Soon, Christian would find her. She’d go to the infirmary and be back on her way to feeling better, and everything would be okay again.
Colton stopped half a kilometer from the entrance and yanked off Gemma’s helmet. “This is far enough. If your little boyfriend’s as good a tracker as he claims, he’ll find you here.”
“But the antidote...” Gemma’s voice was weak and brittle.
Colton snorted. “There was never any poison. But it made him let you go, didn’t it?”
Gemma tried to glare at him, to scream she would kill him if she found him before Christian did. But the butt of Colton’s rifle found the side of her head before she had the chance.
A strong, pungent smell forced Gemma awake.
She gagged into the red dirt beneath her face. Gentle hands touched her cheek, one eye fluttering open to see Imara crouched over her.
They’d found her.
“I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonnafucking kill him!” Christian screamed.
“Take it easy,” Hawk said.
“I’ll take it easy after I have my hands around his throat. He said he wouldn’t touch her!”
“It was my fault,” Gemma tried to squeak out, but no one replied. She could barely move. Maybe her voice didn’t work.
“Let’s go to the infirmary,” Imara said, turning to Hawk. “You carry Gemma.”
“No, I’ll get her,” Christian said, followed by a scuffling of feet.
“You have one arm. Do what Imara says. You lead the way, and we’ll be right behind you,” Hawk comforted.
Christian swore, then strong arms lifted Gemma off the ground.
She cried out in pain before she fainted.
Cool air wafted across Gemma’s face.
Her eyes flitted open to the sight of white ultralights against a white ceiling. An infirmary ceiling. She’d stared at enough of them over the years to recognize one anywhere.
Groaning, she sat up slowly. Her head still ached, but the rest of her didn’t hurt anymore.
Christian shot out of a nearby chair. “Oh, thank the stars.” His voice cracked as his arms wrapped around her. His cheek rested on top of her head. “They weren’t sure if the nanobots would work against all the swelling in your skull.”
Gemma hugged him back and realized his broken arm had been healed. He too must’ve been given nanobots upon their return.
Christian sat on the bed and clutched her hand. Pools of tears were at the bottom of both eyes. “Did he...”
The shot to Gemma’s heart stung more than the Kaizen’s electroprod. He couldn’t finish his question, but she knew what he was asking.
Had Colton forced her like his mom had been?
A solitary tear dripped from his eyelashes when Gemma cupped his cheek with her free hand. She brushed the tear away with her thumb. “No,thatdidn’t happen.”
He let out a slow breath as his eyes closed.
Gemma brought his forehead to meet hers. This was the first time she’d truly glimpsed the damage that witnessing his mother’s attack and death had done to him, the dark mark it had left on his soul. Oh, how she wanted to go back in time, to hold that younger version of him and let him cry and tell him everything would be okay.
“I’m all right, Christian. And it’s my fault. I tried to kill him. I should’ve done as he asked.”
Shaking his head, he met her gaze with his own fierce one. “You need to stop doing that. Don’t take the blame for the things people do to you. There are other ways of defending yourself without beating someone senseless. Colton knows that.”
