped on his face. Pain etched lines of strain across his face. He could barely keep his eyes open.
“It’s too much,” Torkel gritted out.
Still, Rydak resisted, his fingers splayed wide on the side of Mischka’s face amidst the blood smears. “Torkel, you don’t understand. If I let go now—”
Bane dug his hands in his hair and growled, causing Rydak to turn in his direction. He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to.
Frowning his displeasure, Torkel relaxed his hold, allowing Rydak to continue.
Two medical personnel appeared alongside a hover-board carrying a zippered black bag. They went to Gordo first, unfolded it and eased his body into the black sheath then his severed head. When one of the workers reached for a second black case, Bane swayed. Every single dream he had of a future with Mischka vanished.
Arms caught him about the waist and held. “I’ve got you.”
Vee’s grip, despite his injuries, was solid.
Dismay darkening his features, Dr. Maku stood. His mouth was drawn tight. “Rydak, it’s no use.”
The lean blond finally let his arm drop to his side and Torkel immediately helped him to his feet. Rydak trembled, skin chalky and visibly drained. Bane’s gaze went from Rydak to Mischka. A desolate cry built in his chest. It couldn’t end like this. He should have forgiven her sooner. He’d allowed his own perceptions to interfere and now it was too late.
Bane drew in a deep breath and looked back to his Team Leader. There was no doubt that he had done his best. Even as the pain and loss tightened a band around his chest, Bane appreciated the effort. “Thank you, Rydak.”
Panting and shaking, Rydak bit out, “Move. Fast. She doesn’t have long but she’s fighting. She doesn’t want to leave Bane.”
Bane would have fallen to the ground if not for Vee supporting him.
The corners of Rydak’s mouth tipped up in a tired smile, his gray eyes showing a spark of humor. “Don’t know how she’s doing it, but she’s calling for you.”
Mischka was transferred carefully onto the hover-board. The minute her body was laid atop, the circle indicators around the rim flared a brilliant red. The invisible clock started again, this time humming with life. Bane’s gaze tracked the hover board as the medics loaded Mischka into the back of the emergency vehicle.
He let Vee guide him as he pondered Rydak’s words. She was calling for him? The realization of what that meant had him laughing when moments before he thought his entire world had imploded.
Everyone from the prison guards to his teammates stared as if he was crazy. Bane only laughed harder. Tears mixed with his joy.