Forsaken by Shadow (Mirus 1)

Her body bucked. Once. Twice. She staggered a few steps, then stubbornly regained her footing, continuing whatever she was doing. Gage’s brain was locked down in agony and took too long to process what was happening. Then the flames covering her body began to flicker and die. And he saw the blood.

It flowed down from her shoulder and her side, dousing the flames as it ran.

She’d been shot.

Twice.

“Embry!” Gage roared her name. Rage burned through the pain, giving strength to muscles gone weak, propelling him to his feet.

He drove his way through the soldiers, his body dealing death blows as his mind focused on only a single, tangible fact. Embry was down, unmoving on the floor of the generator room.

When the bridge of black appeared, he didn’t pause to think or question. He took it, bypassing the remaining fighters, to drop down by her still form.

“Embry! Ember.”

She made no response, and he almost stopped breathing again.

Blood. There was so much blood. He wanted to examine her, but they were totally in the open here. Bullets continued to fly around them. She cried out in pain as he dragged her to cover, and his heart leapt that she was still alive. He looked back at the hallway to see if anyone was following him, but the recovered vampire and the fae had engaged the remaining soldiers. They were safe enough for the moment.

Her eyes opened as he dropped to his knees beside her. Their sunburst was dim, the light waning.

“Ember, hang on.” He sat back, linking his hands around his angled knee and bent his neck back, rotating both shoulders forward. The shoulder didn’t pop back into joint, so he shifted directions, rotating backwards. On the fourth agonizing rotation, it slid back in with a click. Taking no time to immobilize it, he moved back to Embry and ripped open her shirt, hissing a breath at the sight of the ugly wounds. He pressed his hands firmly on both of them to staunch the flow of blood. He tried to sound calm and matter-of-fact. “We’re gonna get you out of here.”

She made a choking noise that he realized was supposed to be a laugh. “Always the optimist. I’m finished, Gage.”

“The fuck you are,” he snapped, pressing down harder on the wounds. “That shoulder is a through and through, and I don’t think this side shot hit anything vital.” But blood continued to trickle steadily through his fingers.

“Gage, get out of here. Save yourself.”

“Get this straight, woman. I’m not going anywhere without you.” Terror whipped fury into his voice.

“Gage, stay away from the light.”

He blinked at her. “That’s my line. You’re the one that’s bleeding.”

“No. You had too much of me inside you.” She paused, her breathing labored. “From… before. It’s why you couldn’t Walk. I pulled it out.”

The shadows had taken him back. He’d been able to Walk to get to her. “Then I can Walk to get you out.”

“We both know you can’t carry me all the way out of here before I bleed out. And even you can’t teleport or walk through iron walls.”

The truth of it continued to seep beneath his hands.

“There has to be some way.” Gage looked frantically for help. “Where the hell is your father?”

“I sent him after reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements? Who? The other prisoners?”

“Seemed like the thing to do. We’re kinda outnumbered.”

That explained the unexpected backup. “Understatement of the century.” She was so pale. “Look, can’t you cauterize these wounds? Stop the bleeding?”

“I’m sapped, Gage. And even if I could, the internal bleeding from this second shot would kill me. Get out of here while you can.” She tried to shove him away but didn’t even manage to budge him an inch.

“I’m not leaving you,” he growled.

At the scrape of feet on concrete, Gage whirled to put himself between Embry and the newest threat.