I gave him the antivenom on reflex. I'd do it again on purpose. That doesn't change what he is. He’s still the alien who says he'll never let me go.
“Tell them to get your healing tech,” I order him.
“No,” Rythar pants. “Should die… in the jungle.” His hand tightens in the mud.
“I won’t leave you. If you won’t get healed, more of those things will come, and they’ll get me,” I say, trying to convince him.
"Leave," Rythar rasps. "Finally… obey… something."
Drenz stands there, grim and waiting. “If there are more, we won’t let them reach you. There shouldn’t have been any. They’re not wild on Xytheos. Blood will be drawn for this attack. Someone released this one into the Reach. Probably someone envious of Rythar’s mate match.”
Someone I could end up with next. Someone even worse than Rythar. “Rythar isn’t dead yet,” I snarl. “Get your best healers and your best medical equipment.”
Drenz gives a small shake of his head. “We have no cure for serpent-panther venom.”
“Why not?” I shout. “You can cure everything else! I saw you do it! Just try!”
He looks away. “Our cures make the venom kill more quickly. Rythar would die instantly if we used the device. It is in the design.”
Years of biowarfare experience help me put it together fast. It’s a clever venom, designed with a trap to kill faster if the victim is treated with Xythean cures. We put together a cure on New Terra, and here Xytheos sits with their advanced tech and allows people to die needlessly?
No.
Fury chokes my voice as I yell at Drenz. “Listen. I’ve seen this before. We fought it on New Terra. I already gave him a general antivenom. But I need to synthesize the exact counteragent. Something that will work with your alien genetics. Bring him back to the fortress and give me the equipment. And bring samples of the venom.”
“Rythar will die in the jungle from this wound,” Drenz says solemnly.
“Then why isn’t he dead already?” I hiss. “Because my medicine bought him time. He needs the real counteragent. I have to make it for him.Now. Get us to where I can help him instead of watching him die!”
They look to each other, but no one speaks against me. Finally, they look to Drenz.
The Ex O doesn’t even argue. He looks to Rythar first. Rythar cannot lift his head.
I check his pulse. Thready. His hand finds my thigh, grips it hard. He can’t speak, but he tries.
"Move him," I order. "Take him into the fortress before something else attacks us." I don't abandon the dying. Not even him.
The Ex O gives a sharp hand signal. Three guards approach cautiously and help Rythar to his feet.
I’m on my way back to the fortress. Back to the life I never chose. My escape attempt is over, and the warlord who locked me in may die before we reach it.
CHAPTER 16
THE ANTIVENOM
ELENA – THE GREEN REACH
Rythar refusesto let anyone carry him. When I try to support him, he fixes me with a look that saysyou did this. And now you’re going to walk with me into whatever comes next.
He's not wrong. He's choosing not to say it out loud in front of his men. Even envenomed, even furious, he wants me unbroken.
His body should be too weak, but he rises to his full height. The wound bubbles as he stands. I see his jaw set, the cords of his neck standing out as he grinds down the pain. The venom is still in there. But the antivenom is doing something.
The other guards step back. It’s like they’re giving him space to die, but he’s refusing to do it.
Even with him in this condition, I have to walk quickly to keep up. I watch the way his hand trembles, just once, before he clamps it to his arm and keeps moving. The sweat slicks his back, and discharge from the wound trickles down to his wrist, but he doesn’t falter.
With a grunt to Drenz, he rejects the path to the medical suite. Instead, he turns up a winding path that narrows with every step. Only Drenz and I follow.
