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JayJay’s skin warmed my icy fingers as we swept over the wastelands, and I couldn’t help the tears escaping down my cheeks. Even unconscious, he unknowingly helped me. As my adrenaline tapered off, a rush of feelings poured in—helplessness that I could do so little for him, anger that he put himself in high-risk situations so his team didn’t have to.
And an overwhelming wave of love.Oh God, how have I ignored my love for this man for so long?
The rushing air lashed at my exposed skin, and tears stung my eyes as I sheltered against JayJay. My shirt, not thick enough, billowed and deflated, releasing any body heat that lingered on my skin. The hoverbike’s drone prevented conversation—a good thing, because my chattering teeth skittered like fake wind-up teeth across a table.
Every twisted piece of metal we flew over morphed into a nightmare image of me finding JayJay lifeless. I’d never been so scared. Despite his even breaths beside me, I couldn’t stop my internal chant. He’s going to be okay. He has to be.
As dawn approached, the pink soil underlining the horizon glowed a juicy peach color, jarringly cheery against the black volcano just ahead. While Tino parked his hoverbike, I raced to the elevator alongside the four enforcers carrying JayJay on the makeshift stretcher. The bandage on his head had soaked through with blood, and I was worried about his jostled brain.
The wind-powered turbine jolted to a stop, and the door jerked open to the command center, a hive of activity. Sisip’s eyes caught mine, but I had no time to talk. I lurched as fast as my frozen legs could manage, but the enforcers’ much longer legs and stronger bodies left me behind in the long tunnel.Calm down.
The volcanic air played havoc with my body. It was like immersing someone with hypothermia in boiling water. It shocked my system, forcing me to slow further or else stumble and faceplant. What seemed like hours later, I stuttered to a stop at his round door. My breaths came in giant heaves.He’s fine. He’s tough.
Tucking my hair behind my ear, I smoothed my sweaty palms down my leggings. After a centering breath, I slid the door open and, with the step stool missing, forced my rubbery arms to heave my swollen joints onto the soft blue moss carpet.
“Goodness gracious, my dear.” Dr. Ten rushed toward me and lifted me by my armpits over the lip of the cave.
Saluda, Hill, D’unter and Efred turned toward me. They sat around JayJay’s still body on crates—and my step—turned into chairs. The news had spread quickly.
I rushed to JayJay’s side, where Nebula lay curled on his chest. Her fiber-optic lights flashed at a frenetic pace, visible to all.
My eyes grew wet. His skin, though covered in dirt, shimmered as if it had been painted with a brush of pure starlight, glowing with a life of its own. His oil slick sheen would’ve knocked me to my knees in awe if he hadn’t beenso motionless. Instead, I crouched before him with trembling hands. “Please be okay.”
As if sensing my nearness, he moaned, his voice so raspy it scratched over every raw nerve in my body. “Ginger.”
Thank you. Thank you. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
Hill stepped away from his spot near JayJay’s head, and my numb legs moved on autopilot to take his position. Dr. Ten helped lower me to the vacant box, and I leaned in, placing my hand on JayJay’s bandaged forehead and brushing a kiss there.
JayJay let out a long breath. His rigid body loosened, and the corners of his mouth twisted up. I clutched his big hand, and a tear rolled down my cheek. He was waking.
Instead of Nebula showing me her bushy tail as she flounced away, she turned to face me and curled into a ball over his heart, closing her eyes. At last, a smile reached my lips. I’d done something that passed muster in Nebula’s eyes.
“His heart rate is regulating.” Dr. Ten monitored a device over JayJay’s heart. “Were you in the battle too, my dear? You look dreadful.” His Nacer wings fluttered behind him.
Efred laughed, breaking the palpable tension in the air. His purple scales flashed like embers in the orange glow. JayJay’s team bantered back and forth with each other, but their voices turned to murmurs. I only had eyes for JayJay.
Irrational fear made the hairs on my arms rise, along with a clawing desire to have his forest-green gaze, alert and attentive, on me once more. “Why won’t he open his eyes?”
Dr. Ten pressed a button on the device and JayJay’s heartbeat filled the room, as steady as a metronome. “Yes, indeed. That he’s alive and doing well is in large part due to the effectiveness of your protective clothing. He doesn’t have one outward scrape. Quite remarkable.”
But why won’t he open his eyes?I stroked his forehead ridge and adjusted the chain mail hood around his neck.
“Ginger, I’ll help you at every market day until the end of time if you make me armor next,” Saluda begged, a curl of smoke swirling from his nostrils.
JayJay growled, kicking toward consciousness, and I smoothed my hand over his forearm.
Hill walked toward the door. “JayJay’s not calling out for Ginger anymore.” He lifted his chin at D’unter and Efred’s bloody hands and shredded clothes. “He needs his rest, and we all need long showers.”
With a few quick words, Hill removed his team from JayJay’s side. I let out a breath, thankful for the quiet, but I still had a few questions for Dr. Ten.
“As I was saying”—his head swiveled to the side and back again—“outwardly, he’s fine, but inside is another story. A hard and fast fall across inhospitable ground has broken his leg and lower ribs, which I’ve set.” He ticked JayJay’s injuries off one by one on his fingers. “I’ve administered a high-dose sleep inducer for pain and to reduce movement. Once he wakes, I’m afraid he’ll experience some discomfort from internal bruising. He’s lucky to be alive. I commend his team’s prompt rescue.”
“Me, Tino and Sannit rescued him,” I muttered absently as I willed JayJay’s eyes to open. “And I splinted his leg.” With my eyes, I traced the muscles of JayJay’s arm, his collarbone, his round shoulder, up and down his neck and over his smooth head. I’m lucky he’s alive.
“Well done, well done.” Dr. Ten patted my shoulder before his eyes flickered to Nebula, who still lay curled on the blanket on JayJay’s chest. “Fortune is in his favor. Dorats vibrate at a frequency that aids healing. She’ll be an excellent asset to his speedy recovery. A useful ally.”
Nebula opened one eye and fixed it on Dr. Ten as he spoke, then she trained that single eye on me as if to ask,‘are you up to the task?’ I nodded.
