Page 105 of Greed

“You heard the order!” They roared as a unit and pressed out from the car, death the only thing in their wake.

“Is she okay?” Penny yelled up at me as another clap of thunder boomed.

Standing, I stepped to the side of the door and hooked my fingers around the mangled edge. I growled, muscles flexing as I ripped the door from its hinges. Tossing the door aside, I knelt and reached in the car. Gripping her body so she wouldn’t fall, I pulled hard on the straps, but they wouldn’t give without hurting her. “Do you have a knife?”

“Here.” Penny tossed up a small red blade. Catching it, I reached back in and cut at the straps holding Minetta. With a snap, the seatbelt let go, and she was free. “Come on, my little bird, let’s get you out of here.”

As gently as I could, I pulled her from the small car. Jumping to the ground, I laid her down and Penny knelt beside her, checking on her…for what exactly I didn’t know.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s called first aid. We had to learn it at work. She’s breathing, and her airways are clear. That’s good. Move out of my way. I need to check for other injuries.” She gave me a little push, and I surprised myself by moving. I watched in fascination as Penny felt down all of Minny’s limbs and then lifted her shirt to check her stomach. A dark bruise was easily seen on her stomach. “Shit! She has internal bleeding. She needs a hospital now.”

“It’s just a bruise.”

“No, not to a human. That is life-threatening. She could die from this and soon.” Penny’s eyes were wide with fear, spiking my own panic.

Minetta’s eyes fluttered, her eyes slowly opening as she mumbled something.

“Minny?” My hand went to her face to stroke her cheek. Her face was splattered with blood from a cut on her forehead, but it didn’t look like she had anything worse.

“What happened?” She licked her lips, her words coming slow.

“You were in an accident. We need to get you to a hospital.”

“Okay,” she said and rolled onto her side, wincing.

“What are you doing? I’ll carry you,” I said as she stumbled to her feet. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders to help her stand when a pair of demons broke through the line and charged. Skye and Neven stopped the first one, but I had to let go of Minny to fight off the second. It was a mammoth beast, with fists larger than the car, and it swung at me as it tried to get to Minny.

She screamed as she saw what was coming and stumbled backward. “Get her out of here!” I yelled to Penny.

“I can’t carry her far. We’d be sitting ducks out there alone,” Penny yelled back as she stabbed a smaller snake-like demon through the head.

Time. More time.

Time was of the essence was all that was running through my head as my sword cut through the beast’s tough hide. Rolling out of the way of another fist, I sliced at the creature’s wrist, the sword cutting clean through. A geyser of black blood shot in all directions, coating the field and making it slick.

“We can take it from here,” Neven said as he and Skye worked in perfect tandem. Neven jumped on the demon’s back while Skye sank one blade through the creature’s eye. “Go! We got this,” Neven barked out.

I jumped into action and turned back to Minny. I reached for her, and everything slowed down—the sounds disappearing around me. I looked to my left as Brill was yelling to get down as he came for my side and pushed me to the ground just as Raphael’s silver spear streaked through the air.

I screamed a blood-curdling sound as I was toppled toward the ground. I reached for Minny, her body bowing back and eyes wide as the spear pierced her chest.

“No,” I roared as I felt the pain rip through my chest as surely as the spear had found me. Minetta looked down at the thing protruding from her and then looked at me.

“Riker?”

“Are you okay,” Brill asked as I continued to scream hysterically and fight his weight and the three other demons that piled on top of me. I didn’t need their protection.

“Get the fuck off of me,” I roared, and Brill and the others jumped at the order. My arms wrapped around Minny just as she started to crumple to the ground. “No, no, no. No, please don’t die.”

Tears slipped down the sides of Minny’s face as I gripped her to my chest. I went to my knees, the grief crushing me as I stared into her beautiful blue eyes.

“You came,” she said, her voice soft. A sob gripped me. I’d never known agony like this. “Hey, don’t cry,” she wheezed. Her hand touched my cheek the way I always did to hers. A small smile formed on her lips. “You’re so beautiful.”

“I’m not the beautiful one. I’m sorry I left. I’m so sorry I left you alone.” The words poured out of me as I rocked her body. “I’m going to get you help. You’re not going to die. Michael! Michael!” I screamed.

“Shhh, it’s okay.” Blood slowly trickled from the side of her mouth, and I wiped it away with my thumb. She cupped my cheek and smiled like I was everything to her and the look made the anguish worse. “Promise me something,” she gasped again, and my body shook uncontrollably.