Damn. Damn. Damn. I couldn’t leave him.
What the fuck was Rovo doing?
Turning the ReGen wand to a locked “on” position, I wedged the base between one of the large openings in Wulf’s armor where he’d been slashed open. I shoved it in as Wulf grunted in pain.
“Sorry.” Not sorry. “It’ll keep you alive.”
“Sadist.”
“You know it.” I grinned at Wulf even as I thought about killing Rovo when I saw him next. Kill. Him. Slowly. But even as I thought it, I worried. This wasn’t like him. Had he seen more wounded beyond that rock? Did he need help?
Shit. Something was wrong. I could feel it. Glancing around, you’d think nothing was amiss. The others were doing their jobs. Everyone working quietly and efficiently to get this done, get the wounded tagged and shipped out so we could go back to Zenith and recover. Get off this rock. This wasteland.
With the ReGen wand working in futility to heal Wulf’s massive chest, I made to stand. “I’ll come back for you.”
“No.” The Atlan’s command was sharp. Biting. Good. Maybe the wand was helping more than I thought.
I glanced from Wulf’s determined face to the rocks. Something. Was. Not. Right.
But I couldn’t let Wulf lie here and die either. He wouldn’t last long.
I scanned the others in MedRec, looking for their transport member.
They were all too far away, scattered on the battle area. Damn. I looked from Wulf to the transport pad, judged the distance. We were close. It was his best chance.
And I was going to kill Rovo when I saw him.
“Come on, soldier. On your feet.” I wedged my arm beneath his uninjured shoulder and tugged, hard. Nothing. He didn’t even budge.
God, he was heavy.
The teasing light in Wulf’s eyes faded as his gaze darted from the rocks back to my face.
I looked down and met his dark eyes. “Walk or die, Wulf. Because your free ride out of here is in trouble on the other side of those rocks, and I can’t carry you.”
Tugging again, I braced my legs under me and got him into a sitting position.
“Move it, Wulf! Move it now!” I yelled at him, I knew, but sometimes these guys didn’t listen to anything else. I knew he was hurting and tired and flirting with death. Maybe his beast would respond to a little aggressiveness.
And I was banking on the fact that he was tough as nails and wasn’t willing to let go of life just yet.
Wulf struggled to his feet, and I braced myself under his shoulder. “Come on. One step at a time.”
“Bossy.” He hissed through gritted teeth, but we moved. One step. Two. Three. My back felt like it was going to crack under his weight, but we inched forward. “What’s your name?”
“Harper.”
“That is not a proper name.”
“That’s what my dad always said, too.” I grinned, watching the ground as we moved, careful for anything that might make us stumble. I’d gotten him to stand once, but I doubted I’d be able to do it again. “But my mom won that argument.”
“Bossy, too.” He wheezed.
“Yes. Stop talking and walk faster.” It only took a couple of minutes, but it felt like an hour as we neared the transport pad and one of the Prillon warriors came down to help. He couldn’t leave the pad, I knew that, but I was relieved when we were close enough for him to bend the rules. “Get him to a ReGen pod, now!” I yelled.
The Prillon nodded and took Wulf from me as the giant Atlan slumped onto the pad. He was watching me as I backed away. “You’ll be all right, Wulf. Get him to that pod,” I ordered again. I glanced over my shoulder picking up the pace, my internal alarm bells going crazy now. Where the hell was Rovo? “Get him out of here!”
Running, I sprinted toward the boulders where Wulf said Rovo had gone when a rumble sounded, the growling thunder of some kind of shuttle engine, and it was coming from the wrong direction.