40. Chapter 40
Chapter forty
~Kitari~
I felt the moment Bryce woke up. Despite his shock and pain, it was the second greatest feeling I had felt in my life. Bryce was going to be alright. I sagged in relief, although it was short-lived.
He went through a range of emotions as he realized the situation we were now in. It was awful being kept from him, I needed to go to him, to check he was alright, to protect him. He was still in a lot of pain, and every time it flared, I ground my fists against the chains that held me to the floor.
I strained my ears for any news on him. Some humans stood guard at the entrance to the pod, but none of them had spoken to me since I returned. The ones who did speak, did so in their blunt human language instead of Panlin, ensuring I could not understand a word if I overheard them.
As I awaited Bryce’s recovery and time had dragged on, I had grown more and more anxious. But not because of the humans. How long would it be before my people discovered my location? The electrical storm had held them at bay for one night, but I was in no doubt that parties would have been sent to scout us out as soon as it cleared, and the human camp would be one of their prime targets. If Bryce was still here when they did find me, he could be hurt or killed. I swallowed down the panic. I needed to get him away from this place as quickly as possible. But how?
I stiffened as I felt Bryce moving. He was coming closer. Outside there was a brief conversation, and the humans guarding me disappeared from sight. I felt a tingle along the left side of my body, and a human soldier wearing a helmet over his face appeared at the opening. I did not need to see his face to know who it was. I bolted upright, halted by the short length of chain securing my wrists behind me. Bryce took the helmet off and threw it to one side.
“Bryce, thank the stars, are you alright?”
He looked shaky and pale, but he smiled his beautiful smile. “Yeah, I’m all good.”
He clearly was not ‘good’. I narrowed my eyes as he hurried over and bent down beside me. “Is this a use of ‘ sar-kasm ’ as humor again?”
His smile widened as he revealed a small device that glowed at one end and reached behind me.
“What is that?”
“Standard issue restraints. Everyone has a key.”
I tried not to feel insulted at being bested by ‘standard issue’ restraints.
“We must leave here before my people come,” I said urgently.
“I know,” he said.
He had already foreseen the danger. My Bryce, intelligent as always. There was a click and the chains fell away. Then I was on my feet and kissing him. He hissed and I drew away, remembering his wound.
“I am sorry,” I said.
“Don’t be.”
I raised his top to inspect his wound.
“No, we need to go,” he said, trying to pull away. “We don’t have long.”
“Let me check you first.” I pulled the dressing aside, which was now blackened. The skin that was underneath was now a pale pink color that stood out against his tanned skin. The wound still oozed, but the flesh was no longer toxic. At the sight of it, I finally relaxed and pressed my fingers to the smooth flesh just under his ribs. “Thank the stars,” I breathed.
“I told you I was fine. Now let’s go.”
I dropped his top back into place and hung back as he checked outside. Night was falling and the glowing c hittras were starting to emerge, weaving lazy circles in the air.
“Now what?”
“This is pretty much as far as I planned. You kind of stand out.”
He picked up the helmet again and put it on, covering his face.
I peered around the entrance of the pod at the distant trees.
“If we can get to the tree line in one piece, I can make us disappear,” I said. “If we run, will your men shoot at us?”
“No, I’m sure they won’t,” he said, but he did not sound as confident as I would have hoped. “So we’ll wait for our moment, I’ll get us as close to the edge as possible, and then we make a break for it. If anyone stops us, I’ll say I’m moving you to another pod and hope like hell they believe me.”
“Alright. When we run, put your head down and do not stop for any reason. You need to be out of here before my people arrive.”
He looked back at me, reflecting my face in the visor of his helmet. I looked surprisingly like my father.
“And then what?” he said.
I grimaced. “We will improvise.”
“Great. Good plan.” I got the impression he was using sark-asm as a way to alleviate the tension. He nodded, then reached out and took my hand. “By the way, I love you.” There was a breathless thrill to his words. “Just thought I should say it out loud.”
I could feel it; his love burned in my chest, almost fierce enough to burn away the apprehension. There was no doubt, but I said it aloud too. “I love you too.”
He rubbed his chest. “I know.”
Then he turned and watched for our moment, crouched and ready like a hunter waiting to pounce.
“Ok, now !”
We stepped out. I put my hands together behind my back, as though they were still cuffed, and Bryce held my arm as if he were leading me. He did his best to walk steadily despite the pain, using me as support.
We moved past the rows of pods, heading for the line of trees. Ahead of us, a human stepped out of a low row of cubicles, rubbing his hands together.
“Keep going,” Bryce murmured.
The human stopped when he saw us and watched as we walked past, more interested than alarmed. We kept going.
When we were at the outskirts of the camp, Bryce pulled me into the shadows of a large stack of wooden boxes. He let out a breath.
“Is the pain too much?” I asked.
“No, I can make it.”
He looked out again. There were a pair of sentries on the perimeter of the camp, circling. Bryce raised his hand, gesturing for me to stay in place until they were out of sight, and then there was nothing between us and the trees except a stretch of open space. If any of the humans saw us crossing, there would be no doubt about what we were doing, any ruse we had would be over.
“Ok, are you ready to run?” Bryce asked.
Something caught my attention in the line of trees. I raised my head, staring past Bryce.
“What is it?” he turned to follow my gaze.
“They are here—“
A spear whistled through the air, over our heads, and skewered through the side of one of the pods. There was a scream, followed by shouts, and then the pounding of feet.
We were too late.