Page 9 of Rising Reign

Everything came in sharp, jerky flashes. The sound of the bullet. Kingston shoving me to the side. Him falling to the ground. All the blood.

A massive SUV jerked to a stop just outside the clearing, and some part of me recognized Locke behind the wheel and a back door opening, Hera at the ready.

Ender’s arrows flew, raining down on anyone who stepped into view, but I only had eyes for King. Blood had soaked through his tee, spreading too fast and far. Puck shifted, lifting King into his arms and hurrying for the SUV as Ender provided cover. I slid into the rear seat with the rest of them, and Ender and Brix leapt into the back.

“Help him,” I croaked at Hera.

Her face paled as she took in Kingston’s form. His eyes were closed now, his breathing shallow.

“Please,” I begged her.

“Hands on his chest, over the wound. Press as hard as you can,” she instructed.

I moved instantly, kneeling on the floorboard and putting all my weight into the contact.

King’s eyes fluttered, and he let out a pained groan.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

His eyes opened, heavy-lidded and trying to focus. “Wren…”

“I’m here. Just hold on. We’re going to fix you up. Just hold on.”

“Love…you…best honor…of my…life…loving you,” he rasped.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with King’s blood in a horrible sort of beauty as they fell. “Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me.”

His lashes fluttered again, and this time, his eyes fell closed.

“How close to the safe house?” Hera barked.

“Five minutes out,” Locke called.

“Make it three,” she ordered. “Did you stock it with my supplies?”

“Of course we did,” Puck growled as he pulled on a shirt to go with the sweats he’d obviously pulled from somewhere in the vehicle. Since the SUV belonged to shifters, it wasn’t all that surprising to find extra clothes, but I saw his nose wrinkle at the enemy’s scent.

Hera pulled a pouch from her pocket and sprinkled the contents over King. “This won’t help for long, but it will hold him for now.”

She began chanting, and light illuminated the SUV, sparks that circled and danced, hovering over King. My gaze moved between the light, Hera, and Kingston. Her face grew paler by the second, and I somehow knew she didn’t have much left in her reserves.

I closed my eyes, lifting prayers to the gods of nature and the universe, begging them not to take King from me when we’d only just begun.

Tires screeched, and we jerked to a stop. The sparks blinked out, and then we were moving again. Puck and Ender lifted King out of the vehicle, carrying him toward a cabin I didn’t recognize.

“On the table,” Hera yelled, running for the kitchen island.

I stayed right at King’s side, gripping his hand as they set him on the hard surface. He groaned, but his eyes never opened. I could feel him slipping away. The tethers not yet binding us were fading.

Hera moved to the table, barking out orders. She cut the shirt from King’s body, and fresh blood pooled. She cursed, and her gaze snapped to me. “You’re his only hope. You have to keep him here.”

“How? Tell me what to do. I’ll do it.”

“You need to bite him. Bond yourself to him. It may be enough to save him.”

The guys instantly started shouting.

“It could kill her!” Puck yelled.