I cleared rooftop after rooftop, and each time my landings got worse. A flicker of hope sprung inside me when the house came into view. I used the last of my energy to push faster. Once we were on that rooftop, we’d be safe. My hopes were dashed when I didn’t jump far enough on my last jump.
“Eira!” Raikidan yelled.
Barely managing to grab onto the ledge of the roof, I held on for dear life. Our house was tall, and although a drop wouldn’t kill me, it would hurt to hit the ground. One of my hands slipped, and I desperately tried to grab the ledge back. My strength was almost gone. Even though I managed to grab the ledge again, I didn’t keep hold of it for very long. “Raikidan, you have to shift into something that can carry her. I can’t pull us up. Something is wrong. I have no strength left in me.”
“But what about you? You’ll fall.”
“I know… I’ll be fine, though. The drop won’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to let you fall!”
“You don’t have a choice,” I argued. “Arnia is your priority. She needs to be safe before anyone else. I’ll manage on my own. I told you, I can take care of myself.” My grip on the ledge slipped a little. “Raikidan, please hurry! I’m going to fall, and neither of you could survive a fall like this in those forms. Even in her nu-human form, Arnia wouldn’t make it. She’s too weak to survive a fall like that.”
“Eira…”
“Please… do—” I gasped as my grip failed.
“Eira!”
Chapter 19
Igrunted in pain when a masculine hand grabbed onto my wrist, stopping my fall. I looked up and smiled at the olive-skinned man holding onto me. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see you in my life, Azriel.”
Azriel chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Out of curiosity, what’s with the snakes around your neck? Did you decide to stop at the local exotic pet store on your way home? Is one of them bleeding?”
I laughed. “Pull me up and you’ll get your answers.”
With some effort, Azriel hauled me up and I sighed with relief as my body hit the roof. Raikidan slid off me and shifted. Arnia, on the other hand, didn’t have the energy to do more than let go and shift as she fell from my neck to the roof.
“That’s not what I was expecting,” Azriel said.
“I would hope I didn’t get these two at a pet shop,” I joked.
“As do I.” He looked around. “Now, where are her clothes?”
“I must have dropped them when I messed up my jump,” I admitted.
Azriel shook his head with a small chuckle and unbuttoned his shirt. “We’ll give her this for now. It’ll be long enough to cover her until we can get her inside where it’s safe.”
I nodded as I accepted the shirt from him and I wrapped it around Arnia. She was out cold now, and I feared we were going to lose her. I attempted to pick her up, but I was too weak to do it.
“I got her,” Azriel offered. “You need to take it easy. We’ll figure out what’s up with you after we tend to her.”
Raikidan knelt down next to me. “I’ll help you.”
“I can walk on my own,” I lied.
He snorted. “And I was born yesterday. C’mon, it’s just until we get inside. It’s the least I can do for you almost killing yourself to get us this far.”
“Fine,” I muttered.
I expected him to allow me to at least keep my feet on the ground, but with typical Raikidan style, he lifted me up off the ground and held me in his arms instead. I was too weak to fight him over it. I just wanted to get inside where it was safe and pray the others were all right and Jaybird was on his way here.
Raikidan laid me down on the couch near Arnia and stepped away. Genesis ran over to Arnia and placed a hand on her forehead. Genesis’ brow creased with worry. “She’s burning up.”
“We need to get her into some actual clothes to regulate her body temperature,” I said. “Gen, go get some armor cloth for her. Zane, I need you to go into the back alley and find Arnia’s uniform and dispose of it.”
“Sure thing,” Zane replied.
The two rushed down the hallway. Genesis came back with a strip of cloth and handed it to me. Pulling myself up with my arms, I removed Azriel’s shirt from her body and placed the armor on top of her. Without needing to will it, the cloth reacted to Arnia’s body and clothed her.
“Where did you find someone like him?” Azriel questioned.
I looked at him. “What?”
He pointed to Raikidan, who was looking away. “What straight guy looks away from an unclothed woman? Where the hell did you find him?”
I grunted. “The middle of dumb-fuck nowhere.”
Azriel laughed and then went to work on checking Arnia’s vitals. “Even with the fever, she’s stable. I only hope she stays this way. I have no idea what’s doing this to her.”
“Do you think it could be Jay?”
He nodded. “It’s a possibility. He is in the middle of all the fighting.”
I looked up at the ceiling. I wished my communicator hadn’t fallen off my head when I fell. I could have contacted Aurora to find out the status on the others.
“Jaybird should be coming up the basement steps soon,” Seda messaged.
I sighed with relief. “Good.”
A few moments later, the basement door flew open, and Argus and Blaze dragged a battered man inside. The man had short, styled blonde hair with blue tips and the same shade of green eyes as Arnia.
“Jay, you look terrible,” I commented.
He chuckled. “Nice to see you too. Where’s my sister? Is she okay?”
I looked over at her. “Feverish, but stable and sleeping on the couch over there.”
Jaybird stumbled away from the boys and leaned on the couch near Arnia. “She’d better get better. I won’t forgive myself if she doesn’t.”
I hauled myself onto my weak legs. “I’ll make sure she gets the help she needs.”
Raikidan tried to stop me. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Like hell I’m not,” I objected. “Arnia is sick and they both need to get out of here. I know of someone who will help, and you’re going to help me get there.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Raikidan repeated.
I grabbed him by the back of his hair and pulled his face closer to mine. “I don’t care about the condition I’ve been mysteriously placed in. Tell me I can’t do something one more time, and I will make you regret it.”
Raikidan chuckled. “Where am I escorting you to?”
I let him go. “Do you remember the house where Fe’teline and Tla’lli brought us?” He nodded. “That’s where we’re going.”
In an instant his clothes changed to his Guard uniform. “All right, if you know what you’re doing, let’s go.”
I grunted and used the couch as a crutch to move around it. My clothes changed as I made my way over to the basement door.
Raikidan caught me when I stumbled. “Maybe they can help fix you as well.”
“I don’t need to be fixed,” I objected.
“Yeah, you keep saying that,” he muttered as he helped me down the stairs.
I sighed. “I hate this.”
“Get used to it,” he told me. “Because until we figure out what’s wrong with you, you’re stuck with me helping you.”
“You told me you’d only help me to the living room,” I reminded him as he opened the hidden door.
“Yes, well, you never said you were going to venture out anywhere else,” he reminded me.
I snorted and kept walking.
“It doesn’t make you weak,” he commented. “Relying on others.”
I snorted again. “Yeah, and I’ll believe that… never.”
Raikidan sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with getting help.”
“I’ve learned to rely on only myself. I should be able to do this on my own,” I replied softly.
“You should also learn to suck up your pride and let someone give you a hand when they offer it,” he murmured close to my ear.
I grunted. “It doesn’t happen enough for me to want to.”
“You’re back on a team now,” he remarked. “You might want to start wanting to.”
He’s right. But I was too stubborn to admit it to him. I didn’t want to rely on anyone else. I couldn’t in the past, so why start now?
Raikidan opened another hidden door at my instruction, and we headed up the stairs to the main room it attached to. Together we slipped out of the house and slowly progressed to our destination. I sighed mentally when the house came into view. Unfortunately, my bad shape caught the eye of patrolling soldiers.
“Are you two all right?” one asked as he made his way over to us.
“We’ll be fine once we get to our destination,” Raikidan replied.
The soldiers passed a strange glance to one another.
“Laz’shika!” a feminine voice called out.
I looked up to see a hooded figure running over to us, and smiled. “Fe’teline.”
Fe’teline touched my shoulders and looked me over. “You look terrible! If you had told us in your message you were in this condition, we would have sent the healer to you.”
I chuckled. “You know me. Why would I do something so smart?”
She laughed. “True. I just can’t believe you would put your body though so much torture for training.”
I shrugged. “I’m persistent.”
“Excuse me,” a soldier started, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but if you’re this injured, why are you walking? Shouldn’t you be carried?”
Raikidan grunted. “You don’t know Laz’shika. She’s stubborn, and even in this condition, she fought like hell to walk here. I wasn’t going to have myself torn apart over it.”
“Very well,” the soldier replied. “We will leave you to your business.”
Fe’teline bowed respectfully and ushered Raikidan and me toward the house. She looked back several times to check the distance between the soldiers and us until she figured it was safe to speak quietly. “A psychic contacted us not too long ago to tell us about your surprise arrival.”
“Well, I’m glad they did,” I commented. “Otherwise we could have had a messy situation on our hands back there.”
She laughed. “Yes, that is true. Now let’s get you inside and checked out. You’re in much worse shape than I thought.”
I grunted. There was that comment again. Do I really look that pathetic? The two of them helped me up the stairs and sat me down on the couch in the living room. There were at least a dozen shamans scattered about. I didn’t think so many lived in one house.
Raikidan sat down next to me as Fe’teline went to speak with some of the other shamans. I rested my head on Raikidan’s shoulder and sighed.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
I shook my head. I was feeling a whole lot worse than I had before. My eyes fought with me to close and my body grew heavier. Now I knew something was wrong.
Fe’teline came back with a tall nu-human man. He had tan skin, short black hair, and lavender eyes.
“My name is Ven’lar,” he introduced in a thick accent that was common for those from the North. “I’ll be tending to you.”
I barely responded.
“She’s even worse now,” Fe’teline said. “I hope you can help.”
Ven’lar took my face into his hands and examined me. He was gentle, which made me a little more comfortable about the situation. It reminded me of the times Xye would use me as his guinea pig to brush up on his healing. Of course, Xye was much gentler with me than this guy, but that was because of his wrong feelings toward me. This man was gentle because he was a healer and for that reason only.
“Her life force is weak,” he observed. “It feels like it’s being drained from her.”
A woman walked over to us and crouched down next to him. “Let me see her.”
Ven’lar moved aside to allow the woman to examine me.
“What were you doing earlier today?” she asked.
I wanted to respond, but nothing would come out of my mouth. I could barely make a conscious thought.
“Rescuing someone,” Raikidan answered for me.
The woman looked at him. “Where?”
“In some warehouses in Quadrant Two. Why?”
“Tell me more about this rescue,” she instructed.
“Nothing to say, really,” he replied. “We had to save a teammate and located her in the warehouse she was hiding in.”
“Who was she running from?”
“The monster in her closet,” Raikidan replied sarcastically. “Who do you think she was running from?”
The woman sighed and then looked at me. “I need to check your leg. Is that all right?”
I blinked in response. The woman moved my cloak and lifted my leg up onto the couch. The movement off-centered me, and I fell over into Raikidan’s lap. I sighed in annoyance, triggering Raikidan to chuckle. The woman touched my leg all over, and I cringed when she touched the inner side of my calf.
“This might hurt a little,” she told me.
I ground my teeth when she yanked on something. I would have screamed from the pain had I not been so weak. I watched as blood pooled out of my leg, and Raikidan began to growl aggressively.
“Heal her up,” the woman instructed.
Ven’lar positioned himself in front of me again and healed my bleeding leg, and Raikidan calmed down when the bleeding stopped.
“Nela, what did you find?” Fe’teline asked.
Nela held up a small robot that was shaped like a bug and was no bigger than my thumb. “She was being fed upon. This little critter is designed to suck on life energy. The longer it stays on you, the faster it drains you.”
“But why her?” Fe’teline asked.
Nela shook her head. “I don’t think she was the intended target. This one here stated they were looking for someone. That person was more likely the intended victim, but if Laz’shika’s life force was stronger, it would have gone after her instead. From the looks of the settings, this was intended to kill, not weaken.”
“So she saved the other person’s life,” Ven’lar remarked.
Nela nodded. “If the target was weaker than her, yes.”
Raikidan eyed her. “You know a lot about it.”
Nela sighed. “I wish I didn’t.”
“What are you not saying, Nela?” Fe’teline pressed.
“The East Shaman Tribe designed this,” Nela admitted.
Fe’teline gasped. “But why would you do that?”
“We had to. Our tribe, unlike the other tribes, uses technology on a regular basis. We design things to make life easier, or out of boredom. When we were forced to sign the treaty with this city to be less neutral in Zarda’s favor, we were to prove we wouldn’t go back on it by designing something. This device is what we designed.”
“But… there was… a price…” I managed—my strength coming back already.
She nodded. “My brother designed this stupid thing… and when we handed a working bug over with the plans, they killed him…”
Fe’teline gasped. “But why?”
“To make sure… they didn’t make another one,” I explained. “They’re not smart enough to think… more than one person worked on it, and they’re not smart enough… to think they didn’t have a secret stash of plans of ways to counter the device.”
“I’m sorry about your brother, Nela,” Fe’teline said.
“Me too…” she whispered sadly.
I held out my hand. “May I… see the device?”
“Um, sure. Why do you want it?” she asked.
“To destroy it and take back some of the energy it stole from me,” I replied.
Nela laughed. “You can’t take it back. It doesn’t work like that.”
“You want to bet?” I challenged.
She sighed. “Even if it were possible, it’d be dangerous. You don’t know if this has taken energy from someone else. If it has, you could be harmed by their energy.”
I snorted. “Do they teach you nothing… in your tribe?”
“Excuse me?”
“Life energy… it exists in all living things. There is no difference… between the life energy that exists in you and that small flower in your hair. There is no difference between… the energy in me and a small insect. It’s all the same. This is why we are able… to have others who can heal. This is why we are able to transfer life energy to… each other when it’s needed. No life energy is dangerous. It would only be dangerous if we didn’t have it… to begin with.” Everyone stared at me and I looked at them defensively. “What?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard it explained so well,” Ven’lar said.
“I agree,” Fe’teline said.
I looked away from them. I wasn’t sure how to handle their praise, if that’s what it was. I looked at Nela when she handed over the bug. “You seem to know what you’re doing, so there is no point in stopping you.”
I took the bug and inspected it. Blue lights flashed up a line of bulbs on both sides of the bug. They didn’t reach the top bulb, leading me to believe it was an energy meter. Holding the bug in the center of my palm, I took a deep breath and crushed the machine. I could feel the energy escaping its mechanical prison, and I concentrated on harnessing it.
I exhaled as the last of the energy disappeared. I had managed to harness only half of it, but it was better than nothing. The rest that escaped would be absorbed in smaller amounts by everything around us.
Pieces Page 21