Page 116 of Star Bringer
“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” I squeeze my eyes closed as the agony threatens to overwhelm me.
Just as the pain is slightly ebbing, another round of bullets comes crashing into and over the wall.
Don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t fucking puke.
Ian fires off a few more blasts of his laser pistol in response, and judging by the two screams that sound in quick succession, he actually hits a couple of people. Which I might be happier about if there weren’t so many of them. And if I could actually think past the agony tearing through me.
I take a couple more deep breaths, and finally thepain abates enough for me to open my eyes and meet Ian’s worried gaze.
“Now you can take a drink,” he tells me.
“I’m beginning to think I should have done that first,” I tell him before taking a long swallow.
At least the pain is taking my mind off the cold. I hold the bottle out to him with a trembling hand. But before he can reach out and take it, another volley of shots come at us, and the accompanying shouts sound closer, like the mercenaries who are after us are getting braver.
Even Ian spinning around and firing several blasts off above the barrier doesn’t seem to make them retreat. Which makes me wonder how much longer it’s going to take before they decide the risk is worth the reward and just rush us.
How much longer before it’s all over.
Chapter 44
Kali
“I’m still glad you came along, Princess,” he says, holding up our wrists.
“I thought I could help,” I say, wondering what I was thinking. “I bet you wish you didn’t give Merrick the key right about now.”
“Probably,” he says with a face that’s hard to read as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver key. “Except I do happen to have a spare.”
I stare at it and grit my teeth, not sure if I want to laugh or cry. “Then why didn’t you use it when we first left the boardinghouse?” I growl. “Or before that, when we were hiking through the storm?”
“Maybe I was enjoying your company.”
“Yeah, like I believe that.” I take a deep breath and shake my wrist. “Well, Ian, it’s been grand, but maybe it’s time to part company.”
He slides the key into the lock, and the cuffs click and spring open.
I force back a sniffle.
I guess this really is goodbye.
Ian is uninjured. He’s got a gun. He can get himself out of here and get back to theStarlight. Me, not so much.
I try to push myself up, and a little sob escapes my throat at the pain. But I refuse to die lying on my back.
Ian looks bewildered at first, but when he finally realizes what I’m doing, he leans over me and helps me lever myself into a sitting position so that I’m propped up against the steel with my legs stretched out in front of me.
I have a much better view of my leg in this position, so I pull down the poncho so I don’t have to look at the hole in it—or the blood that continues to ooze out of it.
Another volley of shots come at us, and the accompanying shouts sound closer still.
There’s a part of me that wants to beg him not to leave me. I don’t want to die. And I especially don’t want to die all alone on this freezing, shitty planet. Maybe, if he’s feeling generous, he’ll leave me the booze and I can just drink myself into oblivion before they get to me.
Considering how close they are, I don’t think that’s going to happen. And I don’t want to be incapacitated when I die, either. I just don’t want to be scared and alone, and honestly, I don’t think there’s anything I can do about either of those things.
Besides, as much as I don’t want to be alone, I don’t want Ian to stay about a hundred times more. Because if he stays, he’ll die, too. And Ian is the most alive person I’ve ever met. The thought of him dying hurts worse than my leg does and way worse than the thought of dying myself does.
Besides, Ian needs to live to rescue Milla from the Wilds where she’s being held against her will and forced to do truly terrible things.
