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Chapter 15

The words of an angelfiltered through Hunter’s foggy mind. It sounded like Cleo was calling his name over and over, begging him to come back to her.

He’d never thought much about what it would be like to die. Apexians had their beliefs about death, just like all other aliens, but he wasn’t sure about any of it. He figured once you were gone; you were gone.

But if this was an afterlife, it felt... weird. And everything hurt. If he was dead, he shouldn’t still feel pain, should he?

And that angel-like voice kept calling to him. Where the hell was he?

Hunter felt a warm, soft hand brush across his forehead.

“He’s breathing, but his heart rate is too erratic. We have to get him stable before we move him.”

“I’ve given him everything we’ve got,” another voice said. And that voice was familiar too, but with a sharper edge. Was that Georgia? What was she doing in his afterlife?

“Take a look around. See what medical supplies the Siblet have.” The tension in angel Cleo’s voice made his heart throb. She sounded so sad and scared, but there was also a thrum of determination within that fear.

Hunter heaved out a breath, and pain lanced through his ribs. That mutant beast had done a number on him.

He still couldn’t figure out why he was hurting. Unless he was in some kind of damned purgatory state. He’d done a few shitty things in his life, but nothing to warrant an eternity of suffering.

“I’ll give him another boost,” a deep male voice said.

Was that Ash?

There was a brief flash of pain across Hunter’s palm, then a warm pulse of Apexian energy flooded through him, dulling the pain shattering his body.

His scattered thoughts gathered, and he opened his eyes. A breath stuttered out of him when Cleo’s beautiful face came into view. The worry in her eyes rammed into his heart.

“Hey! You’re awake. Stay with me. We’re getting you out of here as soon as we can,” she said.

Hunter tried to speak, but nothing came out. He tried again. “Where is here?”

“A Siblet base on Rowick,” Cleo said. “We found you chained up in a cage. When I first saw you, I thought you were dead.” The last word choked out of her, and she looked away and scrubbed the back of her hand across her eyes.

“I’m not convinced I am alive,” he said, his memories one big screwed up scramble, fighting with the pain to beat him down again. “What are you doing here?”

Tears gathered in Cleo’s eyes as she gripped his free hand tightly. “We got a signal about a possible Siblet base and came to take a look.”

“Are Ash and Georgia with you? I thought I heard them.”

“I’m right here, buddy,” Ash said, the grip on Hunter’s hand increasing. “I’m working hard to keep your sorry ass alive. You took one heck of a beating.”

Hunter tore his gaze from Cleo for a second. Ash had his hand clasped around his, and Hunter felt a familiar pull of Apexian healing energy filtering along his arm. “Thanks. I wasn’t feeling so good.”

“Let me guess, you were the one who took out that giant-assed beast we found in the corridor?” Ash said.

“Yeah, the giant invisible beast that used me as a punchbag for a few rounds,” Hunter said. “I had some help in taking it out, though.”

“You mean, this guy?” Cleo slid her pack around to show the rodent poking his head out.

“You’re kidding. You found it?”

“He was hiding behind a pile of rocks in the corridor where we found the beast’s body,” Cleo said. “He really helped you?”

“Yeah. I found him in a cage and couldn’t leave him behind. The plan was to get him out of here when I left, but we came face-to-face with that invisible bastard, and by the time we’d killed it, the Siblet figured out they had an unwanted guest snooping around their corridors. They blocked the exit. I don’t remember much after that.”

“You’ve got a huge lump on the side of your head. That could explain the messed up memory,” Ash said.