“Sir, should I remove your harness?”
“What?”Leo sent the droid a look, felt puzzlement, the loss of time in his own mind.
“The harness, sir?”
Leo followed the droid’s gaze.“Oh.”He gave a cautious nod in deference to the ball of pain perched in his head.The careful action tormented him anyway.
“I shall help you stand, sir.”
With each squeaky syllable, Leo’s head did a samba.“Fuck,” he moaned when the harness released and his muscles needed to work to keep him upright.
A silver metallic arm wrapped around his waist and hoisted him to his feet.Leo’s legs failed and his knees folded.If not for the droid, he’d have dropped to the ground.
“Have you been drinking, sir?”
“No,” Leo gasped.
“Leo, you’re back.”Scarlett, his youngest sibling and only sister, skidded to a halt in the doorway of the shuttle.Her mouth dropped open, and Leo would have laughed if every part of him wasn’t aching as if a cantankerous cow had kicked him good.
“Are you related to him?I have a genic mini-tab for you.”The droid held him with one hand while he reached for the mini-tab with the other.
Leo dangled, unable to get his muscles to work without red-hot pain stabbing every muscle in his body.He jerked, trying to remain upright under his own steam, and moaned.
“You’re bleeding.”Scarlett tossed her black braid over her shoulder and leaned closer to survey him.She straightened abruptly, her sea-green eyes widening in alarm.“I’ll get Saber and Felix.”
“No.”But his sister had already sped away.Now his older brothers were going to ask questions he couldn’t answer.
“You are bleeding, sir,” the droid said.“I will help you outside.”
Leo felt the wetness at his stomach and glanced down to see blood seeping through his white shirt.He frowned, his brain sluggish as he tried to remember how he’d received the wound.
The droid helped him outside.Actually, no.The droid carried him outside because his messages to his legs refused to transmit.
His two brothers burst from the resort gardens with Scarlett following.Damn, it was bright out here.So bright, and he couldn’t focus.His stomach was roiling, and the scent of blood filled his nostrils.
The droid halted on their approach.“Are you this man’s family?”
“Yes,” Scarlett said.
“I have a message for you.”He handed the genic mini-tab to her and allowed Saber and Felix to take Leo’s weight.
Leo groaned, despite trying to hold the telltale sound at bay.His head throbbed, he ached everywhere…even his teeth.
“What happened?”Saber’s expression held concern.The oldest of his brothers, and the head of the family, he’d softened after mating with Eva.He wore his black hair shorter now, and his mate saw that it was neatly trimmed.The biggest change though—his mouth generally curved upward in a smile rather than dipped in a stressed frown.
“Did someone jump you?”Felix, his second brother, ran a hand through his military-short black hair, his grass-green eyes radiating equal worry.He must look as bad as he felt.
“Need to sleep.”Leo got out the words with difficulty.
“Ma will want to doctor you first,” Scarlett said.
“No,” Leo barked.“Want to lie down.”
“It says here that someone paid for the droid to deliver Leo here, and that we need to return him to Dalcon.”Scarlett glanced at the droid for confirmation.
“Today or there will be additional charges,” the droid added.
“The twins were intending to go tomorrow to pick up supplies,” Saber said.“Go find them, Scarlett.Tell them to go today.”
