But it didn’t matter. It didn’t fucking matter when I my men were scattered around me, whether they were still put together or not. I’d told them not to follow me, done everything I possibly could to keep them from the destruction, and I’d stillfailed.
Oren would never forgive me.
Pressing a palm to my abdomen, I forced myself to my hands and knees, swallowing the cry that threatened to fall. Warmth caressed my skin, serving as confirmation that a piece of metal had severed something in my abdomen. Failing to stop its incessant flow, I shoved my foot beneath me and pushed myself upright, everything around me blurring.
It had all been easy, nearly too easy. The estate hadn’t been guarded, and there were hardly any men. It had to have been staged, which meant only one thing…
Fucking General Valens set us up.
Unfiltered, raw screaming pierced my ears, its location hard to decipher among the cloud of smoke and the persistent ringing—but even amidst the chaos, Iknew.
I fucking knew.
It was a second timbre that heightened my drive, myneedto act, as Liam’s shouting never took a pause.
“F-Fuck. Help!” A mixture between a sob and a desperate shout littered the air. “Please, God, someonehelp!”
I moved on instinct, my feet pounding beneath me as the pain that flashed from my side to assault the rest of my body became a mere afterthought. Sprinting toward the cry, I reached down, retrieving a tourniquet in anticipation of the worst.
Liam was huddled over a body, a deep gash carved in his head from the destruction of the mine, blood pouring down his face, but he was unfazed by his wound. His hands were coated in crimson, his body painted with it as he desperately tried to hold himself together.
Simon.
“I-I can’t… I can’t…” Liam’s hands were shaking, blood splurting with each release of his fingers.
Simon was incoherent, high-pitched screams bathing the scene in a picture of horror I’d never forget. I’d seen blood, witnessed gore, butthis?This was something else entirely, and my heart broke at the sight.
His lineage poured from his leg, or what was once his left leg… The limb was completely missing from his lower half, shredded into oblivion by the explosion, and Liam was in denial—a feeling I understood far too well.
“Shhh,” he shouted, but it was more like a plea. “P-Please stop, Simon. I can’t… I can’t stop it unless you don’t move.” Tears raked down his cheeks, cleaning the soot and scarlet from his face.
Sliding onto my hands and knees, ignoring the asphalt shredding through my pants, I landed by Liam. “I need you to move, Liam. Right now.”
He shook his head, hands still working tirelessly to end the bleeding that would never stop without proper attention.
Grabbing his cheeks, I ripped his attention toward me. “Liam,look at me!” My jaw feathered as I struggled to pull myself together, listening to Simon’s guttural screams. “Ineedto place a tourniquet if you want him to live.We have to stop the bleeding.”
“I got him.” Matt’s voice was warbled, but other than a few cuts and scrapes, he was the least injured out of the group. He tugged Liam back, his arm wrapping around his waist to haul him away.
Liam fought, his reasoning long since dissipated at the state Simon was in, but Matt held firmly, muscles working to hold him back. He gave me a solidified nod, the light in my best friend’s olive eyes far darker than ever before.
Brushing sweat-laden hair from Simon’s forehead, I looked at him. “Hey, buddy. I need you to focus on me, okay? You can’t close your eyes.”
“F-Fuck,” he groaned, his nails digging into the churned dirt.
His breathing was too rapid, his pants were tattered, and his utility belt was nowhere to be seen. His shredded thigh was only the start of his problems, metal shards puncturing his skin from the blast. He’d taken the brunt of it, his body heaving its rejection of the foreign objects now invading him.
“I’m going to get you home,” I promised, opening the tourniquet to grant myself enough space to guide it into position. “But first, this is going to hurt like a fucking bitch. Feel free to claw at me all you wish; you can deck me in the face later.”
Before he could utter his reply, I ripped back on the material, spinning the dial with a familiarity I despised. It tightened, blood sputtering to a stop to confirm its efficiency. Turning the handle one more time, I locked it into place, slipping a hand under his neck.
“I’ve got you.” I knew movement was going to be far from bearable for him, but we had to get the fuck out of here—I only prayed the evacuation squad hadn’t been tainted by General Valens and still had a lick of sanity left to come help.
Biting my tongue as I pushed myself upright, carrying all of Simon’s weight, stars swarmed my vision. With both feet beneath me, I looked at Matt, dipping my chin with a command I’d given him more than once—desolation on a battlefield, not something we were unfamiliar with.
“Move back to the rendezvous point. We need to get them the fuck out of here.”
“Yes, Commander,” he said, swooping an arm beneath an inconsolable Liam. His face hardened, and I knew we were in deep shit. With Liam barely functioning, it was up to Matt to haul him up and off the ground, a feat that earned him a place by my side.
