He pressed it inside. Instantly her spots lit up as the skin slowly began to knit together. Her eyes snapped open as her mouth gaped in a silent scream.
She was in pain, and he was to blame.
Frantically, Kaede bit along her limbs, injecting his paralyzing venom into her, hoping to both dull her pain and prevent her from moving.
Her fear-laced eyes pleaded with him to save her as he sank teeth into her arm.
“I have you, Selena,” he swore. “I’m sorry I was too late, but I promise I will make the pain go away soon. Just listen to me and hold on.”
The ship jolted, which could only mean one thing. They were being attacked.
But by whom? His sisters would have contacted him if they were near, to help coordinate a rescue plan, knowing that planning any earlier was futile due to their rapidly changing circumstances.
A crewman burst through the doors, and Q instantly shot at him, but he was able to dodge, pulling out a pistol to aim at Selena.
Kaede jumped in front of her body as a burning stab hit him midback and knocked him to his knees. A shot and a thud later, he knew Q had killed the male who had hit him.
< FOUR DOWN. THREE TO GO. ONE PRESENT. >
This day kept getting better and better.
“Q, do you still have access to your Cryopods?” Kaede hissed, wincing as he pulled himself up.
“I should, yeah. Why?” he glanced toward him.
“We’re being attacked, and there are still hostile crewmembers onboard, so I need to get Selena off this ship while I still can,” he explained. “She is barely alive and can’t walk. I would rather have her sent away for my sisters to pick up so I can focus on helping you retake the ship.”
“But what if the attackers intercept her?” Q asked. “What are you going to do then?”
“Do what I do best and hunt for her,” he promised. “I was able to find her across the galaxy not once, but twice. I can do it again.”
“If that’s what you want to do... it’s Z you’ll have to face if you fail, not me,” he muttered. “The pods are across the hall and to the right.”
“Thank you,” Kaede whispered, earning him a stunned glance from Q. “Can you cover me?”
“I never thought I would hear those words come out of your mouth,” Q noted. “I guess there’s a first time for anything.”
Not bothering to respond, he disconnected Selena from all of her restraints. While her cuts were still very raw, they were indeed healing, her spots glowing a soft blue-green. He hoped that meant that the gem was helping, somehow, because he needed her to live.
Wrapping her carefully in her blankets, he struggled to pick her up. The wound in his back was still open, and he cursed his healing for not kicking in yet.
He took a deep breath and met Selena’s worried eyes. “I know I have begged for you to trust me multiple times. This is another one of those times.” He grunted as he lifted her off the medical table and struggled to cross the room.
Q opened the med bay doors, checking the hall before waving him on.
Kaede followed, slowly and carefully, for without his gadgets and severely wounded, he was useless. Too slow to bite someone or to dodge. The best he could do was try and hack the ship’s control system, closing off sections and perhaps even cutting some air supply to wait out the battle until his sisters arrived.
Another bolt hit the ship, slamming Kaede into the wall back-first. He hissed in pain yet refused to put down Selena. He had made a promise, and he was going to keep it. Her life was more valuable than his.
“You ok, Kaede?” Q whispered. “The pods are just around the corner.”
“I got it,” he grunted. “Just cover us.”
He refused to cry from the pain in front of Selena. If she wasn’t crying about her injuries, then he wouldn’t either. A shot in the back was nothing compared to her being scalped and having her chest split open, for Stars only knew what horrifying procedure.
Q opened one of the Cryopods and nodded. “I will keep watch,” he whispered, squeezing his shoulder.
Kaede sent him a silent thanks as he placed Selena into the Cryopod, checking her wounds as he carefully buckled her up.
Another bolt hit the ship, knocking Kaede forward. He grunted when one of his horns caught on the ceiling.
“Kaede,” Q muttered. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but we’re in the middle of a three-way fight at the moment. Two ships are firing on each other, and we’re returning fire. I don’t know what we’ve run into, but one ship is Quaww, and the other isn’t a ship that I’ve seen before.”
Kaede cursed once again. He couldn’t believe his sisters hadn’t hailed him yet.
< REI. HAIL MY SISTERS. ARE THEY NEARBY? >
< A NEGATIVE. >
< B POSITIVE. >
< K NEGATIVE - PALACE. >
< N NEGATIVE. >
< Z NEGATIVE. >
If K was at the palace, that meant she’d been redirected there to aid Selena’s Favored. B was nearby, which meant they just needed to hold on until she arrived.
But first, he needed to get Selena to safety. As soon as he got her off this hostile ship in her Cryopod, he could breathe easier knowing that she had a better chance of survival out there. If she remained on board, he wouldn’t be able to protect her; he could hardly defend himself.
Leaning over, he cupped her face like he’d seen her Favored do and gazed into her lost and confused blue-green eyes.
“Selena,” he whispered. “Listen to what I’m about to tell you, because I may not be able to say these words
