Page 166 of Seasons of War
His watch buzzed against his wrist, warning of one minute.
Relief washed over him.
If he kept them both alive until then, Luke had no choice but to evacuate before the guard's scheduled patrol. Still, that felt like so much time right now.
Zayne slammed his fist into Luke's side. His brother punched him in the back close to his wound.
His vision blinked black, and he took another hit, collapsing. Luke shifted to kick him, but Zayne hugged his brother around his knees, grunting as he channeled all his strength into holding him in place. And then he shot straight up, ramming his head up into Luke's diaphragm.
The man fell on top of him.
They wrestled for control, pummeling each other with weak, sloppy hits.
Every movement tore at Zayne's back.
“Who the fuck are you?” Luke asked through gritted teeth. “Die already.”
Five more seconds.
A form to his right.
Ashantae dug their fingers into Luke's wound.
His brother screamed, body contorting on the ground.
Pain cramped Zayne's chest, not just from the fight, but from the agony on Luke's face.
Ashantae pulled on Zayne. “We need to get out of here.”
He struggled to his knees, letting his friend help him up. His muscles cramped from the fight, seizing.
Luke picked up a knife from the ground while on his side, but Zayne and Ashantae ran, leaving him the only soldier left alive.
In the hall, he staggered and fell against the wall, lightheaded, nearly collapsing to the ground again. His wound pulsed with pain, and his body throbbed all over. He groaned, trying to catch his breath. Luke wouldn'tfeel any better.
“He's gone,” Ashantae said, ear to the wall. “Becka's safe.”
That helped him fill his lungs. Good.
“Can you make it?” they asked.
“Yes.” He scanned his friend, seeing a bloodied tear on their shoulder and leg. “You?”
“Yeah. I've got nothing serious.”
“I didn't get it,” he said.
“I did.” Ashantae withdrew the inhaler with the microphone, dropped it, and crushed it with the heel of their boot.
The Phaedra would be infuriated with today's failure and with losing the communication device. That meant they didn't have long to save Kira before he did something terrible to her.
There wasn't time to recover. Zayne started down the hall, Ashantae running ahead to check for guards.
As much as his body hurt, having a few minutes after the fight ended allowed him to get his bearings. When they entered Major Tyndale's office through the back, weapons on him, Zayne could at least breathe again.
The major almost reached his gun but froze with his fingertips grazing the handle.
“We're not here to hurt you,” Zayne said.
