All For One [Nuworld 3] (47 page)

straight. They flew in silence for a few minutes before Darius made a gurgling sound as

he attempted to clear his throat.

“Don’t you dare throw up on me,” she hissed and checked the area to see if they

had company. They didn’t. It would be almost an hour before they reached his house.

She had to push Darius back to turn on her comm and he groaned when she moved

him.

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“Dr. Digo,” she said and then brushed away Darius’ hand when he tried to take her

comm away. “Meet me at Lord Darius’ house. I’ve got him with me and he’s lost a lot of

blood. He’ll need immediate attention. He’s got a bad blow to his head and there’s a

nasty gash hanging wide open going down his leg.” She paused for a moment to listen

and turned her head to see Darius leaning his head against the back of the glider.

His eyes were barely open and she could see the severity of his injuries as flesh

hung next to his ear. “On second thought, doctor, it would take less time for me to come

straight to you. Plan for emergency surgery.” She paused as she saw Darius’ eyes roll

back into his head. “I don’t know if I can keep him conscious.”

She flipped off the comm and stared at the huge man who was literally wrapped

around her with his long legs and long arms. He was so much like his brother yet so

incredibly different. She remembered the day she’d learned he’d cheated on Tara and

sent her running to the southern continent.

It was the day she learned to despise him. As the winters passed, she grew

accustomed to viewing him with ill-reputed regard. But as she stared at the bloody face

she realized that, like Tara, she also had forgiven him his crimes. And wasn’t she

literally arguing in defense of his bastard son earlier that day? She watched his eyes

close the rest of the way and knew she had to keep him awake.

“It figures you’re not man enough to handle the pain,” she shot at him.

His eyes fluttered and she allowed him time to focus on her before she continued to

berate him.

“I’ve seen Tara torn up worse than you are and continue in battle.”

“I was shot down, I was.” His voice gurgled and she realized with fear that his

lungs were filling with fluid. He coughed and then winced in pain.

“You couldn’t even walk. But then, Tara’s a Runner. We’re obviously a superior

race.”

His face hardened for a second and then to her surprise a small smile crossed his

face.

“Why are you doing this?” His glassy gray eyes met hers.

“Doing what?” She frowned and suddenly worried he might not be as hurt as she

originally thought.

“You’re sparring with me to keep me conscious, you are. If you hate me so much

why don’t you let me die, you wench?”

“Because Torgo doesn’t want to be Lord of Gothman and Andru is too young.” She

reached up to lift a matted curl from his open wound and fresh blood trickled over his

eye. He raised his hand and she realized he was, in fact, very weak. She grabbed her

headscarf, set the glider on autopilot, then turned and tied the black cloth around his

forehead. He lowered his head compliantly and allowed her to administer her task.

“I daresay, if you hate me so much, you could have simply left me alone out there,

you could.”

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“I’m not cold-hearted. Would you have left me alone out there?”

“No.” Once again she felt uneasy under his gaze. He smiled slightly at her and then

surprised her again by reaching out and taking her hand in his. “Thank you.”

She looked down at his large hand encircling her smaller hand but didn’t try to pull

away.

“Why were you out there?” Darius asked after a moment of silence. She looked up

again at him and wondered how much of this conversation he would remember.

“I was thinking.”

“You and Torgo have a fight?”

“Kind of. I ran out on him.”

“Family trait.” He muttered and then coughed and his body convulsed. She

worried he would be sick and turned back to the controls to make the glider go faster.

“He didn’t approve of what I was doing.”

He looked at her and for a moment she feared he was definitely a lot more coherent

than she thought originally.

“Dare I ask?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t think you could handle the knowledge right now, my Lord.”

She didn’t say his title sarcastically and this alerted all his internal signals. He

suffered to straighten himself and focused both eyes on her. She was quite as beautiful

as his Tara and there was a family resemblance, although she wasn’t blood relation to

his claim but related through her grandpapa’s claim. Maybe it was the stubborn streak

that so easily crossed her face that reminded him of Tara.

“You can tell me now when I’m liable not to remember…or you can tell me later

when I discover something’s amiss, you can.” He annoyed her immediately with his

ability to overpower her even on the brink of unconsciousness.

“I’ve been training Roth and Beel to fight.” She spoke quickly and then turned from

him just as quickly and focused on the controls of the glider. He still hadn’t let go of her

hand and his grip didn’t tighten at her words.

“I knew Torgo would disable that bomb, I did. My sensors showed it never

exploded. I suppose Torgo financed putting them up in decent housing, yes?”

“Yes, he did.”

“And that is why you were in Taratown?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“Not really.”

“How well does he fight?”

“Quite well. It’s in his blood.”

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She finally released her hand from the giant one over it and maneuvered the glider

down slowly. Dr. Digo and several other Runners stood waiting on the ground with a

gurney among them.

“Syra, my eyes trick me. I see Tara.” Darius leaned forward for a better view and as

a result fell into Syra.

“Get off me, you big lug.” She cursed as the glider temporarily swerved to the right.

She managed to push Darius back, regain control of the glider, and land it gently.

“I thought they got you.” Darius fell forward into Tara’s arms the second the glider

dome was up.

Everyone worked quickly to get the large lord out of the glider and then into the

makeshift tent that appeared to have been set up strictly for the purpose of tending to

the Lord of Gothman. Syra walked along one side of him, his blood on her back,

shoulders and hands. Tara held his hand on the other side.

“Is there much damage to the clan?” he asked Tara. He grimaced with pain as four

large Runners helped move him from the gurney to a large operating table. Dr. Digo

quickly injected him with something.

“We’ll talk about all that later.” She smiled lovingly at the lord but Syra saw the

concern in her eyes when she looked up at the doctor.

Darius turned and grabbed Syra’s arm. “We’ll get Torgo back.”

“Is he going to remember any of this?” Syra looked up at the doctor.

“I doubt it but we need to get him into surgery.”

“Darius, you were mighty brave back there,” Syra said quickly and quietly. “I don’t

think I could handle the amount of pain you must be experiencing right now.”

He smiled sleepily as the drug worked its way through his bloodstream.

“Be good for the doctor. We don’t want to lose you,” Syra added and then leaned

over to kiss him gently on the cheek. His eyes had closed though and she knew he was

completely sedated.

She walked into Tara’s arms then and the two of them walked outside the tent

where Balbo and Andru eagerly embraced them as well.

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Chapter Twenty-Six

The reports were coming in faster than Tara could acknowledge them. She

slammed her fist down on the table next to the landlink. “Damn, how did this happen?

They don’t have a fraction of our power.” She spoke to herself in the small landlink

room as she read the number of casualties they’d experienced at the hand of the Tree

People. They had no prisoners, no negotiating tools, and the Tree People had

kidnapped Torgo. Why weren’t they able to stop them? Why didn’t they see them

coming?

She shoved in a disc and replayed a surveillance program that showed what their

systems detected right before the attack. “Our systems didn’t show any signs of them,”

she mumbled.

“Mama, how are you doing?” Andru stuck his head through the partially opened

door.

“Frustrated and angry,” she said through her teeth and then gestured for him to

enter. “I don’t get it, Andru. Our surveillance equipment was working properly but we

didn’t detect them. They attacked with an ardor we didn’t know they possessed. They

captured Torgo, seriously injured Darius and then took off—why weren’t we able to

stop them?”

“Why indeed, Mama?” Andru sat down next to his mama and leaned forward with

intent eyes. “The dog-woman told me good was dancing with evil. She told me to watch

carefully. I never know what she means until after the fact, it seems.” Tara nodded that

she understood. “But I think I see it now. Mama, we are the good.”

“I know, sweet child.”

“We are also the evil.”

“What?” His mama stared at him in disbelief.

“I see anger, unforgiven crimes, jealousy, and unjustifiable cravings for power. I see

all of that in one person…but I also see love, strength, the desire to please, and

incredible faith.”

“You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”

Andru nodded slowly and Tara blew out a loud exhalation.

“Mama, crimes were committed against you. Crimes that hurt you and shattered

your pride. You claim you’ve forgiven but you haven’t let go and truly let your heart