Carmen followed Zyen’s gaze. “He’s probably nervous about hauling a plane full of Bracadytes to the states. If anyone found out what kind of cargo he had on board, it could be dangerous for us all. God knows there are many that want us dead.”
“The plane appears too small to carry us all.” Zyen had to practically bend in half to keep his head from touching the top.
“The Cessna 208 Wheeled Caravan can carry up to nine people,” Fiona informed them, stepping on board.
Zyen moved to the back of the plane, clueless as to Fiona’s words. He kept his eye on the strange acting pilot while Carmen took a seat next to the small window. Zyen sat in the one next to her.
Oz finally entered and parked himself next to his mate in the front row.
The engine sputtered to life with a deafening roar. It wasn’t long before the plane began moving, gaining speed on its trek down the runway.
Zyen’s stomach turned over. He stared up at the ceiling, holding the arms of his seat in a death grip. “We are going to die.”
Carmen’s tinkering laugh reached his ears. “Relax. It’ll smooth out once we reach a certain altitude.”
Zyen wasn’t so sure about that.
Several seconds passed with Zyen swallowing back bile. He was sure he’d left his stomach on the ground, and he definitely felt a headache coming on.
“See?” Carmen laid her small palm over his hand. “It’s fine.”
But Zyen wasn’t listening. His gaze had zeroed in on Oz as he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned up toward the pilot.
Oz touched the guy on the shoulder, and then shook him slightly. “Hey man, are you alright?”
The pilot’s head suddenly slumped forward, wringing a string of curses from Oz.
“Does anyone know how to fly a plane?” Oz barked, freeing the pilot from his seatbelt.
All eyes turned to Brant and Fiona. They had both paled significantly.
Brant jumped from his seat. “What the hell is wrong with him?”
“I don’t know. It looks like Incola!” Oz ran a hand down his face. “Can you fly this son of a bitch or not?”
A moan slipped past the pilot’s lips. He attempted to lift his head to no avail.
“I’ve never flown a plane,” Brant growled, ducking his way up front.
Oz reached over and attempted to revive the pilot. “He’s burning up!”
The plane began to lose altitude, forcing Oz to jump into the seat opposite the pilot. “Mayday, mayday!” Oz called, pulling on a headset and gripping the strange looking wheel in front of him. “We’re going down. I can see the trees right below us!”
Zyen moved to unbuckle his seatbelt, but Carmen’s death grip on his arm stopped him.
“Don’t leave me!” Terror swam in her eyes.
Zyen had never felt more afraid than he did in that moment. But it wasn’t himself he feared for, but his sweet, tiny Carmen.
Chapter Thirty-Two
They were going to die. Carmen knew this as surely as she knew her own name. The plane hadn’t been in the air but a couple of minutes before the pilot had lost consciousness.
“Mayday, mayday!” Oz repeated through the headset. He held onto the wheel, flipping switches on the dash. But Carmen could feel the pressure change, feel the rapid descent as they fell from the sky.
She glanced out the small window at her side to discover nothing but darkness. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed glued to that dark window when a scream ricocheted around her. It took her a second to realize it came from her, and another to realize the treetops were smacking the bottom of the plane.
Her window suddenly shattered, an explosion of a sound that reverberated through her skull. Wind blasted her in the face, sucking at her hair and clothes. And then Zyen was on top of her, covering her body with his much larger one. The last thought Carmen had before impact was that she never had a chance to tell Zyen how much she loved him.
* * * *
Smoke. The acrid smell of smoke hung in the air, making it difficult to breathe. Something sharp dug into Carmen’s side. She attempted to roll away from it, only to cry out as pain sliced through her leg.
She blinked into the darkness, great racking coughs seizing her lungs. The plane had crashed.
Panic took over. “Zyen?” Carmen wheezed, her voice barely a hoarse whisper. “Zyen, where are you?”
She attempted to crawl forward only to realize her seatbelt held her in place. “Zyen? Answer me!”
Carmen could hear the waves in the distance, but was unable to determine how close they were to the beach.
She somehow managed to release the clasp of her seatbelt, feeling around for Zyen.
“Oh, God,” she cried, pulling herself over Zyen’s twisted seat. She dropped onto the center isle of the plane. “Zyen!”
A moan came from nearby, barely audible over the pulse pounding in Carmen’s ears. “Hello?”
She crawled toward the sound, dragging herself along the isle before falling to the ground below.
Her vision began to clear the further she moved away from the smoke.
Bodies were scattered about, some moving, some not.
“Oz,” Carmen gasped, watching as Oz staggered toward a tree, holding Maria in his arms. He bent and gently deposited her on the ground next to the tree.
Carmen pushed to her feet, and limped over to their side. “Maria!”
“I’ll be fine.” A banged-up Maria nodded toward Carmen’s leg. “Are you alright?”
Glancing down at the blood seeping from her thigh, Carmen breathed, “I have to find Zyen.”
Carmen’s gaze scanned the area, squinting into the darkness in search of her mate. And he was her mate. He had been since the moment he’d given her his blood. No, she silently admitted. Even before that.
Though pieces of the plane were scattered about, most of the hull had shockingly stayed intact. Thank God they hadn’t reached a higher altitude before the pilot lost consciousness.
Carmen stepped over several large chunks of debris, stumbling forward until she came upon Gryke and Fiona to find Gryke running his hands up and down his mate’s limbs.
Fiona had a cut over her right eye that was bleeding profusely, and a jagged gash on her forearm.
“I’m alright,” Fiona assured Gryke, pushing to her feet. She turned her attention to Carmen. “The others?”
Tears filled Carmen’s eyes. “Oz and Maria are banged up but okay. I haven’t seen Zyen, Pyre, or Brant and Syrina.”
“We need to spread out.” Fiona immediately went into military mode. She nodded to her right. “Carmen? You go that way, Gryke you head south, I’ll check to the west. Make a wide sweep, and keep your senses alert.”
Gryke shook his head. “You are injured.”
“I’m fine,” Fiona returned impatiently. “We have to hurry.”
Carmen began moving before Fiona finished speaking. Zyen was out there somewhere, possibly hurt…or worse.
Ignoring the pain throbbing in her keg, Carmen hurried through the trees, adrenaline pumping in her veins and tears dripping off her chin. If she lost Zyen now…she couldn’t finish the thought.
“Zyen?” she called out, barely noticing the briars tearing into her skin. “Please answer me!”
A hint of something white appeared up ahead, and Carmen realized it was Zyen’s hair. She broke into a run, her heart in her throat; fear of what she’d find when she arrived fairly choking her.
She skidded to a stop next to his bloodied form and dropped to her knees beside him. He lay on his stomach, his body still as death. Her hands shook so bad, she could barely move his hair out of his face.
“Zyen?” Her voice broke. “P-please, baby.”
Silence.
“You can’t leave me,” she hiccupped through her tears. “Please don’t leave me!”
Wrapping her arms around one of his larger ones, Carmen attempted to turn him over, but her strength was no match for his great size.
“Somebody help
me!” she cried, running her hands up and down his body, checking for wounds.
A soft sound came from his throat, leaving Carmen weak with relief.
“You’re alive!” She openly cried; hot, salty tears dripping off her chin. “You have to help me, Zyen. I can’t move you.”
His eyelids opened a crack. “Carmen…”
“Yes, baby, I’m here.”
“Are you…hurt?”
She could barely make out the slur of his words. Even in his condition, he worried about her.
Carmen took hold of his arms once more. “I’m okay, love. But you’re not. I need to turn you over so I can see how badly you’re injured. You have to help me.”
Zyen bared his teeth, a deep, painful growl coming from his throat. He pushed himself a few inches from the ground, only to collapse back to his previous position.
“No, no, no no,” Carmen whispered, tightening her grip on his arm. “Again!”
She jumped over his body, pulling his arm with everything she had as he attempted to roll over once more.
He was suddenly on his back and the horror of his predicament hit Carmen square in the face. He’d been impaled by a large piece of the plane’s debris.
“Oh, God,” Carmen silently screamed, biting the inside of her lip to keep from crying out. The last thing she needed was to let Zyen know just how bad off he truly was.
His eyes cracked open once again. “I can hear your thoughts…feel your fears.”
“Help us!” Carmen called out a second time.
She lowered to his side and pressed her lips against his.
“Do not cry, little one. I am fine.”
But she knew he was anything but fine. He was dying. She knew it as surely as she knew she loved him.
A lone tear slipped from the corner of his eye. Not from the pain, Carmen realized, but from her admission.
His lips barely moved. “You love me?”
“I love you more than I have ever loved anything in my life.”
His eyes opened a tiny bit more to hold her gaze. “Mate.”
“Yes,” Carmen vowed, her tears dripping onto his face. “Mate.”
Chapter thirty-Three
Zyen knew he was in trouble. He’d lost feeling in his lower extremities. But his upper body screamed in torment. He’d never imagined he could endure so much pain.
But no matter how much agony he found himself in, it was nothing compared to the feelings washing through him with Carmen’s admission.
She loved him.
He couldn’t take his gaze off her beautiful face, even though he had to fight to keep his eyes open. “I…” he attempted to swallow. “I never thought…myself…capable of this kind…of love. I am…humbled by it. If I do not survive—”
“Don’t you say that!” Carmen interrupted. “Don’t you dare talk like that. If you leave me, I will only follow you over!”
Horror slammed into Zyen. The sheer rawness of her emotions, the absolute truth in her words slid through his mind in sickening finality. “You…cannot think…such things.”
“Here they are!” Oz, Gryke, and Fiona suddenly appeared.
“Dammit, big guy,” Oz gruffly remarked, dropping to his haunches next to Zyen.
Gryke moved to Zyen’s other side, forcing Carmen to scramble out of the way.
Fiona took hold of Carmen’s hand. “Why don’t you come with me?”
“No!” Carmen pulled free of Fiona’s hold. “I’m not leaving him.”
“You don’t need to watch this,” Fiona explained.
Carmen shook her head. “I’m staying.”
“Very well. I’m going to keep searching for my brother. Syrina has informed Pyre that Brant’s injured, but she has no idea where they are.”
“I’m sorry,” Carmen whispered, “I hope he’s going to be okay.”
“Me too.” Fiona moved off, disappearing into the trees.
Zyen listened to the exchange, mentally pleading with Carmen to go with Fiona. But she remained rooted to the spot.
A bloodied and bruised Pyre came barreling through the trees. His face appeared in Zyen’s line of sight, blocking his view of Carmen.
Gryke jumped to his feet and faced Pyre, but Zyen couldn’t make out their words. A few seconds later, Gryke took off through the trees where Fiona had disappeared.
Pyre knelt by Zyen’s side. He wrapped his hand around the metal protruding from his stomach. “Forgive me.”
Zyen roared with the agony searing his insides as the object was ripped free of his body. He’d never felt such pain in all his life. Not even when he’d been shot.
“We need to get him back to the mainland,” Oz growled, ripping off his shirt and wading it up. He pressed it firmly against Zyen’s wound.
Pyre spoke next. “How far away are we?”
“I’m not exactly sure.” Oz continued holding pressure on the wound. “We were in the air only a few minutes. If I had to guess, I’d say it was about a mile from here.”
Zyen knew he didn’t have long left in his condition. He could feel his life force spilling from his body with every beat of his heart. “Leave me.”
“Shut up!” Carmen cried, her voice wobbly from her tears. “Just shut up. We aren’t leaving you.”
She pushed Pyre back out of the way and took his place. But she didn’t look at Zyen, her gaze was locked on Oz. “Tell me what to do.”
Oz stared back at her, his hand still pressing against Zyen’s stomach. “He needs blood, and we need to find a way to stitch him up.”
Carmen turned toward Pyre. “Go search the wreckage for a first aid kit. It’ll be a white box, more than likely with a red cross on the lid.”
Pyre surged to his feet and disappeared into the darkness.
Zyen could feel Carmen’s anxiety as surely as if it were his own. She reached up and lifted his top lip. “Where are your fangs?”
Attempting to talk, Zyen stared into Carmen’s eyes, and then slipped into her mind. “Do not do this, sweet Carmen. You are losing blood. I can smell it.”
“It’s just a scratch,” she sent back, speaking to his mind as easily as if she were speaking from her lips. “Now, please, let me do this for you. I won’t live without you.”
Zyen’s fangs slid down against his will. It would seem his body knew what he needed, even if his heart refused to accept it.
Carmen tugged her hair to the side, leaned in, and pressed her neck against Zyen’s mouth.
A soft groan rumbled inside his chest, even as his fangs found their mark.
The feel of Carmen’s precious blood rushing through his system overrode everything happening around Zyen. The pain in his stomach faded to the background, and nothing mattered in that moment except the sweet essence of Carmen. She revived him, fed him, and nurtured him.
She saved him.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Carmen could feel Zyen’s strength slowly returning, even as her own began to ebb. Still, she gave. She would give her last drop of blood if it would ensure that Zyen lived.
His fangs retracted, and he turned his face away. “Enough.”
Carmen wasn’t so sure. Zyen was still losing blood at a rapid rate. “Take a little more. At least until Pyre returns with the first aid kit.”
Zyen shook his head. “I will not. I have already taken too much.”
Pyre came crashing through the trees, holding the first aid kit. He skidded to a stop next to Carmen and handed her the white box. “It was difficult to find. I also found this in the front of the plane near the pilot. It is a light.”
“Thank you, Pyre.” Carmen opened the kit with trembling fingers while Oz accepted the flashlight.
It took Carmen several attempts to thread the needle she’d found in the kit. She ripped open some gauze and a grabbed the bottle of alcohol.
Nodding for Oz to remove the wadded-up shirt from Zyen’s wound, she waited for him to unlace the vest Zyen wore and peel it back.
“I’m so sorry.” She hesit
ated a second before pouring the alcohol over the gaping hole in Zyen’s stomach.
Zyen groaned, his body shaking from the obvious pain the alcohol caused; but otherwise, he didn’t move.
“Hold that light as close to it as you can,” Carmen ordered, going to work on stitching up Zyen’s wound as best as she could under the circumstances.
Carmen wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she tied off the thread and covered the stitches with the gauze. She taped it in place. “The bleeding has slowed.”
Returning her neck to Zyen’s lips, she whispered, “You need more blood.”
But Zyen refused to bite.
Oz reached over and gently took her by the arm. “He won’t take anymore from you. You’ve lost too much blood. I’ll give him mine.” He waited for her to move back some and then pressed his wrist to Zyen’s lips.
Carmen wanted to thank Oz, but she was too emotional to speak.
She watched in relief as Zyen’s mouth opened over Oz’s wrist, knew that his fangs had found their mark.
Gryke and Fiona picked that moment to return from the woods, but there was no sign of Brant or Syrina.
“Your brother?” Oz questioned, his eyes glittering in the moonlight.
Fiona’s voice sounded as wooden as Carmen felt. “No sign of them.”
“I have lost contact with Syrina,” Pyre announced, causing all eyes to swing in his direction. “I have been attempting to reach her for several minutes now, but she does not answer.”
Carmen waited for Oz to disengage from Zyen’s fangs before she scrambled around behind her mate’s head and gently placed it in her lap.
Pyre moved to stand next to Gryke. “Brant is newly initiated. Can you not feel his presence?”
Gryke shook his head. “I have not felt him at all since the crash.”
“Possibly due to his injuries.” Pyre glanced apologetically at Fiona. “Syrina was tending him the last time she communicated with me.”
Fiona ran a hand down her face. Though Carmen couldn’t see her expression clearly in the moonlight, she could feel the other woman’s anxiety.
Zyen: Science Fiction Romance (Enigma Series Book 10) Page 13