by Ophelia Bell
When a trio of humans appeared with a stretcher, she refused to let them put her on it. Javin finally convinced her that she needed proper medical treatment.
“Simon needs a hospital too, baby. I can’t treat you guys in a parking lot.”
For the first time she registered that Simon was shirtless, with a torn strip of blood-soaked fabric wrapped around his right shoulder.
“Oh god, what happened?”
“It’s nothing, Midnight. Nothing compared to what happened to you. Let’s let the pros take care of us, yeah?”
“Please have them call us if they find him.”
Javin and Simon shared a grim look and Simon trotted off to a cluster of firemen nearby. After a brief exchange he returned, climbing into the ambulance at her side.
* * *
She was barely conscious for more than a few minutes over the next several hours. For a brief moment she awoke long enough for Javin to explain that she needed surgery, that she was in good hands, and that he and Simon weren’t going anywhere.
Sometime later, she woke again to find herself in a quiet, dimly lit room in a comfortable bed. Javin appeared at her side almost instantly, looking haggard and wrung out.
“The wound wasn’t bad.” A weak smile struggled at his lips. “Once they removed the bullet, there wasn’t much more to do but close the wound. You’d already started healing. That’s a good sign.”
Behind him, Simon hauled himself out of a chair, rubbing his eyes and smiling. “Guess just being around us is good for your health, huh?”
She wished she could return the sentiment, but her throat closed up before she could say anything. When she looked back and forth between them helplessly, they gave in. Javin sighed and settled on the edge of her bed, taking her hand in his.
He cleared his throat, his eyes going glassy. Beside him, Simon turned away, jaw flexing as he went to stare out the window.
“They didn’t find him,” Javin said. “The fire was hot enough that there may not have even been a trace if he got trapped inside. I’m sorry.” His voice broke.
She lurched up, flinging her arms around him with a ragged sob. Javin’s body shook against her as they held each other. A moment later the bed dipped behind her as Simon wrapped his big arms around them both, pressing a wet cheek to her shoulder.
She couldn’t believe Val was gone, and all because he’d gone back to try to save his insane father. She didn’t even have her dragon back after all that trouble to get a counteragent. She and Simon were as lost as when they’d begun. Even more now that they’d lost a man they’d both begun to care deeply for.
Their crying faded after several moments but they remained clinging to each other. She released one arm from Javin’s neck and slung it around Simon’s shoulders, turning to press a tender kiss to his cheek.
“I’m sorry we failed,” she said. “I wanted us to be whole again. He was our only chance.”
Simon lifted his eyes, which were red from crying but held a desperate hope. “If we mated, maybe . . .” He trailed off, grimacing and Astra shook her head.
“I can’t.” Her throat seized from another wave of grief. “Maybe if he were here. I could have someday. But without Val?” Her lip began to tremble and fresh tears trickled over her cheeks.
Simon dipped his head and nodded. “I know. We’ll never be whole without him.”
She took his face in her hands and scooted onto his lap, holding him close. As she pressed her nose into his neck, they cried again, their tears mingling through this new revelation. Javin continuously stroked her back, his occasional quiet sobs sending her into fresh rounds of despair every time she heard them.
Eventually, Simon lay back on her pillows, pulling her with him and holding her tight. The comforting contact eased their grief after a time and Javin rose, moving to sit in the chair and face them.
“I hate to have to bring this up now, but we need to think about going home. Without Val, there isn’t much for us to do. I have a better understanding of the drug now, so maybe with some research I can work out a protocol for the counteragents myself.”
Numb now, Astra nodded. Her life would be meaningless until she could reclaim a permanent connection to her dragon, so it didn’t really make a difference where they were. “When?”
“We should go in the morning. I don’t see any point in drawing it out. There’s nothing for us here.”
He pressed his mouth closed and his jaw flexed. She understood the feelings that must be trapped inside him. Helplessness. Rage. Despair. She missed the arena with a vengeance now. Even if she couldn’t compete, she needed to be able to fight, because nothing else would help her. She’d been the same after her brother died, filled with a relentless need for destruction. The arena was the most constructive way for her to channel that desire.
Javin settled back on the chair and grunted. Something crinkled beneath him and he reached back, drawing forth a clear plastic bag that contained Astra’s belongings. They were just clothes, but Javin eyed the bag in annoyance.
“What the hell did you take in there?”
He opened the bag and reached inside, his hand brushing across the white fabric of Val’s lab coat.
“Give that to me,” she demanded, reaching for it. “It’s his.”
It was the only piece of him that had survived the fire. Javin’s gaze softened and he pulled the lab coat out, letting it fall open, then standing to lay it over Astra and Simon.
Spatters of blood covered the front but she didn’t care. It was her blood, but the coat itself smelled like him.
When she pulled it up to her nose to inhale, something clattered to the floor with a thunk. Frowning, Javin bent down and retrieved a small black case. Astra’s mouth fell open when she realized what he held.
“Javin,” she said, sitting up abruptly, eyes wide with excitement. “It’s the counteragents!”
“What do you mean?” he asked, unfastening the metal clasp that held the case closed.
Astra scooted to the edge of the bed and peered at the case as he opened it. Simon joined them, brows furrowed with interest.
“The counteragents he made for me and Simon. He finished them first and was making one for his dad before everything went wrong.” Her excitement over the find succeeded in dulling the renewed slice of grief, and she pointed at the blue light on one of the cartridges. “When that turns green, we can take them.”
Javin lifted one of the small cartridges out of its foam nest and turned it. On one side Astra was written in a dark script.
“He finished them?” Simon asked, his tone incredulous.
“Yes!” she said. “I forgot he put them in his pocket.”
Javin laid the cylindrical glass cartridge back in its case and reached for another object that rested on the side. As she tore her astonished eyes from the counteragents, he removed a small thumb drive.
“What do you think is on it?” she asked.
“I have no idea, but we’re going to find out.”
31
Val
The chilly patter of water on his skin roused Val from a tumultuous dream. His mind had been cycling between the raging inferno in the lab and the red bloom of the bloody wound in Astra’s chest, both of which struck a deeper fear in him than he’d ever felt. But Astra was alive. He knew in his bones that she’d survived the wound.
His lab, however, hadn’t been so lucky.
A harsh, raspy exhale from nearby brought him to full consciousness with a jolt and he rolled, wincing when pain sliced up his side. His dad lay naked on the damp forest floor several feet away, puffs of steam rising from his mouth with his labored breaths.
“Son, thank god you’re alive,” his father said. His eyes fluttered closed, and he grimaced, struggled to lift himself onto his elbows, then fell back to the earth with a grunt.
“Don’t move, Dad, you’re hurt.” Val crawled over to him. His back was alive with fiery agony but he ignored it to see to his father. The older man’s body
was livid with red welts, one leg charred black.
They’d barely escaped the fire the night before. When Val had run back in, he’d stripped and shifted the second he reached the lab, roaring at his father to do the same. His dad was barely conscious, but somehow his animal heard the plea and took control.
The way out was blocked by then and they were forced to take a circuitous route through the building to a rear exit that opened into the woods. The fire burned with the heat of the sun behind them, and they kept running for several minutes before collapsing.
When the explosion came it had been deafening, and Val had fallen unconscious from the agony of his burns not long after that.
While he’d slept, his burns had partially healed, but they still hurt like hell. His dad’s, however, hadn’t improved a bit.
“You’re not healing, Dad. Let me get you back to the city. You need a hospital.” He looked up at the cloud-filled sky. It was twilight, which meant they’d probably lain in the woods for at least twelve hours or more.
He moved to lift his dad in his arms, but the old man shook his head.
“It’s no use. I’m not going to make it. Just let me talk, please.” He lifted a shaky hand to Val’s shoulder and gave it a feeble squeeze.
“I won’t let you die. I can make a counteragent. You can be free of the drug. Once you heal, you’ll be back to your old self. Just hold on!”
His dad shook his head again. “My life has been over for years. When your mother died, there was nothing left for me. I told myself I had to keep going for you, to give you the support you needed to fulfill your dreams. But I only succeeded in fucking that up. I’m so sorry, Val. I won’t ask for forgiveness, but please believe what I did was out of love at the beginning.”
“I believe you. You can survive if you let me help you. Please.” His voice had gone thick with emotion and he gripped his father’s hand tight, squeezing with his silent plea to hold on.
Taking a ragged breath, his dad broke into a fit of coughing and then struggled to breathe for several minutes. Val pressed fingers to his wrist to check his pulse, which was rapid and faint, then slowed drastically.
“Please let me go, son. Try to forgive . . . if you can . . .” He closed his eyes and trailed off, his breathing slowing.
“Don’t speak. I know. I forgive you.”
His dad opened his eyes again and they blazed green, his panther rising to the surface. “Find love and hold on to it with all your heart. I don’t care whether it’s a man or a woman, but whatever you do, never, never let it go. Promise me.” The words were spoken with such ferocity, Val had a surge of hope that his dad would pull through.
“I will, Dad. I promise. You’re going to be okay.”
The green eyes regarding him faded back to pale blue in a blink, and the vise-like grip on Val’s hand relaxed. Then his dad smiled, his gaze growing distant. “Yes. I will, and so will you.”
Val’s stomach turned to ice when the hand in his grip went slack and his dad’s eyes grew vacant. It didn’t take preternatural hearing to tell that he’d stopped breathing, and Val didn’t need a stethoscope to sense the moment his father’s heartbeat stopped.
He remained kneeling beside his father for ages, letting the falling rain wash away his tears and cool the burns that covered his back. It was growing dark by the time he pulled himself together.
He scooped his father into his arms and made his way back out of the woods. Nothing but charred ruins remained of the building that had once held his life’s work, but the sight barely registered. It was nothing more than a reflection of the way he felt inside.
32
Astra
Nova Aurora
Three months later . . .
Astra closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of gratitude as she stepped onto the hot sand of the arena. The first prayer was for her brother Talon, who she’d dedicated every single match to since she’d become a pro, though the murmured blessings hadn’t really been prayers until after his death. The second prayer was to Val and was far more bittersweet, but it was the thing that brought her dragon surging to the forefront the quickest.
With her link to her animal restored, she had spent the remainder of the off-season honing her skills and reclaiming the synchronicity she’d lost during the week after her injury.
Today was the first exhibition match to open the new season and her first time competing in front of a crowd since her return to Nova Aurora.
The crowd roared when the announcer bellowed her name over the speakers, and she let her wings extend and carry her into the air, blowing kisses at her fans.
Then she descended and took her place in the center of the arena, awaiting the announcement of her opponent. The league had arranged this as a surprise match, so neither she nor the fans knew who she was about to fight.
Of course now her opponent knew, though she doubted the few minutes between her arrival in the arena and the start of the fight would give them much of an advantage. Besides, whoever it was would need as much of an advantage as they could get because she was more primed than ever.
The doors on the far side of the arena opened and she braced herself for her opponent to appear out of the shadows. The crowd around her began to stomp their feet in a drumming rhythm, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they were in on some wicked joke designed to throw her off her game.
A golden hood flashed and she frowned, trying to recall what the color signified. Her own colors were black and red, but of the opponents she expected, none wore gold. The figure across the arena ascended the steps, taking an easy pace despite the crowd growing louder with each step out into the open.
It was obviously a man, his height and broad shoulders giving away those details the second he became visible, but his face was still shrouded in shadows.
Something about his gait struck a chord, however, and as he drew close, the spreading smile on his face made her heartbeat quicken.
She barely heard the announcement of his name when he stopped a few feet in front of her. The announcer’s voice proclaimed, “Ironfang!” But it took Astra a few more seconds to find her voice.
“Simon,” she breathed. “You’re back.”
“You better believe it, Midnight.” He pushed back his hood and leaned in as if to taunt her. “You ready to get your ass kicked? Because I’ve been waiting for this moment for years.”
The surprise lingered for just a touch too long and she nearly missed the fanfare of music that signaled the start of the fight. Simon was under no such spell. He dropped his robe and leaped at her in a powerful spring almost too fast for her to track.
She barely dodged before he made a swipe with his hand, bright claws extended. He smacked her on the ass once and she winced. Not because it hurt, but because he’d succeeded in scoring the first point of the match, and mere seconds after it had begun.
“Goddamn you!” she yelled, rolling away and regrouping as they faced off again.
Simon’s cackling laugh rang out through the arena and she couldn’t help but smile despite her humiliation. “I missed you. It’s been too fucking long.”
She didn’t want to get into it. They’d parted ways for a reason when they’d gotten home, and had all been in agreement. It had been hard enough to think of them without thinking of what they’d lost.
“Not the time or place to catch up,” she said, taking stock of his bearing, sizing him up. She’d never faced off against Simon before, but she remembered a few of his physical tells from when they’d fucked. He favored his right side more than his left, which meant that was where he was weak.
When she leaped toward him, he was braced for her attack already, and she feinted left. He fell for the ruse and she extended her wings midleap, pivoting to the right. She bounced a foot off one of the many thick columns around the arena and landed on his right side, toppling him over.
Simon grunted and rolled, throwing her off and slipping out from under her. It was Astra’s turn to laugh as she
hovered above him, then dropped. Arena rules allowed winged shifters to take advantage of their abilities, but only to a point. If she remained airborne for too long, they’d call a foul, and she could never rise more than a foot off the ground.
“You know who you’re up against, right, Simon? I never lose!”
By the time her feet hit the ground, he’d lunged once more, his powerful legs propelling him at her so fast her breath surged out of her lungs when he hit. He pinned her to the ground with a growl, but yet again her wings helped even the odds.
Her dragon was primed and hungry for the win. The force of her wings vaulted her off the ground, pushing Simon with her. He flew off and hit the ground a few feet away with a grunt.
Astra leaped onto him then, scoring another point by contact. She straddled his waist, pressing her hand under his chin and leaning down. Biting was against the rules, but she only snapped her teeth at his ear.
“You can’t win,” she whispered.
He dropped his hands to her thighs and squeezed. “Maybe I don’t want to.”
His hazel eyes flared gold and a spark of desire ignited inside her. She commanded her dragon to cool it and leaped off him, circling while he rose to his feet.
Simon laughed, softer this time. “You had me there, Midnight. What’s keeping you from beating me?”
“This is an exhibition match. The league wants the crowd to get their money’s worth.”
“Then let’s give them a show.”
He stretched his hands out at his sides, flexing them. Shining claws extended and he snapped his teeth at her. They circled each other again, and this time Simon was the first to attack, leaping at her and extending a clawed hand toward her side. Astra dodged to avoid him, just barely evading, but he turned in a blink and was at her back, sweeping her legs out from under her. She went down with a grunt and he was on top of her, mouth at her ear.