The Bond That Heals Us (22 page)

“Davin!” Sara’s scream echoed in the cave.

Taber’s shout blended with hers. “Stop!”

Every warrior instinct was pulled taut as he leapt in front of the Ecada, his blaster and the sonic grenade poised, ready to hit their marks. He fired shot after shot at the beast, who howled as several seared its flesh. Davin was about to let the grenade fly when a pain lanced through his head behind his eyes. It brought him to his knees, screaming, both weapons falling uselessly to the ground. He felt both Sean and Taber collapse close beside him.

Panting, he managed to look over at Sara. She’d been thrown clear of Grit and the other miners, who were also holding their heads. Despite the look of agony on her face, she’d managed to crawl clear of her captors, pausing only long enough to grab the gel vial that Grit dropped. It wasn’t until she was close to Taber that he knew she’d be safe.

Concentrating as much as he could to push past the Ecada’s attempts at controlling his mind, Davin knew he had only one shot at this. With shaking hands, he picked up the sonic grenade and stumbled to his feet. The Ecada was glaring at him with its bug eyes, its large jaws opening and snapping shut. Davin managed to take a half-step forward as he slid the arming mechanism into the armed position.

The Ecada must have realized how much of a threat Davin was because the moment he took a second step forward, he felt a dramatic increase in the beast’s mental attack. But he was ready for it. Davin quickly erected a mental wall, trapping the Ecada’s connection so it couldn’t retreat. It was just the two of them now. It growled at Davin, which made him grin.

“You’re picking on the wrong Raqulian,
janva
!”

Behind him he heard moans of the others, the shuffle of feet in the rocky dirt. He knew that with the Ecada’s attentions solely focused on him, the others would be able to escape.

“What the fuck,” one voice muttered.

“Davin?” the Briel’s voice now. “Back up.”

“Get Sara out of here, Taber.” He had to concentrate to say each word. Any distraction would break their connection and they’d all be dead.

It was then he heard Sara’s muffled cries. He almost lost his hold on the mental barrier, only refocusing at the last moment. Another shuffle and he heard Sara gasp.

“Davin.” The fear in her voice was loud and clear.

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“Get out of here, wild one. I can’t hold him off much longer.” He held out the grenade so everyone, including the Ecada could see it. “The second I’m about to lose my hold on it, I’m releasing the button. Now run.”

“We’re not—”

“Run!”

“Come on, Sara!”

Davin heard Taber pull Sara along, the voices of the other miners, now free of the Ecada’s influence, going with them. It was the other sound that caught his attention.

“Sean?”

“Taber’s getting everyone else out of here. Grit and the boys are confused, but they seem free from this fucker now, thanks to whatever you just did.” Sean paused, giving Davin a solemn nod. “I’m not leaving you to face this shithead alone.”

“We’re not walking out of here.” Davin’s voice was surprisingly calm as he spoke.

He took another step forward so he was only a few feet away from the Ecada now.

“You release the grenade, I’ll fire the blaster, but you’ll have to stab it. Its throat is the most vulnerable. I doubt I’ll be much good to you after the sonic blast.”

Davin braved a quick look over at his new friend. Sean looked as calm as he sounded, like he’d reached an impasse in his life and finally made a choice. He nodded at Davin and turned his attention back to the killer in front of them.

The next few seconds seemed to drift into an eternity. Davin focused every bit of his healing powers on his ears and keeping the mental barrier in place. When he pressed the activation button and tossed the grenade at the Ecada, there was a brief pause in the insanity, a beat of silence as all three of them watched the small silver ball gracefully fly through the air in a long arc toward the Ecada. Sean opened fire at the beast, landing several shots on the top of its head, distracting it from the grenade and preventing it from catching and crushing it.

A silent blinding light was quickly followed by an earthshaking sonic boom. The pressure of the sonic wave threw them back hard, sending them in a heap against the side of the cavern. As soon as Davin hit the ground, he felt the mental cage he’d erected slip. He knew he didn’t have time to worry about it. Sending a healing blast of what little energy he had left to repair the damage to his ears so he could stand and fight, Davin picked up his knife from the ground.

He struggled to his feet, knife in hand and stumbled over Sean’s unconscious body.

Launching himself at the Ecada, he struggled with the beast’s mental attack as it snapped its powerful jaws at Davin’s head. He managed to tuck his body into a roll and slide out of the way. He then had to twist sideways to avoid being stomped by a large, clawed foot.

The Ecada let out a frustrated growl loud enough to shake the cavern walls. It gave Davin the advantage he needed. He pushed his body forward, diving directly for its 148

neck. But the Ecada saw him at the last moment, whipped its head to the side and dug its long teeth into Davin’s neck and shoulder.

The pain was greater than anything he’d ever imagined. Fire seemed to take the place of his blood, scorching him from the inside out. His fingers were suddenly wet, making it difficult to hold the knife in his left hand. Davin thought it was drool from the Ecada, but looking down, realized it was his own blood.

Everything in the room began to fade away until all he could see was a tiny spot in front of him. It was the Ecada’s throat, exposed and at an awkward angle because of how it bit down on him. With the last bit of strength he had left, Davin thrust the knife deep into the beast’s neck. The pressure on his shoulder lessened, giving him enough leeway to lean in and twist the knife.

The Ecada dropped Davin to the ground and staggered backward. It tried to claw at the protruding knife, but it couldn’t reach it with its short front legs. Finally it fell to the ground and let out one last growl before it stopped breathing.

Davin smiled. He’d done it. Sara and the others would be safe and could continue to grow and build their wonderful home. And for the first time in his life, Davin felt at peace with himself. He’d been a warrior for years, running from the part of his nature that could heal. He’d needed all his skills to survive, to save the others. To save Sara.

He’d actually forgotten he was injured for a moment and tried to stand. When he landed on his wounded shoulder, the pain jolted him back to reality.

“
Friken
,” he muttered.

“Davin!”

Sara’s shriek announced her return and she was at his side before he had time to process what was going on.

“Sara?” His voice barely wanted to work.

“Don’t move.
Med kit!
Just don’t move, baby. I’ll get you fixed up. Taber, get me that
fucking
med kit!”

He felt the pressure of her hands on his shoulder and knew she was trying to stop the bleeding. Davin looked up and was finally able to see her face. She was saying something, but his ears didn’t want to work to pick up the words. Wanting to hold on, he reached out and tried to use his healing ability to seal the wound. The familiar tingle of repairing skin lasted only for a second before fading away. He was too tired. Instead, he tried to smile and reached up with his good hand to brush a lock of her hair from cheek.

“I love you,” he whispered, his throat constricted with unshed tears.

Sara stopped moving, cupped his face with her hands and looked him straight in the eye.
I love you too
, she mouthed. It was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

* * * * *

“No, no, no! Don’t you give up on me, Davin. Davin!”

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Sara wanted to shake him awake but knew it would do any good. She turned to look for Taber when the med kit was thrown open beside her.

“I’ll assist.” Taber’s steady voice was at her ear.

It took everything she had to keep her emotions pushed back enough so she could concentrate on the wound. Davin didn’t have time for her to lose her professional perspective right now.

“Cauterizer.” The cool metal laser was slapped into her hand.

She set about doing her best to seal the ripped veins, repairing the damage enough so she could move him back to med bay. If she couldn’t, he wouldn’t survive an hour.

“There’s too much fucking blood. I can’t see.” She wiped a tear from her face.

“His breathing is getting shallow,” Taber said softly.

“We’re not giving up on him yet. Get me some gauze.”

A soft roll was pressed into her waiting hand. She pressed it deep into the wound and hoped it would somehow stop the bleeding. “More. Taber, give me everything.”

After a minute she had the rest of the gauze packed into the wound. Looking at his face, she was shocked to see how pale he’d grown. Of course there was a lot of blood loss, but this looked different.

“The parasite,” she whispered.

“You think they came from the Ecada?” Taber looked at her, frowning.

“How it controlled everyone. God, they’ll kill him faster than the blood loss.”

“No, it was that thing that killed the people.”

Sara turned to look at the miner who’d kidnapped her, who was standing beside Grit. He was staring at Davin, looking like he was ready to turn and run screaming. Or like he’d just woken up from a nightmare.

“Whenever the parasites were attacked, the Ecada killed the person rather than let what they knew come out,” Grit said, his voice shaky.

“That means the antibodies the computer generated back at the station were working,” she gasped and turned to look at Taber. “We need to get him back.”

“He’ll never make it.” Taber’s gaze was direct, but there was sadness in his eyes.

Sara found it hard to breathe, to focus on anything except the fact she was about to lose the man she loved. If she could get the parasites out of his system, she might be able to keep him alive long enough that his natural ability to heal could kick in. Maybe.

She was about to signal the station when it hit her. Her head snapped up and she grinned at Taber.

“We might have a chance. Can you carry him?”

“It won’t be comfortable for him, but yes. Where to?”

“Follow me. Quickly!”

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Taber stood and with the help of the other men, he slung Davin over his shoulder.

They raced past the crowd of disoriented miners who were out in the smelting area, back toward the tunnel that led to the underground pool.

When they got there, Sara jumped in, not waiting for Taber to round the corner.

When he stepped up to the edge, she beckoned with her hands.

“Drop him in. There’s something in the water that killed off the parasites. That’s why the Ecada tried to kill me when I was wounded.”

Taber didn’t hesitate and jumped into the pool with Davin. After some adjustment, they had him floating on his back, his wounded shoulder down in the water. They stayed that way for a long time. Sara kept stroking Davin’s hair, keeping it from his eyes and cooing in his ear. She kept talking to him, encouraging him to keep fighting, telling him that she loved him. Mostly that she loved him.

An hour went by without his condition changing. No improvements, but he wasn’t getting any worse. At some point, Sean came into the cavern and looked down at them.

“Davin, Sean’s here. He’s fine. He’s really worried about you, so you have to get better, okay?”

Davin’s body twitched. It was a subtle change, but she felt it nonetheless.

“That’s right, Sean. And Taber’s been here too. He’s never left your side. Even carried your sorry ass all the way to this pool. So you can’t go and die on us now. You hear me?”

She didn’t know when she’d started to cry, but the tears rolled down her face to drip into the water below. God, she couldn’t lose him. She’d been alone for so long.

Hadn’t even realized there’d been a large hole in her life, one she was waiting to fill with her love for someone else. That hole had gotten larger every day she’d watched how happy Haylie and Kamran were. Jealousy eating at her.

“You crashed into my life. I’m not letting you get away that easily,” she whispered and rested her cheek on his forehead.

Sara relaxed the same way she had when they’d made love. Hoping she could feel a tiny strand of him still there. She reached out with her senses, straining against the blackness and her own human limitations.

When she brushed against a small spark, she almost missed it. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed even more and floated back to where she’d felt the spark. It took her a second, but she found it again and grabbed on tight.

Davin, hon, come back to me.

Silence answered her. She tried to feed her energy into that spark, hoping it would take flame. Over and over she let it fan out as she silently whispered to him.

Davin, come back.

Sara.

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It sounded more like the wind blowing through the trees than her name, but she knew it was him. Again, she tried to feed him her energy, her strength and prayed he wasn’t too weak to take it.

The second he grabbed on, Sara felt suddenly pulled into a dark pit. She had to struggle to hold on, knowing if she lost control he was likely to drain her dry. Holding on, she felt him grow stronger and stronger until the spark roared into a fire.