“Call off your forces,” Elijah said.
Fitz remained silent, clearly trying to buy time.
“You heretics are hopeless,” Elijah said. He nodded at Murphy.
The doctor bent down to examine the tools on his surgical cart. He opened one of the stainless-steel boxes. Dohi had just enough of a view to see a roping chunk of intestine on ice.
The three juveniles that had devoured Esparza began to prowl around the stage, their yellow eyes sizing up Rico and Fitz hungrily.
“The first step is integrating Variant organs into her body,” Murphy said.
“And it is an extraordinarily painful operation,” Elijah added.
Fitz glared at the beast, then over at Dohi.
Stay strong. All it takes is all you got, brother.
Murphy examined the surgical blade he had selected, rotating it in the dim light of the throne room. He brought it close to Rico. She writhed in the grip of the vines, but in response, the webbing stretched more tautly.
“No!” Fitz shouted.
Dohi pushed against his restraints, trying to free a hand. If he could get one free, maybe…
A Chimera strode over and put a cutlass to his belly.
“Move again, and I gut you, heretic,” he grumbled.
A rash of gunfire exploded somewhere outside the throne room. This time, it sounded like it might have even come from inside the command building. The Chimera lowered his cutlass and turned his back to Dohi.
The doctor looked up from his cart of tools. Four Chimeras moved toward the entrance to the throne room.
At that moment, Dohi braced his feet against the wall and summoned all of the strength in his legs, pushing against the webbing covering his chest. His nerves screamed as he strained muscles already bruised from his injuries.
But thoughts of what the beasts had done to Ace and Lincoln and Mendez fueled him.
Vines ripped away, and he lunged forward with an animalistic war cry, ramming hard into the Chimera. Dohi grabbed a sheathed knife on the back of the soldier’s belt.
More gunshots came from the hallway, followed by cursing screams.
Dohi drowned it all out.
His world shrunk to his target as he pulled the knife and rammed it into the side of the creature’s neck. He punched another hole into his throat, then a third.
The Chimera slumped, gushing blood, and Dohi picked up the cutlass.
He held the blades out and shouted, “Come and get it!”
The Chimera guarding Fitz strode over, swinging his own blade. Dohi jumped back from the slicing blade. The beast swung again, and Dohi ducked lower, the air above his head whooshing past. He struck out with his cutlass, splitting the creature’s belly open, and then closed in to stab his knife into its neck.
The vines around Rico coiled tighter like a boa constrictor around prey, and Dohi could see the color draining from her face as he searched for the next hostile.
Elijah stood beside the doctor Murphy and his three cronies. They all watched, saying nothing. The juveniles prowled toward him, waiting to strike, and two other Chimeras aimed rifles at him.
“What now?” Elijah asked.
“I’ll kill you all,” Dohi said. He stood his ground, chest heaving, fresh blood dripping off his blades.
“Like your bearded friend tried?” Elijah laughed. “You have the heart of a warrior, but your faith is misplaced. You won’t leave this room alive.”
Dohi looked over at Fitz who was squirming on the ground. Rico stared down at them both, face pale and eyes bulging.
Elijah pointed at the masterminds, and webbing snaked from the floor, wrapping around Dohi. He hacked through the climbing tendrils and jumped away, but the juveniles easily cornered him.
This was it. Nowhere to run.
Soon he would see Ace, Mendez, and Lincoln again.
Reunited as brothers in death.
He raised the blades and screamed again, charging at the juveniles.
The creatures hesitated, seeming confused. They twisted, growling and looking at the doorway.
At the entrance were four more Chimeras. At first, Dohi thought they were more enemies.
But he recognized one.
Corrin.
He and his companions had killed the remaining Chimera guards near the entrance. Corrin stormed the room while unleashing a hail of bullets, his team of three Chimeras following him.
The guards near Elijah returned fire and dove for cover as the juveniles bounded away from Dohi, launching themselves toward their new targets. Two of Corrin’s allies went down, and Elijah jumped off the stage to avoid the onslaught of incoming rounds.
Dohi wasted no time rushing straight for Rico.
Murphy shrieked and tried to cower behind her, but Dohi swung the cutlass into his bent back, slicing it open. The three assistants had already fled.
Rico looked down at Dohi as he hacked the vines holding her in place. She collapsed to the stage in a heap of limbs. The vines around her chest wriggled and loosened.
“Fitz,” she moaned before her eyes fluttered closed.
Dohi scrambled over to free his other friend while his enemies were distracted. A few slices was all it took. Fitz broke through the rest of his restraints.
He crawled over the stage toward Rico, and Dohi took off for the remaining Chimera fighting with Elijah. Corrin’s last ally went down in a blaze of fire, but at least the juveniles were all dead now.
Dohi leapt off the stage and stabbed his knife into the head of a Chimera firing next to Elijah. The other beast turned his aim toward Dohi as he crashed to the ground.
With a swift strike, Dohi speared his cutlass into the Chimera’s guts, then pulled down, spilling ropy intestines. He withdrew the blade and stood to face Elijah. The big Chimera was now holding two swords.
Corrin advanced down the aisle, snarling.
“It’s over,” he said.
“Not for me, you heretics!” Elijah screamed.
Dohi climbed over broken seats and joined Corrin in the aisle, approaching Elijah with their swords cocked back.
“For Ace,” Dohi said.
Corrin nodded.
The two soldiers swung their blades toward Elijah. He met their blades with his own in a shrieking crash of metal on metal, sparks flying. The impact of the metal-on-metal sent both Dohi
