Her gaze jumped back to the men as Miran and one of the others pulled the third man free of the spider’s den. He must’ve fallen right into it!
That was enough to give anyone nightmares for the rest of their lives.
Even worse, she could see that one of his legs had been bitten several times.
Miran and the other man were talking rapidly in Hissa, but she knew if she didn’t help him, the third one would be dead within a few minutes. They didn’t even have time to get to the circle. He was already starting to convulse.
She had to act. She couldn’t let this man die when she could prevent it.
Dropping back down, she limped to the med box and dumped everything out until she found the anti-venom meds.
Ignoring the protests from her ankle, she rushed back to the hatch, pulled herself out, and then ran as best she could through the deep sand to the Hissa.
The two were holding the third down, and the way they were talking made her think they were saying goodbye.
Idiots! Who goes out into the sand without the right gear?
They didn’t notice her until she was falling to her knees next to them. Focused on saving the Hissa's life, she broke the medical patches open, then ripped his pants leg to find bare, unmangled skin to slap them down on.
By the time she got the fourth patch on him, he’d stopped convulsing. She looked at his face to see that he was unconscious, but breathing without effort. He’d be out for a little while and feel horrible when he woke up, but he wasn’t going to die.
She decided to put the last two patches on him to be safe. After tugging to rip the pants further up, she fit the last two patches on his thigh.
Relieved that she’d gotten to him in time, she sat back and let out a long breath.
“Nova?” She looked up to see Miran staring at her. His scale pattern was pale, almost white, probably an indication of his fear. “You saved Nerin.”
She wanted to reprimand him, but the other Hissa was suddenly next to her, wrapping a strong hand around her upper arm.
“Please don’t try to run while we care for our friend,” the Hissa said.
Tears filled her eyes.
Her kindness was rewarded with capture.
Chapter 13
Miran
Nova’s hiding spot was big enough to accommodate them, but only barely. He was deeply impressed by her resourcefulness. Using Fielden traditions, she’d found the perfect place to wait out their search. If they’d been anyone else, they might’ve given up before she ran out of supplies, but they were Hissa, and she was a Decanted woman. She was their future.
She was his future.
He hadn’t told the men yet that they had sex, but he needed to because now that they’d found her again, he would struggle to hide his feelings.
After stretching Nerin out in the center of the round room where Lazil could care for him, Miran insisted on seeing her ankle after noticing her limping earlier.
When he realized he couldn’t do anything because the med wrap was still doing its job, he tucked her into the obvious bed and tucked a bag under her leg to elevate it.
She hadn’t said a word.
He wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t know what to say. Until she experienced Hissa herself, she wasn’t going to believe anything he said.
There wasn’t anything else to do for her ankle, but he remained at her side while Lazil focused on pulling off all Nerin’s weapons and armor, then treating the wounds from the spider’s bite. They might’ve given him the antidote from the venom, but there were still puncture wounds to deal with. The last thing they needed was for him to develop an infection.
It was strange to see that there wasn’t much to the bites, only a few deep punctures, and yet they'd almost killed Nerin.
Lazil’s shockingly fast reflexes were the only reason that Nerin hadn’t completely disappeared into the spider’s trap.
