Laying Skya on his lap, she stared up at him trembling but no longer vocally crying, even if her tears were still coming. Every so often she would cough…it seemed she didn’t have the energy to cry loudly anymore…which worried him.
Pushing his worry aside for now…he pulled out a thin onesie from the bag. Severo gritted his teeth, once again holding in the scream of pain while he wrapped the open wound and tied it as tightly as he could.
Shaking with sweat pouring down his face, he used another onesie to wipe his hands clean of blood. Taking a gasping breath, Severo dug into the bag until he found the fuzzy bat onesie that would be warm enough for Skya to withstand the cold wind outside. He put it on her quickly, and got her strapped into her car seat.
Unlatching the thing from the car, he pulled up the wind blocker screen on it to better protect her from the cold, before getting back out and heading to the trunk.
Popping it open, he set her down and unlocked the gun safe back there. Severo slipped out of his thick black coat, strapped on the chest holster, and put the gun away after loading the bullets.
Standing there as the cold wind blew past him, he took a deep breath in and out before putting his coat back on.
Someone had betrayed them. Or…had they been seen? Had he been spotted? Severo was the one who went out the most. But he had always covered up. Fuck, he didn’t know. But he would find out. And if they had been betrayed, whoever did it would pay… Every single person involved would pay.
Grabbing Skya, he tossed the key fob in the trunk and stepped back into the Shadow Realm. Severo walked away from both the parking deck and the apartment, where he’d left Seri behind, the sounds of the real world loudly continuing on around him—Sirens, screams…pure chaos.
Taking one last look at the building in the distance, Severo forced himself to keep going on. Seri would get help… Preston saw Seri as his possession… The man would get him medical help… At least…with Seri being hurt, it would give them time to get him back before…
He grimaced, not wanting to think about what Preston would do.
Severo walked a few blocks in the Shadow Realm before slipping back into the real world, keeping hidden in an alleyway.
Conveniently, someone had decided to park their car there. Perfect for him. He peered into the driver's window, letting out a harsh laugh that ended in a cough on realizing the car was unlocked. Which was more reason to hurry up—who knew how long the owner would be away.
Opening the door, he slipped in. Pressing a few buttons, he set Skya down in the middle console, lowered the wind protector, and got her seat buckled in, putting up the baby shield to protect her in case of a crash.
Severo reached into his pocket and pulled out the electromagnetic reprogramming kit that Ender had given him for his birthday last year. He’d never thought he’d need to use it, but life was stupid that way. Severo had always kept it in an inner pocket, as a just in case sort of thing…
Holding the small two-inch by two-inch silver box up to the button starter, he squeezed the two buttons on the side. The box popped open, a drill shooting out and piercing into the button. A few moments and zaps later, the car started up, levitating.
Severo peeled out of the alleyway and made a beeline to the closest hospital. But halfway there, all the thoughts just flooded in.
Hitting the brakes, he pulled off to the side of the road and sat there thinking. The hospital wouldn't be safe. Would Ender’s group be? He knew the location…but what if one of them had betrayed them? The CEB wasn’t any safer. He slammed his hands on the wheel, crying out as his left hand connected, the action pushing down on the wound. Fuck—where could he go?!
“Think… Think…”
The hospital… It was the only option. It was closer than Ender’s group was. Not that they’d ever gone there, but he knew the Cryptid Means compound here was at least thirty minutes out, while the hospital was only fifteen.
He eyed Skya when she coughed again. Skya needed help, so the hospital was the only option right now. She came first. He’d go to the hospital, then to Ender’s group. They could get him back to his Headquarters…back to the area where Preston was likely taking Seri… Cryptid Means hadn’t betrayed them, it couldn't be them…but then who…
Taking a calming breath, he pushed the thoughts aside and pulled back onto the road, taking off towards the hospital. He stopped short. Parking in some hidden lot a block away, he slipped out and into the shadows.
Skya whimpered, “Oh-Oh.” She reached out for him, tears in her eyes, clearly wanting to be held. Her breathing was sounding rough to his ears.
It hurt his heart to do it, but he left her in her seat. He didn’t want her near the gun strapped to his chest… “It’s okay, gummy bear. Oh-Oh is going to get you help,” he rasped, gently ruffling her curls. “And then we are going to get Daddy back.”
“Dah-Dah.” She sniffled before coughing again.
The block passed quickly, and he found the hospital much as he assumed it would be—chaotic, ambulances everywhere, Code brown and Code blues all being yelled. He wasn’t sure how many, but people had died in their building.
Walking in the front door, he passed all the shadow people running around, uncaring as they ran through him. Nystras were floating and bouncing from corner to corner, smiles bright, bodies round, no doubt well fed in this place of permanent death. Nightmares likely lasted a lifetime here.
Severo followed the signs to pediatrics, doing his best to ignore the injured children. At the moment, he didn’t want to know who they’d endangered and gotten killed by being there…
Ender had been right. He should have left Seri with him. The man would have kept him safer than this… Why had he argued about taking him away?
Severo forced himself to stop thinking of what could have been, and eyed the shadows running around. He zeroed in on one man wearing a doctor’s uniform and followed. As the crowd thinned out, he caught a break. An empty room.
Cutting a hole into the other side, he grabbed the back of the man’s white coat and dragged him into it. Severo slipped back into the real world and slammed the door behind them.
