Vengeance (23 page)

She told me that her
name is Vanata.  That is all she told me.  I suspect that
Donan informed her that it is in her best interest not to divulge any
further details.  

I take a deep breath
and squeeze the edge of my bed, determined to make it fully upright
this time.  My arms quiver and my stomach rolls but I push until
I succeed.  I press the back of my hand against my lips to still
the bile rising much too quickly for me to control.  I close my
eyes and wait for the nausea to fade.  

“I figured it
was only a matter of time until you disobeyed Donan’s orders,”
Hyde calls out.  

I open my eyes to
see him lounging against the wall.  I never heard him approach,
of course I was a tiny bit preoccupied with trying not to throw up
all over myself.  “Come to take a few jabs at the wounded
girl?”

Hyde’s jaw
clenches but he forces a laugh, shaking his head.  “Haven’t
lost that whiplash tongue, I see.  Gotta give you props for
that.  Nearly lost you on that operating table and here you are
less than a day later trying to kill yourself.  A fellow might
wonder why.”

I glare at him,
fighting to make both figures of Hyde comes back into focus.  “You
know why.”

He scratches his
jaw.  “Yeah, I figure I do.  The question is, what
would Eamon think about all of this?”

I sneer up at him.
 “Leave my husband out of this.”

“Hey,”
he raises his hands in defense, “I’m not the one poking
accusations here, Queeny.  That guilt you got rolling around in
that pretty little head of yours is all your own doing.”

“Bastien saved
my life,” I snap.  My fingers curl so tightly around the
edge of the cot to remain upright that they turn white.  “I
owe him.”

“Sure.”
 He nods, pursing his lips.  “We’ll let you
live in denial for a bit longer if that makes you happy.”

I
roll my eyes and hang my head.  The throbbing in my head is far
worse than earlier when I attempted to rise. A sheen of sweat trails
across my forehead.  The floor rises up to meet me and I clench
my eyes tightly shut.  “Where am I?”

Hyde tsks and moves
the crate in front of me.  “Already told you.  I’m
not a snitch.  I don’t rat out friends.”

“You
brought me here.”  I lift my head, feeling as if my collar
has doubled in size and weight upon my shoulders.  “You
did that.  Not me.  You could have just as easily left me
behind but you saved my hide twice now.  You know what that
tells me?”

Hyde frowns.  “Go
on.  Humor me.”

I smile through the
thick strands of hair that fall over my face.  “I think
you like me.”

He snorts and
crosses his arms over his chest.  “The way I see it there
isn’t too much about you that I do like, sweet cheeks.”

My lip curls into a
knowing smile.  “You keep telling yourself that.”

Hyde’s dark
gaze narrows and he leans in close, near enough that I can smell the
sweat on his brow.  The air is cool in this room.  Far too
cool for him to be sweating.  He must have just come from
outside.  “I know what you’re doing and it’s
not going to work.  Donan’s orders are law around these
parts.  I intend to follow them, no matter how charming you may
think you are.”

He gives me a once
over and I notice that his gaze lingers on my chest longer than it
should.  I grin, knowing that I am right.  He may not like
me, not in the traditional sense of enjoying someone’s company,
but he does like what he sees. Maybe someday I’ll be able to
use that to my advantage.

When he catches me
watching he snorts and shakes his head.  “Natasha was
right about you.  I figured losing her brother did all sorts of
wild and crazy things in that girl’s head.  You should
have seen her spitting like a wildcat when they brought you into our
holding cell on that slave ship.”  He whistles long and
low.  “It’s a good thing she was chained up cause I
think you’re probably pretty attached to that nose of yours.”

I lean in toward
him, watching as his haughty gaze falters.  Inwardly I smile.
 “I guess I’ll just have to watch my back.”

Hyde smirks and
rises.  I lean back, pressing against the wall for support.  He
replaces the crate and turns back, his cocky smile firmly in place.
 “You just let me know if you ever need someone to watch
that backside of yours.  I’ll volunteer, being as we’re
friends now and all.”

I collapse back onto
my cot.  As exhaustion tugs me under I know that Hyde meant more
by his words than an idle flirt. He will be watching me.  Of
that I am sure.

A chill sweeps over
me sometime in the night.  The thin blanket Vanata brought
earlier in the evening, along with some food and water that I
couldn’t force myself to eat, does little to protect me from
it.  Goosebumps rise along my arms and my teeth chatter with
such intensity that I fear for the safety of my tongue.  The
tips of my fingers ache from clenching the edge of my cot.

Where
the heck am I?
I wonder, knowing that even when I had Bastien’s body heat
pressed against me I never felt this cold.  I clench my eyes
shut and try to focus on keeping my jaw locked.  My thoughts are
fragmented, like leaves strewn across a pond, each one floating on a
different path and varying speed.

I have no idea what
time it is.  My exhaustion is so complete that it doesn’t
really matter if the light is on or not.  Nor do I have a solid
understanding of just how long I have been stuck here.  Was it
only yesterday that I last matched wits with Hyde?  A part of me
doesn’t think so.  It seems like far more time has passed.
 Sleep seems to steal me away at a moment’s notice only
for me to wake and realize that I’m still confined to this darn
bed.

Although it is only
a hazy memory, I seem to remember Hyde coming to sit with me again at
some point.  He didn’t speak and he didn't come near.  He
just sat there, staring at the wall.  After our last
conversation I don’t blame him for not really wanting to speak
to me.  There is a definite air of awkwardness around him now.  

I
really was only joking about him liking me
,
I think as I tuck the blanket under my chin, attempting to seal up
any small spaces that might be allowing the cold in. A bump rises
around my abdomen. I press my hand there, wondering how far along I
really am.

From time to time I
hear voices in the hall beyond and realize that it must be day.
 Nighttime around here is usually pretty quiet.  I hear the
pounding of boots against stone echoing all around me.  At my
best guess I would say that I’m in some sort of military base
that has been set up inside a cave system, though from what little I
saw of the landscape I don’t know where this place could be.
 Between the swamps and stagnant marshland spreading along the
horizon there is hardly a decent place to burrow into the landscape.

What
if I’m no longer on the same planet?  What if Hyde had a
way off and I’ve truly left Bastien behind?  
I
shake my head.  
No.
 Donan said they were scouting the area for him.  That
means we are still here, but where the heck is here?

No one has answered
any of my questions since I arrived and I haven’t been strong
enough to force them to.  For many hours, possibly even days, I
have wondered what lies beyond the far wall where everyone disappears
after they check on me.  Does that space open into a series of
tunnels that run under the swamps?  Maybe it is only a small
space, barely large enough to house the men staying here?

I hear the familiar
clatter of metal of my food tray and open my eyes to see Vanata
approaching.  Even in the dim lighting her eyes seem to glow
from within, swirling like the sands of time.  I find her gaze
to be mesmerizing.  I can’t imagine how any man could look
into her eyes and not be affected by her.

She sets the tray
down on a low table beside me and sinks to her knees.  Her brow
furrows with concern as she places a hand on my forehead.  “You
burn with fever.”

“And here I
was going to complain about someone leaving a window open.”
 The feel of her hand against my forehead is soothing. I soak in
the warmth despite knowing that internally I am on fire.

“Hyde!”
She shouts over her shoulder.  He comes at a run, panting
slightly.  When he turns the corner his gaze instantly goes to
me instead of her.  “Help me strip her down.”

“Wait!  What?”
 His eyes widen, and if I didn’t feel so utterly miserable
I would laugh at his confusion.  

“We have to
get her temperature down and we don’t exactly have a supply of
ice in this place.  All we can do is remove her clothing and try
to sponge bathe her.”

His adam’s
apple bobs as his gaze swivels to meet Vanata’s.  “Make
Natasha do it.”

I bark out a laugh
and erupt into a coughing fit that feels like shards of glass
burrowing into my throat.  My body aches as I clench, clutching
my stomach until the spasms ease and I lay back, exhausted.  Hyde
shifts from foot to foot.  “Didn’t take you to be
such a prude,” I goad, my head lolling to the side.  I try
to look at him, to see around the fog that has settled over my eyes
but all I can make out is a hazy figure in black.  

I don’t have
to see him to know that he has bristled at my statement.  “Natasha
has more medical training than I do.”

Vanata rises and
begins rummaging through some items on the table beside my forgotten
food tray.  “It is not her training that I need.  You
are going to have to hold her down.  The infection has begun to
spread.”

Hyde’s grabs
onto Vanata and turns her.  “You can’t do that to
her.”

She sighs and slowly
pries his grip off her arm.  “I may not have a choice.  If
we can’t get her fever under control it will be too late.”

I blink as Hyde
sinks down beside me.  Up close I can see his concern.  “You
alright, Queeny?”

“Is that
concern I hear?” I offer him a weak smile.

His hand falls over
my arm, shielded by the thin layer of blanket that covers me.  “I
promise not to look too long.”

“Might as well
enjoy it while you can.  It’s the only chance you’ll
ever get.” I groan as another wave of fever chills ripple
through me.  My legs ache so badly tears spring to my eyes.  His
grip on my arm tightens.  Slowly the shivers pass and I open my
eyes again to find him watching me.  

“You’ve
got a twisted sense of humor, you know that?”  He shakes
his head in amusement.  

“Yep.  Been
told that a time or two.”  I watch as Vanata nods at Hyde.
 His expressions tightens and I can see an apology in his eyes
as he draws the blanket back from me and begins unbuckling the sides
of my top.

I resurface from
time to time, mostly in a less than lucid state.  I see images
in my mind of people that I have known and loved.  Others feel
familiar but I can’t remember a time when I have met them.
 They surround me, giving me warmth and healing life.  I
nearly weep when I see Eamon and Bastien on either side of my bed.
 They look happy, content, but there is something off about them
though.  A strange ripple of color surrounds them.  Bastien
kneels beside me, his aura a deep pulsating sapphire as he draws my
hand up to his lips to kiss it.  Eamon remains standing, his
smile warm but his image begins to blur into something dark and
wispy.

I reach out for him,
calling him to me but nothingness floods in, frigid and terrifying.
 I gasp for breath and bolt upright.  One of my hands
clutches my chest and the other feels the familiar canvas texture of
my cot.  I blink several times, forcing the shadowy images to
fade from sight.  

Feeling unsettled, I
begin focusing on the details of the room to bring myself back to
reality.  I stare long and hard at the table beside my bed.
 Across the top I see a row of medical tools, each polished
silver and laid out in a jumbled disarray.  My food tray has
been knocked off onto the floor.  The bread looks stale, hinting
at a potential growth of new mold.  It looks as if someone made
an attempt to mop up the soup that spilled but the trace amounts that
remain behind have congealed.

The large stack of
towels that once stood on the end of the long table are gone.  I
look up from the floor to see that the medicine cabinet door hangs
open.  I realize with a start that what had once been a very
stocked and highly organized array has been scattered about.  Bottles
are overturned.  Bandages have been strung about, fallen over
and rolled along the floor.  My gaze trails down the front of
the cabinet and I spy a boot print.

Squinting,
I learn forward, wincing at the stabbing pain in my lower left leg
but I need to see. Yes, there on the floor is a distinct boot print
visible in a small pool of blood.

Oh
god!  Have we been attacked?
I glance around me, feeling woozy with pain but I fight to ignore it.
 
Should
I call out?  Should I pretend to be asleep again?

Surely if the Duturi
had come for me I would not be here now.  Maybe some of Drach’s
men discovered us and the battle is still waging.

Another stabbing
pain in my leg forces me to acknowledge it.  I reach down to
massage just below my knee where the piece of metal broke off in my
leg and turn my gaze toward the hall when I think I hear a noise.  My
hand presses against the blanket.  I frown, straining to hear
another sound but nothing comes again. I clench my fingers and grasp
only a handful of blanket.

A trembling begins
in my fingers as dawning horror falls over me.  I slowly turn to
look at my leg and a pained whimper escapes my lips.  The lower
half of my left leg is gone.  No, not gone.  It has been
cut away just below my knee.

The lantern nearby
flickers, casting shadows dancing on the wall.  I throw my head
back and a scream bursts from my throat, loud and shrieking. I’m
barely aware of the pounding of footsteps from beyond my room until
Hyde is at my side.  His hands are on my shoulders, shaking me.
 I don’t look at him.  All I can do is stare at my
leg.