Page 126 of A Prime's Passion (The Pretern Wars 1)

Thunder rolled across the sky, punctuated by a brilliant play of lightning.

He’ll be fine, she told herself. Pain shot through her head, a ghostly echo and she whipped her gaze around to focus on Saint, slumped against the trunk.

Zee’s heart lurched at the pain she sensed inside her brother. Already crawling to him, she forced all her rage down and slammed a lid shut on top.

People will die for this.

Saint turned his head toward her, having to twist in an almost unnatural manner since she was coming up on his left. She refused to concentrate on the ruin of his left eye. He was alive. He’d heal.

“Damn right,” he mumbled, hand lifting toward her, only for it to fall a few seconds later. “Fuckin’... iron. Bastards. Too bad for them the shot went in and out.”

“In and... ” She swallowed her gorge as she realized what he meant. She finally reached him and launched herself at him, swallowing her sobs so they didn’t give away their location. “Saint... ”

“Shhh... ” He wrapped his arm around her.

She wanted to cry again at the oddly cold feel of his skin. The iron, she knew. Poisoning him.

“Don’t cry,” Saint said, shaking his head. “You got us out.”

She blinked and drew back.

“What?”

He smiled, head lolling. “Fuck, ‘m tired. Heard y’ call me. Felt you... fuck, that rush of energy was something else, lil’ sis. Gave me enough to try gave me something to lock on.”

He wasn’t making sense, but he didn’t have to. He was here and alive and she’d make sure he stayed that way. “Let me see your head.”

He tried to refuse, but finally yielded. It might have been out of sheer lack of strength though, because his head slumped in a way that made her think he just didn’t have the courage to hold it up.

The gathering darkness of night fought against her, but she blinked rapidly to force her eyes to acclimate to the lack of light. Her stomach tried to rebel on her once more as she probed the exit wound, the rough feel of bone, tissue, fluids and other things that should never be exposed to the light of day making her queasy. “Fuck.”

“He’ll be fine,” Etan said, edging in closer. He put Hannah down, taking use of the cover provided by the broad tree to shelter the two wounded. “Let me in, little sis.”

“Couple of mama hens,” Saint muttered, his head resting against the trunk.

“Mama hens?” Etan snorted. “Punk-ass bitch. I remember you whining that one time after I got into a fight with an Atargarian—thinking a bite was going to kill me.”

“You’re the bitch,” Saint said, his voice thicker. “Picking a fight with an orca over a girl. Bet you never told Zee about that, you di... ”

Saint passed out.

Zee sank back on her heels and covered her face with her hands. One sharp, broken sob escaped, barely muffled by her hands.

Analise had shifted into her wolf form, then belly-crawled over to them. The sleek gray lupine beast blended easily with the shadowy forest as she nosed Zee’s knee. Then, after a dip of her head, she slunk into the woods to keep watch.

Zee sucked in air, grabbing onto control by the tips of her fingers and holding on. It was a mad scramble, but bit by bit, her mind cleared, adrenaline pushing out emotions and rage so she could think.

“You good?”

At her brother’s voice, Zee gave a jerky nod. She had no idea how much time had passed. Dragging in a breath, she caught the still-wet scent of Saint’s blood. Minutes. Only minutes. But still, those were precious minutes she couldn’t afford to spend worrying about her brother or Hannah or anything else that didn’t involve making sure her people—yes, hers—were safe.

“I’m steady,” she said and her voice was actually just that—steady.

“Alright.” Etan rubbed her shoulder.

“I want to check the wound again.”

Etan was quiet while she did so and she breathed a little easier as she felt the wound once more, already a little smaller. Not much, but a little. The iron in the bullet would make the healing slower, but Saint was too strong for one bullet, iron or not, to kill him. It hadn’t struck him in a vital area, unlike Shale—fuck, it had gone through his head, but he was strong and he wouldn’t bleed out, so he’d be okay.

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