She was getting tired of all the intrigue. A little quiet time would do her good.
"Do you not like the food?" Ua asked, a frown lining her brow.
"Oh, no," Alix assured her. "Everything's marvelous. I'm just not very hungry."
Ua wiped her mouth and nodded toward her husband. "Politics have a way of taking anyone's appetite."
Alix picked up another bite of klara souffle, but decided she couldn't quite manage to eat it. Returning it to her plate, she looked back at Ua. "Why are all of you at war with the Urbanites?"
"They don't believe in free thought," Gannon answered from his end of the table. "The ruling council became convinced that if they allowed new ideas, then they'd lose power or be persecuted as we'd been on Gelfara. So they closed the space ports and limited our access to other cultures physically and mentally."
She bit her lip, thinking the matter over. "So all of you rebelled?"
"Not quite. My father, who sat at the council all those years ago, tried to make them see what they were doing. He warned that if we closed our minds, God would disfavor us and send a plague to our people."
Gannon sighed and looked down at the small map on the table where he and Devyn had been making notes. "Every day, both we and the Urbanites in all the cities on Placidity lose loved ones to this nameless plague."
He looked at Devyn. "The priests have been warning all of us over the last six months that it was a sign the Chaldese would soon appear."
Devyn swallowed his food and wiped his mouth. "Then why didn't you believe them when you saw me?"
He retrieved his glass. "One of our scouting parties saw your pod. I might be wrong, but I don't think God will send a destroyer by conventional means. I think He'll move on a grander scale."
Devyn laughed. "I'm sure you're right."
He met Alix's gaze and her stomach unknotted. "I'm also sure there's a name for this plague. If you'll allow me to take a few samples from Jory, I'll have a colleague of mine run an analysis. Once we find out what you've got here, I can send you vaccines and cures."
"Do you think there are cures?" Ila asked desperately.
"I'm sure of it," Devyn said.
Alix saw the sadness behind his eyes lift. Devyn wasn't a runner or a soldier; he was a doctor. A slow smile curved her lips. Maybe now he could quit searching.
As soon as they finished dinner, Devyn went to check on Jory. Alix followed one step behind, carrying what she thought of as his magic bag. He might not be able to pull out a rabbit, but he'd found a solid future in it.
They entered the lavish blue nursery filled with toys. Jory's nurse rose from her chair and greeted them. "He's doing much better," she said, a huge smile on her face.
"Good," Devyn said, leaning over the sleeping child and taking a few quick readings. He handed a small recorder to Alix. "Real good. It looks like the serum's working."
Ila gasped happily and threw herself into Gannon's arms.
Alix cringed while Devyn pulled the tube out of Jory's throat and closed the wound with a laser seal.
Devyn looked up at Ila. "If you don't mind losing a little more blood, I can probably get a number of doses for the extreme cases."
Ila nodded. "You can have all my blood if it'll save the life of a child."
A strange light glowed in Devyn's eyes and Alix wanted desperately to know what thought hovered in his mind, what memory Ila had triggered.
"First thing in the morning, I'll send one of our doctors to assist you," Gannon offered.
"Good. I can also give them the anti-inflammatory drugs that I have. Maybe that'll curb some of this."
Gannon laughed. "Who would have thought the Chaldese would save our children?"
"Definitely not the farmer who took a shot at me," Devyn said wryly.
Alix laughed at the memory, grateful for Devyn's quick reflexes.
Clapping him on the back, Gannon pushed him toward her. "You two go on and rest. I'm sure you could use it after what you've been through."
Devyn gave her a mischievous smile and this time Alix knew the exact thought his mind entertained. She could definitely use a little of what Devyn had in mind.
To her surprise, Devyn took her hand and led her back to their rooms. His warm, strong palm chased away the coldness of her fingers and sent a chill up her arm.
As she followed, his words echoed in her mind. As my wife. Part of her wanted desperately to accept his offer of marriage. Every time she looked at him, she wanted nothing more than an eternity spent in his arms. But dare she risk it? Could she rise above the depravity of her father?
A lump settled inside her chest. She wasn't even sure if Devyn could free her. What would she do if he couldn't? Stay with him as his slave?
No. She couldn't, not after what had happened to her mother. Closing her eyes, she could still hear her mother's pleading voice, still see her mother grabbing for her father, begging him not to sell her off. She'd promised him anything and he had coldly, callously unwrapped her fingers from his forearm and pushed her into the hands of the waiting slave dealer.
No one would ever do that to her. She must refuse ownership, even if it meant leaving Devyn behind.
He closed the door behind her and pulled her into his arms. Touching her cheek, he stared deeply into her eyes. "Why are you so sad?"
Pain tore through Alix, searing her heart. "I'm not sad," she whispered. "I'm grateful for every moment I have with you."
He ran his knuckles along her cheekbone, sending chills across her face, down her back. "But you're still planning to leave me."
She drew a deep breath and forced the words from her throat. "I don't know, Devyn. Let's just wait and see what happens."
Sadness filled his eyes. "I'd rather have a firm promise. Something I can count on."
She looked up at him, and she wanted to give him that promise and more. She never wanted to leave him, even to think about leaving him, but she knew reality might dictate otherwise. "Now you're the one asking for more than I can give. I never expected you to marry me; I just wanted you to trust me, to . . ." She stopped.
What did she want?
Him. The answer seemed so clear, and yet she knew the impossibility of her desire. Slaves didn't marry the sons of wealthy parents. Like married like or they lived in complete misery.
"I know what you're thinking," he said with a sigh. "Let's wait and see what happens."
Alix pulled him into her arms and held him tight, her desperation washing over her in resounding waves that pounded on the shore of her soul, rushing against her heart and threatening to tear it apart. She yearned to give him the reassurance he needed, to give it to herself, but she couldn't.
"I will get your freedom. I swear it."
She smiled, running her hands over his muscular back. "I know." But that wouldn't erase her past, nor her fears.
A knock sounded on the door, breaking them apart. Devyn stepped away and opened the door to reveal Gannon.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's been a confrontation with the Urbanites. They're bringing in wounded by the craftful, and we could use an extra pair of surgical hands."
Alix saw the pain flicker across Devyn's face. "I'll do what I can."
"Can I help?" she asked, stepping forward.
"We can use any volunteers."
The three of them rushed through the interior of the mountain, not stopping until they reached an enormous operating room. The odor of blood and seared flesh filled her head, invading her senses until she could taste the horrid bitterness of death. Moans echoed off the walls and for a moment she was too afraid to move.
Gannon directed Devyn toward an empty table, and as soon as the nurse had sterilized his hands, a body was deposited before him.
"Here," a nurse said, pulling Alix aside to cover her clothes with a surgical robe and scrub her hands clean.
She handed Alix a bundle of folded cloth. "Take these to the new doctor."
Alix headed toward Devyn, her heart pounding. Al
l around her people lay suffering. They clutched at the nurses, begging, crying, praying. Panic filled her head, making her senses light, her knees weak, and she wanted to scream.
"Don't take so long! Hurry or get out," an orderly snapped, grabbing the towels from her.
Biting her lip, Alix looked at Devyn, who leaned over his patient, oblivious to her. Blood covered his chest and his arms from the elbows down. A frown lined his handsome brow and she realized the screams and moans affected him every bit as much as they did her.
"Can't they ever shut up?" another doctor muttered. "I can't stand the way they moan like children."
"Let me open fire on you with a six-ninety round and see if you can hold in your pain," Devyn said, pulling shrapnel out of his patient's chest and dropping it into a tray with a loud ping.
The doctor looked up at him. "How do you know?"
"I've had one hit me in the shoulder," Devyn said, meeting his gaze. "Blew my arm out of joint, splintered my scapula, and really pissed me off."
The doctor averted his gaze.
Alix gazed down at the man on the table and her stomach heaved. At one time that had been Devyn. She couldn't stand the thought of someone shooting him like that, nor of him lying on a table with strangers digging around in his body.
"Hey!" a nurse shouted, pointing at her. "You there. I need help."
Alix blinked back her tears and forced herself to go, even though she feared she might collapse at any moment. These people needed her and she couldn't let them down.
Hours later, she again stood near Devyn. This time his patient was a young soldier, no more than nineteen or twenty. Immediately, she noted the strained frown on Devyn's face as he worked. She wanted to touch him and reassure him, but she knew he needed his concentration.
Suddenly, the boy convulsed.
"We're losing him," the nurse said, her voice devoid of emotion.
Devyn worked with frenzied haste. "Give him a shot of adrenaline with a cardiac needle."
The nurse injected it straight into the boy's heart.
Alix held her breath.
"We're still losing him."
Alix's own heart lurched at the pain in Devyn's eyes and she wanted to go to him, but she dared not.
"C'mon, buddy," he pleaded. "Don't give up."
The monitor blinked and emitted a shriek.
"He's gone."
"Like hell," Devyn snapped, moving to resuscitate him by massaging his heart.
Alix bit her lip, her stomach pitching. Each time Devyn squeezed the boy's heart, blood shot over him, but he didn't seem to notice. And every time he stopped, the boy's monitor flat-lined.
The nurse tried to help, but after a few minutes she pulled at Devyn's arm. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but he's gone."
Alix could feel the fury of Devyn's anger, and her own body trembled.
"Why don't you take a break?" the nurse suggested.
Without a word, Devyn left the operating room, his fists clenched at his sides. Alix excused herself and ran after him.
"Devyn?" she called.
He stopped, but didn't turn around. Alix closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. His pain reached out to her, bringing an ache to her chest that throbbed and burned with each breath she took. Closing the distance between them, she reached out and touched his arm. "I'm so sorry."
He shook his head. "Tell that to his family."
Tears constricted her throat. "You did everything you could."
"Big consolation," he snarled. "Sorry about your kid, folks, but I did all I could. I'm not responsible. Here's his body, hope you don't mind." He gave her such a look of hatred her heartbeat faltered. "Too bad I don't even have that much to offer Sway's family."
"Oh, Devyn, please don't do this to yourself."
He pulled his surgical cap off and moved away from her. "I'm tired of making jokes about death, and I'm through watching kids die for nothing."
"Where are you going?"
"To hell, no doubt."
Chapter Seventeen
Devyn sat in the surgery lounge, listening to idle conversations around him. One nurse was talking about a party she wanted to attend later that night, and another man asked his companion if she wanted to have dinner with him. Everyone was going about their routine just like normal.
"I guess I flunked Disassociation and Callousness 101," he muttered.
He'd never been one of those doctors who could just walk away and feel nothing. No matter how many battlefields he'd worked on or how many soldiers died, he'd always felt somehow responsible.
God, how he hated being a doctor.
Sway's face drifted before his eyes. His stomach tightened in grief and guilt. Everyone he touched died. Maybe he ought to just throw himself under the nearest transport and end his uselessness as quickly and painlessly as possible.
"All right, a little self-pity never hurt anyone, but you look like you're wallowing in it."
He looked up at Alix. He had to admit just the sight of her made him feel better, but not enough to completely erase what bothered him. "I know. I'm tired and things always bother me a lot more when I haven't slept."
She fingered the empty cookie wrapper in front of him. "Should you be eating sweets on an empty stomach?"
He shook his head. "What the hell. All it can do is kill me."
"You're not funny."
Devyn pulled out the chair next to him and beckoned her to sit. "I was just thinking how much I miss Sway. If he were here, he'd kick my butt."
He picked up her hand from the table and toyed with her fingers. "He couldn't stand for me to do emergency surgery. I think the happiest I ever saw him was the day the HAWC held my court-martial and discharged me."
He captured her hand and sighed, enjoying the feel of her fist beneath his. "I'll never understand how my dad managed all the years he worked as a surgeon in an emergency room. I don't guess I was cut out to follow in his footsteps any more than Alexei's or Calix's."
She leaned forward and covered his hands with her free one, her gaze probing him. "Maybe you should quit trying to be like the men you admire and try to be yourself."
Devyn frowned. He'd spent the whole of his life just trying to find himself and now she acted like a sage who knew what course he should follow after a minute and a half of consultation. A twinge of anger went through him, but before he acted on it, he stopped himself.
Maybe she did know. He sure as hell didn't. "What do you mean?"
She smiled. "You're a great pilot, a fantastic surgeon, and I bet you were a fabulous soldier, but the thing I've seen you best at is when you were working on Jory."
He frowned.
"It's true," she said, caressing his fingers. "You were magnificent the way you had him laughing while he had a tube sticking out of his neck. Any other child would have been screaming his head off. He would have been screaming his head off had you not soothed him, distracted him."
He laughed at the thought of him treating children. "I don't think so. Kids make me nervous. I've never been around them much."
"You could have fooled me. I saw you, Devyn. You were great."
He took her hands and kissed her knuckles. He started to tell her how great she was, but Gannon picked that moment to approach them.
He gazed at Alix, then met Devyn's stare. "I just wanted to thank you for all you've done."
"No problem," Devyn said, stifling a yawn.
Gannon smiled. "Well, I know how much of a hurry you two are in to leave our planet. We've got a team working on a plan to infiltrate the capital and they think they can get you in there around midnight tonight."
"That's great!" Devyn said, relief filling him.
Gannon nodded, and his gaze wandered around the room as though he had bad news to relay. Devyn held his breath, afraid he and Alix would end up stuck here.
Finally, Gannon looked back at him. "There's just one last thing, and I hate to ask it."
"What?" Devyn asked, fearing his response.
"
I know how hard you've worked in surgery, and I don't want you to think we don't appreciate it. ... But. But you mentioned helping out with our—"
"Oh, yeah," Devyn said, remembering his promise the day before to teach their doctors about the serum. "Are the doctors assembled?"
The League 3: Paradise City Page 23