“That one’s not too bad,” she said, even though that spot hurt like hell; when everything hurt, it made all of it less immediate. Fortunately, whatever Urgand had injected her with was gradually dulling all that pain.
“I wish he were still alive so I could kill him myself,” Drakkal snarled.
Shay’s lips twitched into a smile. “You’re so hot when you talk like that.”
One corner of Drakkal’s mouth tilted up, and he shook his head. Love and relief shone in his eyes, though they weren’t enough to overpower the worried gleam that had been in his gaze since he’d arrived. This wasn’t done yet.
Her smile fell, and Shay closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. “I’ll be fine. I just want to get Leah and go home. I want this to be over.”
“Soon. Very soon.”
A pair of calloused but gentle fingertips settled around the cut on her cheek just before the gel flowed over it. With the sting dulled, all she felt was a cool, slightly refreshing sensation, welcome after the heated fight with Nostrus. Once that cut was done, Drakkal carefully guided her head forward. Urgand repeated the process with the cut on the back of her head. She felt Urgand move away when he was done.
Her pain had already receded into something distant, something she could safely ignore, and now her exhaustion was doing the same. A tentative sort of energy flowed through her limbs; she still felt like shit, she knew that atheart, but she could keep going. A few minutes ago…well, she’d been nearly out, hadn’t she?
Drakkal moved his hand down to cup her jaw and tilt her head back toward him. She opened her eyes to meet his fiery gaze.
He bared his fangs. “Let’s get our daughter,kiraia.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Murgen just left the examination room through a back door,” Arcanthus said over the comms. “I suppose he finally realized the severity of the situation.”
Drakkal growled a curse but didn’t allow himself to slow. He was walking at a brisk pace with Shay beside him, his right arm around her back and hooked beneath her armpit. She’d leaned on him less and less as they’d continued deeper into the zoo—undoubtedly the result of the booster Urgand had injected her with. She’d crash and feel like shit again once it wore off, but all that mattered now was that she could keep moving.
“What about Leah?” he asked.
“She’s still in there,” Arc replied.“The techs are arguing…annnnnd never mind, they just ran into a supply room to hide. Left her on the exam table.”
“What’s happening?” Shay asked, tightening her arm around Drakkal’s middle.
“Is she all right, Arc?” Drakkal demanded.
“As far as I can tell. She looks like she’s still out.”
“Murgen ran off,” Drakkal said, squeezing the grip of his auto-blaster with his left hand and glancing down at Shay. “They left Leah behind, but we think she’s okay.”
Shay nodded.
Sekk’thi and Thargen, who had taken the lead in their new formation, turned the next corner. Drakkal followed with Shay just behind him, and Urgand took the rear. The wide door to the examination room stood twenty meters ahead. The door that led to Leah.
“Have any guards remained behind?” Sekk’thi asked.
“No. The two that were in there are escorting Murgen away,” Arcanthus replied.
When they arrived at the door, all five of them fell into position. Shay didn’t resist when Drakkal angled himself to shield her body with his, though she did lean slightly to the side, aiming her blaster around him. The door opened on a sterile, silent room filled with sleek medical equipment and several examination tables and adjustable chairs.
Thargen and Sekk’thi moved into the room with auto-blasters raised, checking corners as they went. Drakkal and Shay advanced in their wake, and his eyes were drawn immediately to one of those tables, atop which Leah lay beneath stark white light.
“Clear,” both Sekk’thi and Thargen declared. The door closed after Urgand entered the room.
Drakkal and Shay hurried to their cub, finally splitting apart to move to opposite sides of the table. Leah lay naked and unmoving but for the rise and fall of her little chest, head turned to one side and eyes closed. Her skin was too pale.
“Is Leah okay?”Samantha asked over the commlink, her voice filled with fear.
Shay picked Leah up and cradled her in her arms, holding her close. Her strained, worried expression eased,and she closed her eyes. When she opened them to meet Drakkal’s gaze, they were filled with tears. “We got her back.”
“We think so, Sam,” Drakkal said softly. His chest tightened with raw, powerful emotion—elation, relief, sorrow. They should never have had to deal with everything they’d been forced to endure. No one should ever have had to deal with it. If he could’ve somehow spared his family from all this suffering, if he could have somehow found Shay and claimed her without triggering this chain of events…