[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
but for the angry words pouring loudly from his mouth. The runt escapes a whole shitload
of bloodthirsty pirates, a whirlpool of hungry sharks and the entire god damn ocean that tries
to drown him and then an asshole like Barlow blows him in the back. Stupid little ... idiot ...
brainless ... pirate!
Rice turned to Webb. Get him out of here. She spared a glance for the distraught
hunter and reassured him, I ll take over from here. He ll get the best of care, but you re in
the way right now. She looked at Marius and then back to Talos. Both of you. Rice jerked
her head toward the exit. Take a walk. Dismissing the men with one final look, the doctor
turned back to her patient and began to intubate him, watching the rapid heart rhythm on
the monitor as she worked.
Details of the Hunt 137
Webb nodded and pulled Talos from the bedside, guiding the reluctant hunter away
from his lover and out into the corridor. The sick bay doors closed on the new and
frightening sound of equipment alarms chiming urgently.
Feeling the hunter tense, Marius increased the strength of his grip and said, She s an
outstanding doctor. He s got a good chance.
Chance? Talos shook his head and numbly murmured, I took away any chance he
had the minute I brought him here. Just like Bakus. One more life ruined because I brought
them into my world.
Bakus knew the risks, Marius scoffed. Your brother wanted to be a hunter, just like
you. You re not responsible for his death, no matter what you think. He pointed at the
closed sick bay door. And you re not responsible for Aidan s either. You didn t shoot him.
It doesn t matter. Talos turned his back to his friend and leaned one meaty fist on the
wall to support his weight as he hung his head to study the scuff patterns on the corridor
flooring. I should never had brought him here. He walked right into that attack. He heaved
back slightly and punched the wall under his fist. He didn t even know that Barlow still had
a weapon on him. It was just a little metal box to him, with bright shiny lights. He hit the
wall again, this time leaving a small divot in the metal surface. He ll die here, if not this
time, then the next time he s faced with a situation he can t recognize as deadly because he s
seven hundred years behind the times. Talos slammed his hand against the wall so hard it
crushed the surface leaving a crumpled crater in the shape of his fisted knuckles behind.
Talos turned around and looked at the silent, patiently waiting commander and friend.
He sighed and said, Council voided Barlow s hunt today. I claimed Aidan, as my own, as my
mate, but now, he walked over and stood in front of the closed entrance to the sick bay
where people were fighting to save his lover s young life and rested his open palm on the
smooth, cold surface of the door. Now, I don t know if I had the right. Am I being selfish to
force him to live in this world, this here and now, with me? He slowly pulled his hand off
the door and turned to look at Marius, arms gesturing at the world around them. Danger is a
part of my everyday life, Marius, that won t change. And he ll be as unprepared for the next
set of dangers as he was this time.
Then let the council handle this, Unable to answer such a personal question, Marius
tried to console his friend. Is relocation so bad?
Talos closed his eyes, remaining silent.
Marius frowned at the hunter s reaction and pressed, Where do they send him? A
frozen tundra? A lava colony?
Opening his eyes, Talos released the breath he had been holding. He looked around the
empty corridor and scented the air to make sure no one was near enough to overhear them
and whispered. A stasis chamber. He dropped his arms uselessly to his sides and turned
back to stare at the closed door again.
138 Laura Baumbach
Stunned, Marius moved nearer to the hunter and leaned in close to him to whisper
back. What?
Resting his forehead against he metal, Talos tried unsuccessfully to hear through the
thick, bulkhead type doors. A stasis chamber! It was still a whisper, but a growled one. He
rushed through an explanation, spitting out the words like they were dirt in his mouth.
Relocation means they drug him and they pack him into a stasis tube and they seal him in a
chamber room under the council hall. Forever.
Leaning his back against the sick bay wall so he could see Talos s face, Marius
countered, You re not serious.
I am. Talos raised his head and his deep violet eyes pinned Marius in place for a
moment before drifting back to stare at the door. It s considered painless and humane. He
gave a mirthless grunt. After all, they re not really dead. He shook his head. Except that
over time, the neural pathways degenerate and brain activity stops, even in stasis.
Then what? Marius demanded.
Giving the curious commander a frustrated glare, Talos explained, When no neural
energy is detected, the bodies are reduced to ash and disposed of. Nice and tidy. They re
relocated all right. He lightly punched the door, making a dull thud echo through the
corridor. Right into the land of the dead.
Talos snorted in frustration and pounded the wall again, harder, leaving a second dent.
Those are the two choices I can give him if he lives, certain death or life-threatening danger
from places he ll never suspect on a daily basis for the rest of his life as my mate. He pushed
away from the wall and Marius, mockingly adding, Ain t love grand?
He stalked off to a shadowed corner of the hallway where he pushed his back against a
wall and silently faced the world, waiting to hear the fate of his beloved pirate.
* * * * *
An hour had passed before the door to the sick bay opened and a nurse motioned for
Talos and Marius to come back in. Talos charged past the woman and moved to his lover s
side, taking the pirate s small fingers into his own massive paw, gripping them tightly,
careful not to dislodge any of the wires and tubes.
Now on his injured back, the wound protected by a gelatinous pad full of nutrients and
antibiotics for absorption through the skin, Maymon lay still and silent for the first time in
days. Numerous machines were connected to the young man, one trying to assist his
breathing, one monitoring his heart and vital signs, while others analyzed his blood and
pumped him full of medications to heal and sedate him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
but for the angry words pouring loudly from his mouth. The runt escapes a whole shitload
of bloodthirsty pirates, a whirlpool of hungry sharks and the entire god damn ocean that tries
to drown him and then an asshole like Barlow blows him in the back. Stupid little ... idiot ...
brainless ... pirate!
Rice turned to Webb. Get him out of here. She spared a glance for the distraught
hunter and reassured him, I ll take over from here. He ll get the best of care, but you re in
the way right now. She looked at Marius and then back to Talos. Both of you. Rice jerked
her head toward the exit. Take a walk. Dismissing the men with one final look, the doctor
turned back to her patient and began to intubate him, watching the rapid heart rhythm on
the monitor as she worked.
Details of the Hunt 137
Webb nodded and pulled Talos from the bedside, guiding the reluctant hunter away
from his lover and out into the corridor. The sick bay doors closed on the new and
frightening sound of equipment alarms chiming urgently.
Feeling the hunter tense, Marius increased the strength of his grip and said, She s an
outstanding doctor. He s got a good chance.
Chance? Talos shook his head and numbly murmured, I took away any chance he
had the minute I brought him here. Just like Bakus. One more life ruined because I brought
them into my world.
Bakus knew the risks, Marius scoffed. Your brother wanted to be a hunter, just like
you. You re not responsible for his death, no matter what you think. He pointed at the
closed sick bay door. And you re not responsible for Aidan s either. You didn t shoot him.
It doesn t matter. Talos turned his back to his friend and leaned one meaty fist on the
wall to support his weight as he hung his head to study the scuff patterns on the corridor
flooring. I should never had brought him here. He walked right into that attack. He heaved
back slightly and punched the wall under his fist. He didn t even know that Barlow still had
a weapon on him. It was just a little metal box to him, with bright shiny lights. He hit the
wall again, this time leaving a small divot in the metal surface. He ll die here, if not this
time, then the next time he s faced with a situation he can t recognize as deadly because he s
seven hundred years behind the times. Talos slammed his hand against the wall so hard it
crushed the surface leaving a crumpled crater in the shape of his fisted knuckles behind.
Talos turned around and looked at the silent, patiently waiting commander and friend.
He sighed and said, Council voided Barlow s hunt today. I claimed Aidan, as my own, as my
mate, but now, he walked over and stood in front of the closed entrance to the sick bay
where people were fighting to save his lover s young life and rested his open palm on the
smooth, cold surface of the door. Now, I don t know if I had the right. Am I being selfish to
force him to live in this world, this here and now, with me? He slowly pulled his hand off
the door and turned to look at Marius, arms gesturing at the world around them. Danger is a
part of my everyday life, Marius, that won t change. And he ll be as unprepared for the next
set of dangers as he was this time.
Then let the council handle this, Unable to answer such a personal question, Marius
tried to console his friend. Is relocation so bad?
Talos closed his eyes, remaining silent.
Marius frowned at the hunter s reaction and pressed, Where do they send him? A
frozen tundra? A lava colony?
Opening his eyes, Talos released the breath he had been holding. He looked around the
empty corridor and scented the air to make sure no one was near enough to overhear them
and whispered. A stasis chamber. He dropped his arms uselessly to his sides and turned
back to stare at the closed door again.
138 Laura Baumbach
Stunned, Marius moved nearer to the hunter and leaned in close to him to whisper
back. What?
Resting his forehead against he metal, Talos tried unsuccessfully to hear through the
thick, bulkhead type doors. A stasis chamber! It was still a whisper, but a growled one. He
rushed through an explanation, spitting out the words like they were dirt in his mouth.
Relocation means they drug him and they pack him into a stasis tube and they seal him in a
chamber room under the council hall. Forever.
Leaning his back against the sick bay wall so he could see Talos s face, Marius
countered, You re not serious.
I am. Talos raised his head and his deep violet eyes pinned Marius in place for a
moment before drifting back to stare at the door. It s considered painless and humane. He
gave a mirthless grunt. After all, they re not really dead. He shook his head. Except that
over time, the neural pathways degenerate and brain activity stops, even in stasis.
Then what? Marius demanded.
Giving the curious commander a frustrated glare, Talos explained, When no neural
energy is detected, the bodies are reduced to ash and disposed of. Nice and tidy. They re
relocated all right. He lightly punched the door, making a dull thud echo through the
corridor. Right into the land of the dead.
Talos snorted in frustration and pounded the wall again, harder, leaving a second dent.
Those are the two choices I can give him if he lives, certain death or life-threatening danger
from places he ll never suspect on a daily basis for the rest of his life as my mate. He pushed
away from the wall and Marius, mockingly adding, Ain t love grand?
He stalked off to a shadowed corner of the hallway where he pushed his back against a
wall and silently faced the world, waiting to hear the fate of his beloved pirate.
* * * * *
An hour had passed before the door to the sick bay opened and a nurse motioned for
Talos and Marius to come back in. Talos charged past the woman and moved to his lover s
side, taking the pirate s small fingers into his own massive paw, gripping them tightly,
careful not to dislodge any of the wires and tubes.
Now on his injured back, the wound protected by a gelatinous pad full of nutrients and
antibiotics for absorption through the skin, Maymon lay still and silent for the first time in
days. Numerous machines were connected to the young man, one trying to assist his
breathing, one monitoring his heart and vital signs, while others analyzed his blood and
pumped him full of medications to heal and sedate him. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]