“Hold on, baby,” she whispered, trying her best not to breathe the toxin in. Still it burned and hurt her throat. She could only imagine how much worse it must be on Darling who was trapped on the other side.
Maris helped her tear out the plaster. “We’re not going to make it. He’s probably already dead.”
She refused to believe that.
They had to get to him. The alternative was unacceptable.
She jerked the wires out and started reworking them. “Don’t you dare die on me, Darling Cruel!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “I swear I’ll follow you into hell to beat you if you do!”
It seemed like eternity had come and gone before the doors finally parted. Even so, they only opened an inch, then stopped. Working together, she and Maris continued to tug and push until they pulled them farther apart.
The smoke was so thick, it was hard to see. But as she started forward, her foot grazed something hard. Looking down, she saw Darling sprawled on the floor, just inside the doorway.
As she reached for him, Maris was there. He grabbed Darling by the arms and pulled him free of the room. Then he bent down and picked him up to carry him toward the reception hall.
Coughing, she ran behind them as the guards and firefighters finally came rushing toward them.
None stopped to check on their governor. Or asked about his condition.
Maris laid Darling down on one of the sofas, then pulled the mask off Darling’s face. “Darling?”
His features pale, he didn’t respond. Her heart stopped beating as terror filled her. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead…
Maris placed his hand on Darling’s carotid to feel for a pulse.
Zarya saw the agony in Maris’s dark eyes as he looked up at her.
“We’re too late.”
Darling came awake to the bitterest taste imaginable in his mouth. It was so foul that before he could stop himself, his stomach heaved.
“Right here, sweetie.”
Someone rolled him to his side and held a trash can for him while he purged his body of the toxin. It wasn’t until he was finished that he realized it was Zarya who helped him.
“Leave him on his side for a minute.”
Darling’s vision swam to the point he couldn’t see anything, but he recognized Syn’s voice while someone, Zarya he hoped, stroked his hair with a gentle hand.
“It’s all right, buddy,” Syn said comfortingly from a short distance away. “We’ve got you.”
Darling squeezed his eyes shut. “Where am I?”
“In your room. Can you see anything?” Syn asked.
He shook his head. “Eyes won’t focus.”
“That’s probably not helping your nausea. Hang on.”
Darling hissed as Syn gave him a shot in his hip. “Damn it, warn me before you hit the trigger!”
But at least it didn’t take long for the drug to settle his stomach.
Syn gripped his shoulder. “All right, we’re going to roll you back. Slowly.”
As they turned him, the room spun so badly, Darling had to close his eyes to keep from being sick again. Once he was flat on his back, he let out a long breath as he tried to will his eyes to normal.
It was useless. They continued to violently shake and disorient him.
“What happened?” Darling asked.
Syn’s voice was a fierce growl. “Some asshole launched a rocket full of Fledon into your office.”
Darling slowly remembered the details of the attack as Zarya took his hand into hers. “I was locked in.”
“Yeah,” Hauk said irritably from Darling’s blind side. “We know. You’re lucky your girlfriend’s trained. She saved your ass, boy. You owe her.”
Darling tightened his hand around Zarya’s. That was the one thing about her, in a fight, she was always levelheaded and resourceful. “Thank you.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “Anytime, sweetie.”
Darling opened his mouth to speak, then went into a horrible round of coughing.
Zarya let go of his hand as he struggled to expel all the poison out of his body. In between the coughs, he cursed at the pain it caused him. She hated seeing him like this. But she was so grateful she’d been able to resuscitate him that his coughing was music to her ears.
Syn put the oxygen mask back over his face. “Just breathe. Slow and easy.”
Darling went completely limp.
As she panicked in concern for Darling, Syn held his hand up to her. “It’s all right. I knocked him out again. He doesn’t need to be coughing like that right now. He’s likely to do more damage.”
Hauk glared from his post on the opposite side of the room. “I want the balls of the cowardly bastard responsible for this.”
“You?” Zarya asked, meeting his bloodlust head on. “I want them for earrings.”
The Andarion smiled at her. “I really like you.”
“Thanks.” But her smile faded as she met Syn’s grimace. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just wondering which of us is going to be the one to tell Darling that you’re the reason he was attacked.”