Page 46 of May the Stars Have Mercy
Aphrodite shrieked in surprise as she was tackled by the Council woman and by a guard sent to seize her. She wheezed, desperately clawing against the woman’s face. Buddy dropped in between them and flashed his lights. Unfortunately, all it did was piss her off more. The Council woman punched Aphrodite square in the face. Her vision spun as Aphrodite fought a twirling pair of semi-translucent Council women. She slapped weakly. Gnashing teeth clacked at her. Aphrodite pressed her forearm against the woman's neck, keeping the teeth from her face. Fingernails tore through the fabric on her shoulders and the skin on her cheeks.
Hissing in pain, Aphrodite bucked with her hips at the same time the guard snatched up the woman. Blood poured onto Aphrodite’s face. She sputtered, screaming in horror as she tried to wipe it away from the scratch marks.Whatever they were, I can’t afford to be infected. Buddy whirled in front of her with concern.
“Aim for the head!” she bellowed, fighting to stand up. Xexis appeared out of nowhere and hoisted her up into his arms.
“My mate—”
Aphrodite cleared her eyes of the spinning and blood as Reevar roared out. He beat Max’s head into the table seconds before he was pulled back. Max, twisting his already broken neck around, lunged at Aphrodite.What the fuck were they?Aphrodite fought out of Xexis’ arms.
“Mr. Smith, control your companions!” Xnasis snapped.
“Draper, Mrs. Finn! What is—”
Aphrodite froze as the Council woman and Max twisted to Winrow and lunged for him at the same time. The guards were too slow to stop them. Winrow Smith was tossed, face first into the Council table, then shoved to the floor. His spine snapping echoed in the room. Max clawed at his neck while the Council woman faced the guards again. A command was made but Aphrodite didn’t hear it, her attention was on the dead captain, eyes open, staring at her with his head on backwards. A blinding red laser light filled the room and two burning holes were made into the skulls of Max Draper and the Council woman. They crumpled to the floor. All life and sound in the room died.
Aphrodite slapped at Xexis, climbing him higher and higher till she was in his arms. He engulfed her, turning her face away from the bodies. The scent of burnt flesh lingered for only a secondbefore it dissipated. Her blood was cold, and her thoughts were silent.
“Guards, see these three to the medical bay. I want every single person in the human entourage brought into the Council chambers for scanning and questioning.” Xnasis commanded the room, but all Aphrodite could hear was the racing heartbeat of her mate. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she buried her face into his skin.
“Don’t fret, my mate,” he whispered to no avail.
She glanced up from his throat to see Reevar stumbling after them. Aphrodite sat up sharply. Xexis and Aphrodite studied the other hunter. He clutched his stomach. Xexis whispered, “Reevar?”
The hunter flopped limply into the arms of the guard beside him. Green blood seeped out of his body from a tear in his torso. Aphrodite stabbed at her data pad frantically. “Medical bay! Quickly!”
Buddy hummed, scanning Reevar swiftly. Xexis raced after the guards who hoisted Reevar in their blue, scaly arms. They rushed from the room and up another escalator. Aphrodite’s mouth ran dry as Buddy filled her screen with a diagnosis.
Internal bleeding. Hemorrhaging. Broken bones.
“He wasn’t wearing his armor,” she gasped.
“Nor did he have a weapon.” Xexis gripped her like his mind depended on it.
“Max shouldn’t have been able to hurt him like that! He was a weak kid, barely could land a punch! He shouldn’t have been ableto hurt him.Xexis, you gotta save him.” Panic raced through her veins like hot acid as tears welled up in her eyes.
The escalators felt like an eternity despite how swiftly they climbed them. Around and around until they took a sharp right into a spinning ring. There were no doors, but open archways. They passed through pockets of people on stretchers in varying stages of pain. Medical professionals of all shapes and sizes leaned over people, talking, and filling the large hall with noise. All of it died as everyone stared at the rushing crew.
The guards barked something, and a massive stretcher was pushed in their way. Reevar was plopped onto it and spread. Aphrodite and Xexis tumbled into the side of the table, each taking a hand. Reevar was unconscious, face pinched in pain. Blood pooled on the stretcher.
“Help!” Aphrodite yelped as the guards gathered someone. The stretcher was directed on a magnetic field, rushing Reevar past the other patients. Xexis and Aphrodite jogged beside him. All Aphrodite could see was the blood. Her throat closed. She clenched his hand with all her might. “Please, don’t you dare, Reevar.”
Someone in a white coat took over and scanned his body. Aphrodite glanced up to tell the person what her scans told her, when she took a double take. “Vivian?”
Her mouth fell open as the same blue haired, red lipped, wide-eyed woman who shared a bunk with her in college glanced up from her data pad. “Aphrodite?”
“Vivian, please,” Aphrodite croaked. “You’ve gotta help him. These things took over a dead person's body and then they attackedReevar and—”
Vivian reached over the table, putting a hand to Aphrodite’s white knuckles. “I’ve got him, you can trust me.”
“I know, Needles,” Aphrodite squeaked as Guards tugged on the mated pair. Vivian’s softened, like she’d never forgotten that once upon a time, they were like sisters.
“Gears,” Vivian’s sweet utterance of a long forgotten nickname made Aphrodite’s stomach settle even just a little. Xexis and Aphrodite were pulled out of the separate room and held behind a clear screen. Aphrodite didn’t even flinch as someone pressed cotton swabs with disinfectant into her wounds or sprayed her cheeks with skin sealant. Her left hand clutched Xexis’ arm for dear life and her gaze never left Vivian.
“My mate, you know her?” Xexis whispered.
“We were friends once.” Aphrodite blinked away the trance.Best friends. Bunk mates. I once told her that she was the only person in the universe who kept me together.She flinched as the sting of medicine finally hit her nervous system. Finding her ability to breathe again, she relied on the breathers heavily.How did she even end up here? I didn’t even know here was a thing!
“Are you two not friends anymore?” Xexis pulled her by the chin tenderly, forcing her to face him.
