Chapter Seventeen
Lucy gathered up her skirts and ran through the corridors of the medical facility, trying to keep up with Allik, who was striding ahead. He seemed to have forgotten she was with him. Either that, or he was so anxious for news of his friend, he didn’t care he was leaving her behind.
When Caroline had woken her to tell her that Taryn had been brought home injured, her heart had done somersaults. Lucy had leapt out of bed and thrown on the nearest clothes she could find, knowing she had to get to him as fast as possible. By the time she’d reached the front gates of the Citadel, Allik was already sitting there in his cruiser, tapping impatiently on the controls as he waited for her.
They’d traveled through the city streets at a speed that should have terrified her, but her only thoughts were of Taryn. Although Caroline had assured her it wasn’t bad, Lucy needed to see with her own eyes. She couldn’t get the image of him lying in a hospital bed, bloodied and broken, out of her mind. Whatever doubts she’d had about being with him were gone and she needed to let him know that.
As Allik finally slowed to a stop in a corridor filled with large, intimidating males, Lucy sensed his unease.
“Bylanthians.” The word left his lips as a curse and Lucy couldn’t blame him. She knew the scars that marked his face were the result of torture at the hands of one of their generals. “Stay close to me.”
“Okay,” Lucy squeaked. With tension thick in the air, she had no intention of wandering away from the one man other than Taryn she could rely on to protect her.
As they began to move between the two rows of intensely scary-looking men, Lucy gripped the back of Allik’s tunic. He turned and looked at her in surprise, but didn’t ask her to let go. Lucy could feel the waves of hostility rolling off the men who were now closing in behind them. Allik’s barely leashed anger was palpable and Lucy feared getting caught up in a fight.
“Allik!” A female voice drifted over the sounds of masculine growls.
Lucy looked around as a Taar-Breckian woman approached. To her surprise, the Bylanthian men stepped back, allowing her through. They looked utterly transfixed by her and it was no wonder. The woman was tall and slender with beautiful white-blonde hair and the most incredible eyes. Allik greeted her as a friend, embracing her tightly.
“Kyree, it is good to see you.” Allik pulled back from the woman. “How is he?”
“He sustained a blow and was rendered temporarily unconscious. There was no real damage done,” Kyree replied. She looked down at Lucy and seemed to be making a quick assessment of her. Then she smiled with appeared to be genuine warmth. “Your mate is not an easy man to kill.”
“It was an assassination attempt, then?” Allik asked before Lucy could respond.
“You are the investigator, not I,” Kyree replied as she led them along a quieter part of the corridor, leaving the Bylanthian males behind. “But, if you ask me, Lieutenant Duff being at the site of two explosions in less than a month cannot be coincidence.”
Lucy felt the blood drain from her face at the thought of someone deliberately trying to harm Taryn.
“Then why are they here?” Allik gestured toward the Bylanthians who he clearly blamed for the attacks.
“Some of them are injured but most are here because their leaders are.”
“And what are they doing here?”
“You’ll see in a moment,” Kyree told him. She paused at the final door in the long corridor. “Now, Taryn’s in here with the Bylanthian leaders but I must warn you to behave. There is another casualty in the room.”
“Who?” Allik demanded.
“A friend of yours,” Kyree addressed Lucy. “Charlotte Calder. She is quite seriously injured, I’m afraid.”
Too stunned to ask what Charlotte had been doing on the same ship as Taryn, Lucy just nodded and stepped through the door which Kyree held open for them. As she entered the room, with Allik close behind, she was struck by the presence of a number of extremely large males. If Allik hadn’t pushed her further into the room so he could close the door, she might have turned and fled. Four of the men were crowded around the bed, but Taryn was sitting by the window. He rose to his feet when he saw Lucy and they shared a lingering gaze. Seeming to understand that she needed to see her friend first, he nodded toward the bed, and stayed where he was. Mustering her courage, she pushed past the Bylanthian men.
“Hi, Lottie.” She tried to sound cheerful as she reached the bed and took hold of her hand. She swallowed hard as she took in the bruises on the pretty redhead’s face and the hair matted with blood at the top of her head. “What have you been up to this time?”
“Why do you speak to her that way?” one of the men asked miserably. “She cannot hear you.”
“Of course she can,” Lucy retorted, “and who the hell are you anyway?”
“We could ask the same of you.”
“I’m Charlotte’s friend, Lucy. I’m also Taryn’s mate.”
Her eyes met with his and she saw them fill with warmth. He came immediately to her side, edging past the other men to rest a hand on her shoulder and she got the feeling he’d been dying to claim her since she walked into the room.
“These are Charlotte’s mates, pet.”
Lucy’s jaw dropped as she stared at the enormous aliens.
“What? All of them?”
“Yes.” Taryn waved a hand at each of the men. “Jax, Ren, Daen, and Marc.”
“Fuck me!” The words slipped from Lucy’s mouth and she heard an amused chuckle from behind her. She looked back to her friend, lying pale and helpless in the bed. “You have been busy, Lottie. I can barely cope with one overbearing brute, never mind four.”
She sank down onto the space on the bed next to Lottie’s legs. Aware that all eyes were on her, she started to feel as though she couldn’t breathe. If she was feeling crowded, how must it be for her poor friend? Knowing she had to take control, she inhaled deeply to steady her nerves.
“Okay, everyone, listen to me. There are far too many people in here. You need to leave and take turns sitting with her.”
“We cannot leave her. We need to be here when she takes her last breath,” the one Taryn had introduced as Daen said.
“She’s not going to die,” Lucy snapped and then quickly composed herself. “She’s unconscious, that’s all. What did the doctor tell you?”
“The medic fears the worst. There is swelling in her brain.” This came from Marc.
Lucy wished Victoria was here. Her friend knew a lot more about this medical stuff than she did, and she was better at making herself heard. Lucy was certain she was right about Lottie needing space to breathe and she was sure it was important that nothing but positive things were said around her.
“There has been no response for her for more than five hours,” Ren added. “It can only be a matter of time.”
“Five hours and you lot are ready to hold a wake!” Lucy shook her head, despairing at their gloomy outlook. “There are stories of people who’ve been unconscious for weeks, months, years even and they’ve woken up just fine. Humans are more resilient than you give us credit for.”
She watched as the men exchanged glances, obviously trying to work out if she knew what she was talking about. The looks of relief that formed on their faces suggested they’d decided to trust what she was saying.
“Now, if you want to help Lottie, get some air in this room and take turns sitting with her. Buy some flowers to brighten the place up and no more negative energy,” Lucy suggested. “Be happy to see her. Make plans for your future together. Tell her some stories from battles you’ve been in. She’ll like that. Oh, and someone find a hairbrush ‘cause she looks a mess and Lottie’s always been fussy about her hair.”
“I can’t see how making her look pretty will help,” Jax said.
“It can’t hurt.” Lucy gritted her teeth. “Now, shoo out of here, the lot of you, and give me a minute to gossip with my friend. She’ll still be here when you get back, won’t you, Lottie?”
She stared the men down until, one by one, they filed from the room.
“I will wait for you outside,” Taryn told her as he and Allik also left the room.
Alone at last, Lucy blew out the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding and turned back to her friend.
“Well, Lottie, you’d better wake up soon,” she said with a sigh, “because I don’t think those men of yours are going to be too pleased with me if I gave them false hope.”
She sat with Lottie and chatted about anything and everything that came to mind, determined that something would get through. Despite what she’d told Lottie’s mates, she did fear that the longer Lottie was unconscious, the harder it would be for her to find her way back. When Jax returned to the room just a few minutes later, she took it as her cue to leave. As she rose, he thrust a hairbrush toward her.
“You want me to brush her hair?” Lucy asked.
The gigantic Bylanthian warrior narrowed his dark eyes at her and nodded. Lucy rolled her eyes and took the brush. It seemed these aliens were even less chatty than the Taar-Breckians. She turned and began to run the brush carefully through Lottie’s tangled red hair. She gently teased out the knots, afraid of tugging too harshly and causing her friend pain. With the way Lottie was lying, it was difficult to do much but, eventually, Lucy decided that her friend’s hair looked as good as it was going to get.
She set the brush down on top of the cabinet by the bed and placed a kiss on Lottie’s forehead before turning to leave.
“Thank you.” Jax looked as though he was about to become overwhelmed by his emotions, so she just nodded and hurried to the door. She glanced back and smiled as the overwhelmingly intense warrior pulled a chair close to Lottie’s bedside and sat down. He ran his hand up and down her arm in a demonstration of the affection he obviously felt for her. Feeling as though she was intruding on a private moment, Lucy left them alone.
As she stepped out into the corridor, she was surprised to find it deserted, but for Taryn, who was leaning against the window to her right. He straightened as she approached, and she noticed that he grimaced as he moved.
“You’re hurt,” she remarked.
“Some minor bruises.”
“And your head?” Lucy gestured toward the line of stitches along his brow.
“A scratch.”
It looked like a lot more than that, but Lucy didn’t want to argue over the state of his health. She glanced back over her shoulder, along the empty corridor.
“Where has everyone gone?”
“Jax dismissed his men, but they will remain in Taar-Breck for now.”
“And Allik?” Lucy frowned as she wondered what Allik would think about having the Bylanthian warriors here on his home planet.
“He will learn to cope with their presence,” Taryn said, clearly realizing what was worrying her, “but for now, he’s gone home to Victoria. She will soothe his temper.”
Lucy nodded. Feeling weary all of a sudden, she closed her eyes. Even without the midnight dash to the medical facility and the shock of seeing her friend in such a state, it had been a trying few days. She opened her eyes and was greeted with a look of concern from Taryn. Thinking that he might be hurt had awakened something inside her, a desire to fight for a future with him. She took a deep breath and made a decision.
“We should go home too.” She gave Taryn an expectant look.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
Lucy reached out and took his hand.
“Yes,” she replied with absolute certainty. “I’m sure.”