Inversion Point by Jenn Burke & Kelly Jensen

Author:Jenn Burke & Kelly Jensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Zed leaned his forehead on the window of the intensive care unit room. A few feet beyond, Flick lay motionless, his form dwarfed by the machines hovering over him—lines carrying fluids, sensors to monitor each one of his systems, a separate apparatus to protect and cushion the stump of his left arm. Someone—a doctor or maybe a nurse—had told Zed it was smaller now after surgery, trimmed back almost to his shoulder.

The thought turned Zed’s stomach. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes.

He knew the footsteps approaching belonged to Elias. Nessa’s were lighter, Qek’s lighter still, and Theo—well, Theo probably wouldn’t be coming near him anytime soon.

“How’s he doing?” Elias asked softly, reaching Zed’s side.

“Same. Unconscious. They don’t think there was any permanent damage from the blood loss, nothing they can see on scans, anyway.”

The trauma and hypovolemic shock had caused Flick’s body to shut down the systems that weren’t essential to try to keep him alive. Getting him back was not going to be a quick or easy process, and it might fail altogether. No matter how advanced medical techniques got, sometimes nothing could reach a patient. Everything was in place to help Flick recover. He should recover. But he might not.

Don’t go there.

“What about the poison?”

Zed clenched his teeth at the memory of Harrar’s claws sinking into Flick’s flesh. The scream that followed. “Bleeding as much as he did probably saved his life. Stupid as it sounds.”

“They used to do that in the old days, if you were bitten by a poisonous snake. Bleed it, not...” Elias waved a hand at the window.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Tension rode the single-syllable word, more than Zed thought possible. He looked at his friend and captain, only to find Elias’s gaze directed through the window, his jaw tight, his brow furrowed.

“What?” Zed prompted.

Elias stared at Flick. “I keep thinking...things were good a year ago.”

Before Zed had hired the Chaos for a job. Before he and Flick had reunited.

“Things were good,” Elias repeated. “Maybe a little boring, but goddamn it, I would take that over this.” His voice broke on the last word.

Zed turned away to watch Flick’s unmoving form, unable to continue looking at Elias. “You trying to tell me something?” he managed, his voice rough.

“Part of me wants to go, fuck yeah, we’re making a difference. But most of me...most of me, right now, wishes I’d told you and your wallet of creds to fuck off.”

Zed sucked in air, but it couldn’t make it past the invisible knife Elias had just stabbed him with.

“The shit he’s gone through. Because of you—”

A nurse rose from behind the desk down the hall. “Mr. Anatolius, you can go in.”

He gave her a nod, then looked at Elias, hesitating. He wanted to deny Elias the chance to spend time with Flick—after what he’d just said...but he couldn’t. God, the words hurt—because they were true. Zed was man enough to admit that. Hadn’t he thought the same, months ago, when he and Flick had first found each other again? He’d been bad news then, and now?

Now, clearly, he was worse news.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.