Page 22 of Benet

Swearing under his breath, Dmitri chased after her. “I don’t think you should come with me if I’m going into an unknown and dangerous situation.”

“Nonsense,” she said over her shoulder as she sprinted. “You might need my help.”

“I’ll go ahead and get the groundcar.” He gave up on arguing with her and ran ahead, using his Badari speed. He was briefly tempted to drive off and leave her behind because he was sure whatever he was walking into wasn’t going to be anything she should see or be involved in but she’d never forgive him and she’d probably try to steal another vehicle, which would cause all kinds of additional complications. He had her limousine initiated and waiting with the door open as she emerged from the garden, skirts hoisted to a scandalous height.

Marushka slid into the seat as if they were bank robbers and pounded the console. “Go, what are you waiting for?”

He accelerated before the door was completely closed.

The athletes’ village was relatively close to the palace and there was hardly any traffic so Dmitri accomplished the drive in record time. He parked neatly in a space next to Benet’s building and shut down the groundcar as Marushka climbed out.

She stopped dead and he rushed around the vehicle to her side. “What is it?”

“Blood,” she said, pointing to a large smear on the wall of the building and more on the door. Hand to her mouth, she whispered. “Oh, Dmitri, what happened here?”

With his excellent Badari senses and night vision, he observed signs of a fight fairly close by and a large pool of blood staining the pavement. He picked up the scent of many men high on adrenaline and aggression, among them Benet’s. Yanking open the portal, he grabbed her by the arm and entered the building in a rush. They took the gravlift to Benet’s floor and Dmitri took note of the fact no one was around. He could detect people behind some of the doors and grimly applauded their good sense in remaining uninvolved. Matters of this sort on Outlier were best left to the authorities, who would tell the populace what to believe later. No good came of getting involved in private hostilities.

He feared Benet had been the target of tonight’s attack, rather than an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He had Benet’s access code and pounded it into the console so hard he thought he might break it. The portal tried to open and jammed halfway. Dmitri smelled the fresh blood and swore in Badari as he forced the panel the rest of the way open, shoving Benet’s body out of the way as it went. He was across the threshold and on his knees next to the gladiator in a heartbeat.

“Is he—is he dead?” Marushka wailed, stepping inside. Heedless of her dress she knelt beside Benet and stretched out her hand to touch him but hesitated, as if afraid to hurt him further.

“No,” Dmitri replied, able to hear the stuttering heartbeat with his Badari ears. “But he’s in a bad way.”

Glancing around wildly, Marushka located the com unit and started to get up. “We have to call the authorities, get him to a hospital?—”

Locking his fingers into a tight bracelet on her wrist, Dmitri stopped her. “That’s the last thing we can do.”

“Are you insane?” She gestured at Benet’s bent, bruised form. “He needs more help than we can give him. Let me go.”

“Think, devochka. If we call anyone Benet will end up dead. Your father had him kidnapped because he believed Benet to be a Badari like me. If this were me and I’d been beaten into this state a few hours ago, I’d already be walking and talking again, with the more minor injuries healed, the bones mending and the major damage well on its way to being fixed. That’s what a Badari body does. I’d be in pain but nothing to speak of for one like me. Benet isn’t Badari and if we call for help, your father will know he isn’t and then?—”

“He’ll have Benet killed,” she said in a monotone, eyes wide. Marushka collapsed into a heap on the floor. “Then there’s no hope for him, is there? I’ll have to watch the man I love die tonight, is this what you’re telling me?”

“We’re going to help him survive this.” Dmitri spoke with more confidence than he actually possessed but surely the goddess wouldn’t have told him what magic his blood carried if it wasn’t going to be sufficient to solve this crisis.

“How?” Her voice was broken and she took one of Benet’s bruised hands in her own, pressing it to her cheek.

“The Great Mother told me my blood was the answer,” Dmitri said. “At the time of the vision I had no idea what the question was going to be but now I know. My blood can save Benet’s life.”

“And how are you going to get this magic substance into him?” She laughed and the sound was verging on hysterical.

“You. You’re going to transfuse him.” Dmitri made his voice cold, no room for doubt.

“I’m not a doctor and we have no equipment for a transfusion. Besides, you and Benet aren’t of the same species. Your blood would be just as likely to kill him.”

Dmitri reached across and gave her a small shake. “You’re a veterinarian, you know the techniques. If I knew how to do this, I would but you’re trained to practice medicine.”

“On animals.”

Jaw set, hard edge to his voice, Dmitri pointed one talon at himself. “The Khagrish scientists said we were animals. Sweetheart, no matter how civilized, humans are nothing but big animals, okay? We’re wasting time Benet doesn’t have. You have to go to the vet facility in the village at the stables and get whatever equipment you need to do the job. I’ll get him to his bed and do what I can to clean up the visible wounds but you have to hurry.”

“And not get caught.” Biting her lip, she stared at him, then gave a curt nod. “All right, it’s an insane idea but obviously there’s nothing else we can do. And I know you trust your goddess.”

“With my life and Benet’s,” Dmitri replied, He gathered Benet’s body carefully, trying not to cause further injury and rose to his feet. For a Badari the weight of even a heavily muscled, tall man like Benet was nothing.

Marushka scrambled to her feet. “All right, I’m going. This late there shouldn’t be anyone else there.”

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