Planet Athion: The Complete Series by Angel Lawson
63
Damon
“Get him out of here!”I roar, bending over Mercy’s blood-soaked body. I can’t tell how much is from him and what comes from her. My heart lodges in my throat as I examine her body. I curse when I find the shard of glass still in her hand, and then again when I find the self-inflicted wound in her side.
“Get me a medic!” I shout, lifting her in my arms. “You stay with me, babe, I didn’t build an army to come save you, only to find you dead.” She moans in my arms, at least giving me a sign of life. I bend and kiss her forehead. “I’ve got you, Mercy, and you can sure as hell trust I’m never letting you go.”
I walk her into the hall, away from the blood and gore of the other room. One of my men calls to me, “There’s an empty room here. The medic is on her way up.”
“Thank you,” I say, walking into the room and taking her straight to the bathroom. I hear footsteps behind me and turn. It’s an Athion, dressed nicely, not one of my men. “Who are you?”
“Rhise. One of the Master’s slaves. I’ve worked with Mercy before.” His eyes dart down to her. “Let me help you.”
“Are you a doctor? Because she needs a fucking doctor!” She’s limp in my arms.
“No, but I’m skilled at many things. Let me assess the wound.” He exhales. “I promise you I have nothing but good will toward you and the Resistance. Toward Mercy. Let me help her.”
I nod, knowing she needs more than I can give her. He gestures to the bed and walks over with quick grace. “What’s your name?” I ask, glancing down the hall. I don’t like being away from the center of action but I’m not taking my eyes off of her.
“Rhise.”
“You lose her, Rhise, and—”
“You don’t have to say it. I know how much she means to you.”
The Trad vanishes into the bathroom and returns with a pile of clean towels and cloths. A bowl of water is next. He strips off her clothes and washes her up. I wince at the sight of her wound.
“We’ve been praying to Laird that you were real,” he says suddenly. “Praying you’d come free us.”
I rub my head, thinking of the last month. Dimka and I didn’t leave that morning to start a revolution, but when we heard what Cassidy and Amias did, how Kane came aboard, and the Master took our girl? Plans escalated.
“Well this may or may not end well for all of us, it just depends on if we can get the slaves on board, fighting for our side.” Dimka is in the bowels of the facility, searching for Alex and Kai. I haven’t heard from him yet and it’s making me twitchy.
“I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting the people in this place on your side.” He carefully cleans Mercy’s body. There’s movement in the halls and I look out. The medic, a female, human doctor recently released from the transition facility, meets me at the door.
“Where is she?”
I point inside. Her face falls when she sees the amount of blood, the bowl of water at Rhise's side turned pink.
“I’ve got it from here,” she says to both me and Rhise.
I grab her by the arm and meet her eyes. “Save her.”
“Mercy Ladd is a legend,” she tells me. “You don’t have to tell me what I need to do.”