Nykyrian cursed again.
His breathing ragged, Darling barely heard them as he held on to Maris with what little strength he had. Never in his life had he been more grateful for his best friend's appearance.
"I've got you, Darling," Maris whispered in his ear. "Through thick and thin, brothers to the bitter end. No one's going to hurt you again. I swear it."
Syn gently touched Darling on the shoulder. "I'm going to knock you out, okay?"
Darling nodded. Please make the pain stop. He didn't care if Syn's dosage killed him so long as it made his body numb.
Syn pulled out an injector from the deep pocket on his left leg, then shot it into Darling's arm.
Over Maris's shoulder, Darling locked gazes with Zarya who'd been cuffed by Jayne. He saw the horrified agony in her amber eyes that were filled with tears.
I didn't know what they did to you, she mouthed to him. I'm so sorry.
Did she really think that mattered to him now? After all he'd been through?
Go to hell, bitch.
The last thing he heard before the drug knocked him out was Nykyrian's angry order for the rest of the Sentella members. "Kill them. Every fucking one who breathes. I want them hunted down and ripped into pieces. Take your time and make it hurt."
Nero inclined his head to Nykyrian. "I'm going to help end a few lives." Then he left the room.
"Save some for me, boy," Hauk called, following after him.
Caillen placed his hand on Darling's head. "I plan to find a few of them to party with myself. I'll meet you guys back at the ship." He made an even quicker exit than Nero and Hauk had.
Jayne grabbed Zarya by the hair, and held her for Nykyrian's inspection. "You want to kill her, or can I do it?"
Nykyrian considered their options and the bloodlust that lay beneath Jayne's tone. The hyshian lived to kill.
But not that one.
Not yet.
"Save her for Darling. He deserves the honor of killing at least one of them. And since she was the last one in here..."
Jayne sighed in disgust. "Damn, boss. You take all my fun away." She shoved Zarya back against the wall. "Be grateful, 'ho. There's nothing I love more than a good, long skinning."
Ignoring them and swinging Darling up into his arms so that he could gently cradle him, Maris wept over what had been done to Darling's now frail body. He'd been so beautiful and strong before...
Now, he looked like a walking corpse.
What they'd done went beyond inhumane. For the first time in his life, he wanted blood from another human being. "Have you ever seen anything like this?" he asked Syn.
"Not in a long time." Syn glanced over his shoulder at Nykyrian. "Nemesis has been through worse, and for a lot longer period of time."
Maris glared at that woman as true hatred filled him. "How could you!"
"I didn't--"
Jayne backhanded her, then shot her in the chest. "Don't worry," she assured Nykyrian as he took a step toward her in protest of her actions. "I didn't kill the bitch... yet. It's just a good stunning to shut her up before I yielded to the desire I have to gut her."
Nykyrian shook his head. "I'll carry Darling," he said to Syn. "You get the woman."
Syn put the injector back into his pocket. "You won't hold it against me if I accidentally drop her a few times on her head, will you?"
"Not at all."
"I knew I loved you for a reason." Syn went to retrieve her.
Maris stopped Nykyrian before he took Darling out of his arms. "Will he be all right?"
Syn was the one who answered. "Physically, I think I can fix most of it. Mentally..." He glanced at Nykyrian and paused.
Nykyrian snorted. "Yeah, I'm still severely fucked up. I own that fact. It's not like I can hide it." He cleared his throat before he continued. "But to answer your question, Mari, there's no telling. No one comes through torture intact. You've been around us long enough to know that. After mine, I was like an animal for a long time. Some days, I still am."
Syn tossed the woman roughly over his shoulder. "Ditto. I was certifiable and alcoholic until my sister-in-law verbally kicked my ass and made me realize what I was doing to myself. I can't believe I'm going to admit this outside my head, but thank the gods for Kasen. Anyone ever tells her I said that and I'll deny it, then kill you."
Sick to his stomach, Maris allowed Nykyrian to take Darling from him, and lead him back toward the hangar. He wasn't as optimistic about his friend as they were. He knew Darling better than anyone, and before this had happened, Darling had been surfing the edge of paranoid insanity.
Every time he'd seen him, Darling had become more and more silent and sullen.
More unpredictable and defiant.
The ongoing hatred and rage Darling kept for his mother and uncle had blazed in his eyes like a tangible beast that wanted blood, and that repressed fury had scared Maris to the point, he'd expected Darling to lash out at them and kill them for it.
Would this push him over the edge?
It's all my fault...
"If I'd only found him sooner," he breathed.
Jayne rubbed his arm with a kind caress as she walked by his side. "Don't go there, Mari. But for you remembering the woman's name, we'd have never found him at all."
Perhaps.
Yet looking at Darling's condition, it was hard to see any kind of bright side. They'd torn him up so foully.
So cruelly...
How could anyone do this to another human being?
I wish my fighting skills were honed and up to date. Had they been, he'd hunt them down and make them regret their vicious brutality. But he'd walked away from his training years ago, and while he did work out to keep his lean muscles defined and was occasionally Darling's sparring partner, he no longer had a warrior's build.
Even when he'd possessed some of the best fighting skills in the universe, he hadn't wanted them.
Unlike his brothers, Maris had never enjoyed hurting other people, especially not for sport or practice.
However, tonight, he understood the need to taste and let blood.
Please be all right. He wouldn't be able to live if anything happened to Darling. He knew that.
Darling was his entire world. He always had been.
And as he watched Nykyrian carrying Darling on board their ship, a bad premonition went through him.
By their actions with this, the Resistance had awakened the devil himself and there would be hell to pay for it. Not from Maris. Not from the Sentella.
But from Darling.
If there was anything in this universe Darling truly hated, it was being a victim. Having his hands tied so that he couldn't fight back.
It was an unforgivable sin where Darling was concerned. And contrary to popular thought, Darling was one of the most skilled fighters out there. Maris would even run him up against Nemesis/Nykyrian.
Once Darling regained his strength from this, he would become the very god of death and retribution that Hauk had proclaimed him as a joke. No one suspected that darkest side of Darling existed, but Maris knew and it scared him to the core of his soul.
Take cover, bitches.
The right hand of retaliation was about to come calling. And it was going to be brutal.
There would be no escape or sanctuary. Not for any of them. May the gods take pity on all who came into Kere's path because he knew Darling wouldn't.
6
Darling came awake slowly to the sound of something beeping in a steady rhythm nearby. He held his breath, waiting for that familiar, rancid pain to kick in.
It didn't.
But when he tried to open his eyes and couldn't, panic tore through him immediately. Had they finally blinded him?
Am I dead?
He felt a kind, gentle touch on his shoulder. "Sh... It's okay, baby. It's me, Mari. Don't strain yourself. You're safe. No one's going to hurt you."
Darling relaxed at the sound of Maris's soothing voice in his ear. He tried to s
peak, but he couldn't do that either.
What was in his mouth now? Even with Maris here, panic consumed him.
Maris took his right hand, and cupped it with both of his. "You're in the Sentella's hospital. Syn's been tending you since you were freed. We have you, sweetie. It's all good now. Don't worry about anything, okay?"
Darling tightened his hand around Maris's fingers as gratitude overwhelmed him and he remembered his rescue. It hadn't been a dream after all. He was free and alive.
Thank the gods.
"Is he awake?" That was Caillen's voice from a distance.
Darling heard his heavy footsteps as he neared the bed on the opposite side of where Maris stood. Since Caillen had been trained as a smuggler and not a thief or assassin, his footsteps were very distinctive and extremely loud compared to the rest of Darling's friends.
"He just woke up."
Someone touched Darling's left arm in a roughened grip. "Boy, I ought to kick your ass for this. What kind of fool-headed lunacy were you thinking? Taking off alone? You better be glad you're on a monitor or I'd be strangling you right now." That was Hauk's gruff, accented voice, taking him to task. Something that meant the Andarion had been terrified for real. Hauk had the most screwed up way of showing his emotions.
Caillen rubbed Darling's shoulder above where Hauk had touched him. "We searched everywhere for you, for months and months. I give those bastards credit, they were slippery. But for Maris, I'm not sure we'd have ever found you."
Another thing he owed Mari.
"He's up?" Syn asked as he entered the room. Unlike Caillen, Syn's footsteps were as silent as Hauk's and Nykyrian's, something extremely impressive given their heights and Hauk's mountainous build.
Darling felt Caillen and Hauk step back as Maris released his hand so that Syn could examine him.
"If you can hear me and understand what I'm saying, Darling, tap my hand one time with your thumb." Syn slid his hand under Darling's.
Darling tapped him once.
"Good, man. Now if you want me to update you on your condition, tap again."
Darling did, even though he could tell by the catch in Syn's voice, and the fact that he couldn't move at all or see anything, that it was bad.
Real bad.
"All right. I had to do surgery on your mouth and esophagus. And you're still on a ventilator, which is one of several reasons why you can't speak. Everything has been repaired, but it'll need a few more weeks before you can use your voice again. Whatever you do, don't try to speak until I give you clearance for it."
Darling tapped Syn's hand to let him know that he understood. The last thing he wanted to do was prolong his healing.
Syn kept speaking. "I have your eyes bandaged because you had severe hyphemas and orbital blowout fractures."
Like he knew what those were. Damn, Syn. I'm not a doctor. And while blind, he couldn't look up a definition.
"They're from..." Syn paused for a second and when he spoke again, there was no missing the bitter rage in his voice. "Being kicked and punched repeatedly in the face and head. Because of that, I had to reconstruct your nose, both cheekbones, and part of your jaw. We also implanted teeth that had been knocked out or damaged beyond repair. You'll have lifelong problems with your sinuses because of the reconstruction, and you'll be susceptible to nosebleeds and infections, but we'll deal with those when they happen."
Darling flinched as those words reminded him of the blows he'd taken from his former allies, and the blood that had poured out of his nose, mouth, and eyes from their attacks.
He couldn't even think about the rest of the damage they'd done. Not without wanting to scream.
"Both eyes are healing fine and I should be able to take the bandage off your right eye tomorrow. The left one will take a little longer to heal. I'm not sure how badly your vision will be compromised from the injuries, but with any luck, you won't be blind. You should have most of your vision in both eyes."
Most? Darling clenched his teeth in anger.
"Hopefully all of it. We won't know for sure though until about a week after both bandages are off. I called in an old friend of mine who's a specialist to do the last surgery on your eyes, and he said you had a better than a forty percent chance of a full recovery."
Forty percent? He didn't want to even contemplate what degree of blindness comprised the other sixty. It was sad when Syn was excited by a number that made him sick to his stomach.
"I know you know that they did a lot of other damage that you're probably worried about, too." Syn paused. "Guys? Can you give us the room?"
Cold dread consumed him as he waited for the really bad news Syn was obviously about to give him.
Syn didn't speak again until they were alone. "They seriously screwed you up, little brother. But you should be able to have sex again. At least eventually, though there's a fifty percent chance you might have chronic and severe pain with either an erection or ejaculation. Possibly both. And you have a seventy-five percent chance that you'll have some erectile dysfunction."
Oh yeah, there was something a guy wanted to hear. Welcome back, Darling...
Why the hell was he still alive?
Syn took a deep breath and continued to make him feel even worse. "You'll have to use stool softeners for the rest of your life, too. Any bowel movement is going to hurt like hell, and you are not going to want to ever allow yourself to be constipated. Hopefully, some of that pain will dull over time."
He pressed his hand against Darling's shoulder as if bracing him for the next round of Let's Make Darling's Day Bright and Shiny. "As your doctor, I have to stringently advise you against any kind of anal sex ever again. It's just not going to be worth the pain you'll have from it. Never mind the risk of infection. And while we did reconstruct a lot of your intestine and rectum, there's no telling what further damage any intrusion there might do to you."
That had never been his problem, but Syn didn't know that. Only Maris did.
Syn covered his hand and gave a light squeeze. "I should probably tell you that I've had you in a chemically induced coma for a little over four months now."
Four months.
Shit... Darling's heart thumped hard in his chest as that news slammed into him. Something that caused the monitor in the background to pick up tempo and start squealing. Syn stepped away to turn the volume down.
How long had he been out of things entirely?
Horror filled him as he realized he would have had another birthday during that time. I'm a year older.
So was Drake.
Just how long had Lise been dead? I missed her funeral.
Maybe that was for the best. Yet...
Why couldn't they have killed me, too? Why the hell was he still alive?
"Your family's fine," Syn said, completely unaware of the rising panic that was shredding him. "Nyk sent them to the Summer Palace the day after you were abducted so that your uncle wouldn't suspect anything. As far as anyone knows, you were simply visiting your sister at school when the two of you were ambushed."
At the mention of Lise, he choked on a sob.
"Take it easy, Darling." Syn put his hand on his shoulder again to steady him. "Annalise isn't dead. She lived, okay? She used her powers to pretend to be dead in the hangar so that they would leave her alone. It was a bad injury, but she's recovered from it now."
Darling held his breath as that news echoed in his head.
Annalise was really alive? Could it be true? Dare he even hope?
He tried to speak, then choked again.
"Careful. Breathe slowly. Remember what I told you about speaking... And yes, I'm serious. Hold on." Syn removed his hand from Darling's shoulder.
After a few seconds, Darling heard a link buzzing.
"Hello?" It was Lise's beautiful voice.
Tears stung his eyes as he whispered a silent prayer of gratitude. She was alive. Never in his life had anything meant more to him.
His precious Lisie lived...
"Hey, Annalise, it's Syn. I have Darling with me. He's finally awake. He can hear you, but he can't speak. I need you to say something to him so that he knows you're all right." Syn moved the link closer to Darling's ear.
"Sashi?" Lise sounded thrilled. "Hey, big shilo. I'm so glad you're back, you had us worried sick, and you made me flunk all of my exams. I had to repeat the entire semester. Thanks a lot. I still love you though, and I'm so glad you're still with me. Don't ever scare me like this again. You hear me? I have to have my good brother around. The other two really suck."
In spite of her chastising him, her voice was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you woke up. I stayed with you for over a month."
"I'm the one who told her to go back to school," Syn said, interrupting her. "There was nothing she could do to help and once school started back, I knew you'd want her in class."
He was right. Had he been conscious, Darling would have insisted on it.
"I'm on semester break right now," Lise continued, "so I'll come see you first thing in the morning. I promise. Even if I have to hijack something. I love you, Darling. Please get better soon."
"Thanks, Lise," Syn said. "Is your mother or brother around?"
"Drake isn't. He left a little while ago for a date, but let me check on Momair."
Unfortunately, Lise forgot to put the link on mute. He heard her walk from her room to their mother's.
"Hey, Momair? Darling's finally awake and he's on the link. You want to say hi to him?"
His mother let out a long breath of frustration. "Can't you see I'm busy, child? Really? He's been unconscious for months now, I don't think I need to rush to speak to him right this second, do you?"
"But--"
"Don't interrupt me. Tell him that we're all right, no thanks to him. Does he have any idea what he's put you through? How much damage he caused you to suffer? The scars you now have on your back? It's awful. Because of his puerile selfishness, you'll be disfigured for the rest of your life. And for what? So that he could pretend to play hero and get abducted? He's useless. I can't believe I thought for one instant that he might actually be able to help us. I guess we'll have to wait for Drake to get older. Maybe then things will get better."
"Momair... please. We almost lost him. I think he's suffered enough, okay?"