The knife itself was roughly four inches long, and he’d made quick work of shoving all of that straight through his body.
He laughed as his vision winked in and out, catching sight of Flix’s horrified expression a moment before he stumbled and fell. Before he hit the ground, however, Flix was there, catching him and easing him to the damp ground.
“What the fuck?!” Flix shoved Ani’s hand away from the weapon and swore. “Gods damn it, Ani! What did you do?!”
“Clock’s ticking,” Ani said, and either he was slurring his words, or his ears weren’t working properly with the sound of blood rushing through them as his body worked overtime to counteract the attack. “Make your choice, be’tessi.”
“Are you fucking for real right now? You did not just stab yourself in order to force my hand, Ani.”
“Did though.” He laughed but it quickly turned into a cough, a wave of pain rattling through him.
Flix cursed again, but they both knew he was running out of time. He could either leave Ani here to die, or he could call one of his friends to come fix him.
“Hit the requen,” Aneski said, fighting off the pain and pull of darkness now. “Got maybe ten minutes max before my body floods with toxins and starts shutting down.”
Even if he were rushed to the hospital, it would take an especially skilled doctor to patch him up in time. The kind of doctor only available to people like Baikal Void and the Imperial family.
Flix was friends with the Imperial Prince, but they weren’t close enough he’d have the time to ask for a favor. He didn’t like taking unnecessary risks, Aneski remembered, which meant he wouldn’t even bother with it if there was another way.
That left him Baikal Void. But Baikal wouldn’t agree to use his fancy private doctor to patch up someone like the leader of the Shepards.
Aneski’s vision blurred to the point he couldn’t make out Flix’s expression anymore, and the fear finally caught up to him. At least if he died here, it would finally all be over. No more wondering why he wasn’t good enough for the man currently cradling him and cursing up a storm.
Plus, he’d die knowing what happened to Russ, so that was a plus.
“Shut the fuck up,” Flix snarled. “You aren’t dying.”
Oh, had he said that last part out loud?
“You aren’t allowed to die, Tiny Terror, you got that? Fucking bastard. Always so stubborn.” He moved his arm, jostling Ani, shushing him when he cried out. A second later there was ringing, and then Flix was shouting into his multi-slate. “Back of Darthok! Hurry!”
“What’s wrong?” Berga’s voice came through the line, followed by the scraping of a chair and him barking out orders for whoever he was with to follow him.
Flix was quiet for a minute.
Or Ani lost consciousness.
One or the other.
“My Onus is dying,” Flix finally stated in a tight voice. He dropped the multi-slate to the wet ground and leaned in so that Aneski could feel the hot press of his mouth by his ear even if his eyes had slipped shut and he could no longer see him. “If that happens, Ani, I’ll burn the Shepards house to the ground. With them all in it. Keep that in mind, Tiny Terror. If you die, they die.”
He opened his mouth to tell him not to touch them, but it was all too much for him.
Aneski passed out, his final thought about how Flix couldn’t be happy without having the final word, even at a time like this.
* * *
There was a crash, and Ani groaned. He couldn’t open his eyes, and his body felt weighted down and…off.
“I’ll burn you alive!” someone yelled, followed by another crash. “All of you! Fix him! Fix him right now!”
“Flix, calm down. They’re trying their best,” another voice tried to reason with the screaming person, but it didn’t seem like they were getting through to him.
“Shit!” Another male voice. Closer to Ani this time. Really close. “He’s awake! Sedatives!”
“I swear to gods, Ani!” the first speaker again, his voice recognizable though Aneski was struggling to place it in his state. “You better survive this so I can kill you myself or so help me—”
There was a prick in his arm and then…nothingness.
