“You don’t look so good yourself,” she pointed out.
“Thankfully, I’m very much alive,” he retorted, wiping soot from his mouth.
His hand remained firm on her waist, reminding every sense she had of what it felt like to be wanted by Elijah.But this was just safety in the field, she reminded herself.Nothing more guaranteed.
And who was to blame for that?
“That wound needs a dressing now,” she insisted, reaching for her pack.
“There’ll be time for that later.These people need care first.”
“Which you won’t be able to give if you’re dead,” she said, following Elijah’s gaze to where the captives stood.
“Sable!Move the fuck on!”As he spoke, another blast shook the tunnel, and flames poured from its mouth.Tucking her under his arm, he ran.
“Where would I be without you bleeding all over me?”she gasped when Elijah finally set her down safely distant.
But this was no time for banter.The rescued were huddled on the shoreline, bewildered, waiting to be escorted—maybe to another hell, for all they knew.
“Our priority is to reassure these people and get them to safety,” Elijah told her.“Then we can talk.In fact, you can do anything you want when we get back.”
With blood soaking through his clothes?“I’ll bandage you up.Then you can reassure the prisoners without frightening them half to death.”
“Fearsome sight, me?They’ve seen worse.”
She huffed with amusement.“You think?”
CHAPTERNINE
TheSeraphimthrobbed beneath his feet like a living beast.Built to outrun, outmaneuver, and outfight, she was a sanctuary for the rescued and his true north, the one constant that never failed him.Stocked with medical supplies and with surgeons onboard to tend the wounded, she had every facility the returning team required and more.
Sable worked tirelessly alongside him as they triaged the rescued.She nagged him about his wound.He refused treatment.That could wait.There was too much to do.He’d rest when the last of the prisoners had been assessed and cared for.
Medics were everywhere, comforting the broken and reassuring children who clutched at strangers as they cried for their parents.The hardest thought to banish was that their kin were likely dead, but keeping things positive was vital for the children to survive and eventually thrive.
The air on deck stank of blood and unwashed bodies, overlaid with a powerful disinfectant.“Get these people inside as soon as you can, to rest and be fed,” he told the doctor in charge.“They need comfort and reassurance most of all.”
“If we’ve seen worse, I can’t think when,” Sable told him as they met briefly.“Don’t think I’ve forgotten,” she added, her gaze fixed on the blood soaking through his tunic.
Okay, so it was bleeding again.Grudgingly, he stopped treating others and became a patient, but only when he was sure most of their shattered guests had been taken to more comfortable surroundings.
“If you lose any more blood, you’ll be no use to anyone,” Sable scolded as he led the way.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Once inside his quarters, she cleaned the wound thoroughly, despite his repeated demands to get back on deck.Eventually, he’d had enough.“I can’t do this?—”
“You can and you will,” she insisted, pushing him down again.“I know you feel guilty for taking time out, but nothing about this is how we’d like it.Those people need you alive and strong.So hold still, damn you, and let me finish!”
The instant she put her kit down, he was off.
“Hey!Come back,” she called after him.“You can’t go straight back.You could faint.”
“Faint,” he repeated, bringing his face close.
“You need to rest,” she said, finding something to do rather than stay close to him.
“Have you ever known rest?”
