He followed the locator past them, out into the courtyard where bodies lay all around. This was where they were identifying and storing the dead until they could be transported to a morgue.
Pain and guilt rose up to choke him. Darling was his best friend. The one person he could always rely on whenever he needed anything. They’d been through hell together more times than he could even begin to count.
How could Darling be dead?
The dot started moving. For a second, hope flared. They’re just moving his body to a new spot. It was the most likely explanation.
Heartsick, he closed the distance to where the largest groups of bodies were piled. The sight sickened him. Darling was here somewhere.
“ ’Bout time you got off your lazy ass and made it.”
For two seconds he couldn’t breathe as he heard that refined accent that spoke his language and syntax. A dichotomy fitting only one aristocrat he knew.
Darling.
He saw the dark shadow leaning against the wall. In full Sentella gear, there was nothing on the outside to betray Darling’s identity.
“Your voice distorter’s broken.”
“I know. It’s why I haven’t said anything while the Enforcers have hovered near me. I doubt they’d ID me, but not worth the risk.”
Caillen scanned the bodies around them. “What happened?”
“The Qill queen is a fucking idiot.”
He gaped at a word he’d never heard Darling use before. “Someone’s a little pissed.”
“Someone’s a lot pissed and bleeding all over himself.” That was the good and the bad about Sentella uniforms. They were designed to hide injuries. The only person who knew the wearer was wounded was the wearer. It was also what led to the rumor that the Sentella members were immortal and invincible.
“You need a doctor?”
“Yeah. Know one who can treat me without removing my helmet?”
There was that. Since thy were wanted outlaws, exposing their real identities was a moron’s move. “Hauk’s with me.”
“Too bad Syn isn’t.” Syn had once been a doctor. But while Hauk had no official training, he was as good as most of the medics Caillen had dealt with.
Caillen urged him toward a bench. “You need to sit.”
Darling balked and moved away from him. “Hell no. I don’t want any of the yahoos to think I’m injured. They’d be all over me.” To collect the massive bounty on his head.
That was something Caillen could definitely understand. “C’mon, I’ll walk you out to him.”
Darling scoffed. “You’ve got nerve being here uncovered. They still think you killed your father.”
“Yeah, but they’re not paying attention to me.”
“All it takes is one and you’re screwed. No offense, I’m over my stupid quota for the day and I really can’t take another battle right now, so I’ll just stand here bleeding until Hauk makes it to me.”
“Your call.” Caillen’s gaze paused on the number of soldiers who’d gone down with obvious human wounds. “How much of this was you?”
“Most of it. The Enforcers have no idea what happened. Yet. The bomb Karissa set off took out about half the palace staff, hence the bodies around us. The moment she heard Sarra was coming for her, she had her daughter declare war on the Qills and they called in every trooper they could get. I give Sarra credit, she and her people cut through them in a way a League assassin team would envy.”
“How many did you take out?”
“Not enough, hence my wounds.”
He let out a “heh” sound at Darling’s droll tone. “Where are the women now?”
“That’s where it gets interesting.”
“Interesting how?”
“I was side by side with four members of the queen’s Guard when the bitches turned on me.”
Caillen scowled, not sure he’d heard that correctly. “What?”
He nodded. “They killed the three members who were on the queen’s side, then captured Sarra before she realized what was happening. As they were making their way out the back and scrambling for cover, I knew exactly what Karissa had planned—to kill all of us and buy herself time to escape. I tossed Maris out the doors and tried to save the men who were wounded.”
“Of all people, you know how explosives work. You don’t run toward them, buddy.”
“Yeah and I knew your father’s office would be shielded. The same thing that keeps a bomb from blowing it up on the outside also works for containing a blast when it occurs inside.”
True, but Caillen didn’t like his friend committing suicide either. “Why didn’t you get out before the blast?”
“He pulled out six men and saved their lives.”
Caillen turned to see Hauk joining them.
“I found one of the rescuees on my way here and he told me he owed his life to the Sentella.” Hauk shook his head at Darling. “How wounded are you?”
“Enough that it hurts to breathe. But I’ve had worse.” Darling turned his attention back to their conversation. “I have no idea where the women went. But I give them an A+ on Chaos Theory. They covered their tracks well. No one’s going to be hunting them for a while.”
Caillen let out a tired breath. Was this ever going to end?