“Okay, I guess. I noticed that this transference of information is giving me a hell of a headache. No wonder Angelo has a hard time getting his people to volunteer to be field medics. It’s really cool, but it makes me cross-eyed at times.”
“If you’re cross-eyed to begin with, do they uncross?”
Mia stood and looked up at her husband. “You, sir, are asking for it.”
“I’ve been thinking…” Ted started.
“That’s always a dangerous thing, Teddy Bear,” Mia teased.
“No really, I’ve been thinking about our situation.”
“Go on.”
“I think we’ve been set up from the start. I think there is more going on here than simply one dude with a bone to pick with the Price Corporation.”
“And?”
“I think someone in the company is involved.”
“Kind of makes sense. Those security guards should have had the police come here instead of going down the hill themselves with the so-called prisoner.”
“We’re ready to move Burt now!” Mike called down.
“Drop down the harness, so I can help stabilize him,” Mia explained. “Please ask Murphy to come down once you have Burt moved to the bar.”
Mike did so, and between the three of them, they got Burt above the beams. Mia moved over to Ted.
Mia stayed in the harness. She anchored herself, giving her enough play to move along the rock without jostling Ted. He had landed on his side. The rebar penetrated his thigh, passing through an inch from his femoral artery.
“You were smart not to move,” Mia said. “I would have wigged out and…”
“No you wouldn’t have, Mighty Mouse.”
“How are you feeling?” she asked as she tenderly moved her hand under the hurt leg, determining how much room there was between the thigh and the broken cement slab.
“Not great. I’ve lost blood, and I think I hit my head on the way down,” Ted said.
Mia slid onto the slab behind him and examined his head. She didn’t like the look of the clotted wound on his head. She prayed there was no swelling or clotting going on inside his skull. Mia, once again, connected with the mages and let them work through her.
Ted felt so damn guilty. He had seen the faint tattooing on the back of her neck when she bent over to examine his thigh. Mia had talked about the risks of using her newfound power too much and how the birdman gene would tighten its hold on her physiology. What she was doing now for him, pretty much was sealing her fate. Mia Cooper Martin would end up with a full back of tattooed feathers.
“I’m sorry, Mia. I should have been more alert. Jake kept saying the data was wrong.”
“My darling, who’s to say that this thing I have isn’t a blessing? I can help you now because of it. How many mistakes have I made on my own? Somehow, there is always someone ready to help. As long as I come out of this with you and Brian, I’ll be happy, feathers and all. By the way, your head is fine. That monster brain of yours is housed in a solid skull.”
“What kind of bird will you chose to be?” Ted asked quietly.
“I don’t really know. My grandfather is a hummingbird, which is fast, but I’d prefer something scarier.”
“Do you have a choice?”
“Not initially. I may never make a full transformation. I may just end up with wings, like an angel.”
“That would be cool.”
“Nah, I would be a freak, but I’m kind of used to that.”
“I love you, Mia,” Ted said. “Feathers and all.”
“I love you, Ted, brains and all,” Mia said and tenderly kissed him. She could feel his blood pressure dropping as she touched his neck. “Where is that ghost?”
“Nice, you’re kissing me and thinking about Murphy. How romantic,” Ted whined.
“You don’t understand. I was feeling your pulse in your neck and…”
“I’m just funning you,” Ted said.
“Ted, before you pass out, let me tell you what is going to happen. I’m going to slide my sword under you. Between Murphy and me, we’re going to cut through the rebar. We have to leave it in. Taking it out now is too dangerous. Then we will get you topside and then, hopefully, to a hospital.”
“Mia, if I don’t make it, don’t marry Mike.”
“I don’t intend to,” Mia said. “There’s not going to be anyone after you, Ted. I’ve had the best of the best. Any other man is going to be a disappointment.”
Ted smiled sadly. “You need to be loved.”
“And that’s why you’re not going to give up on me. You should have let me take care of you first!” Mia scolded. “How dare you do this to me?”
Murphy arrived, and while Mia kept Ted distracted, she slid the sword under Ted and motioned to Murphy what had to be done. The metal of the angel sword moved evenly through the metal without jarring Ted too much. Mia tenderly lifted the leg, putting a trauma pack under the entrance wound and taped it. Together, she and Murphy moved him to the litter and took him topside.
Mia pulled the shield out of the mechanism and allowed the doors to close. She heard a winding sound and a couple of thunks. She hoped the doors had locked, but no one in their team would be walking over that spot anytime soon. There was a door in the bar that exited to the outside. They would, when ready, leave through there. Until then, Mia would continue to nurse her husband.
Mia tossed Mike his jeans which she’d used to pad the litter. There was a bloodstain running down one leg. He put them on without a comment.
“That was genius, Dupree. I’m so impressed that I’m going to have sex with you right here,” Mia said.
“Wait,” Ted said, lifting his hand to object. “I’m not dead yet.”
“Oh, sorry. Can you wait, Mike?”
“I’m a little busy anyway. Can I have a raincheck?”
“Sure.”
Audrey was at a loss for words. She knew why the two of them were flirting. They were trying to
