Page 48

Georgia grunted and staggered to the side.

He caught hold of her, his gut tightening as he saw how weak she was. “Tell me what’s wrong with you.”

Georgia leaned into his arms, panting harshly. “I need your help.” She raised a hand. It was bright red and puffy, and the slice across the back looked infected.

Ash inspected the wound and grimaced. It gave off a horrible smell, like rotting flesh.

Georgia whimpered as he touched her hand. “I didn’t think it was anything to worry about, but when the creature scratched me, it must have had poison or toxin in its claws.”

Georgia’s banty bounded over and clung to her leg as if sensing her distress.

“I’ll be okay, buddy,” she whispered.

“Yes, you will. But only if I get you to the ship and treat this infection.” Ash scooped her into his arms and raced back toward the ship.

The banty ran along beside him.

“Don’t carry me. I can walk,” Georgia said.

“Sure you can. But I can run a hell of a lot faster.” He opened the shared comm link to the rest of the crew. “Be on the lookout for giant, mutant birds. We’ve just been attacked by them. We’re returning to the ship. Georgia’s been injured. Everyone be back there in ten minutes.”

“We’re returning now,” Daisy said. “What happened to Georgia? Did a bird get her?”

“No, not a bird.” His tense gaze shot to her. “I’m not sure what’s wrong.”

“Stop making them worry about me,” Georgia said. “I’ve had a lot worse. This is nothing.”

“This definitely is something.” Her breathing was shallow, and she could barely keep her eyes open. Georgia never faked being ill, and Ash could see she was struggling. It was a hard kick to the stomach to see her in pain. He was supposed to protect her, and he was failing.

“We were heading your way, but we’ll return to the ship too,” Eden said over the comm link.

“We’ll get it powered up and be ready to go when you arrive,” Daisy said.

“See you there.” Ash glanced over his shoulder and grunted in surprise when he saw the other banty were following them.

But he couldn’t worry about what to do with six tiny fighting machines. His only concern was Georgia and making sure she recovered.

Why did she have to be so stubborn and hide her injury? He shook his head. That wasn’t important. He would fix this.

She’d get better, and everything would be fine. It had to be.