Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79603 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79603 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“I’ll do everything I can for him.” Sylvan’s voice was grim. “But his pulse is very weak and it looks like he lost a lot of blood.” He nodded at the pool of crimson they were both kneeling in.
“He can’t die. Please don’t let him die!” Imani whispered. It was a prayer—a desperate plea. “Please, oh please don’t let him die!”
But if the Goddess heard her prayer, she was silent.
Imani knew there was nothing she could do but wait and see.
Forty-One
Leaving the courtroom was a blur.
As the Kindred warriors were loading J’are onto a floating stretcher, Judge Thoughtgood came out from under her judicial podium. Her purple tower of hair was completely wilted around her shoulders and she had a shocked look on her face.
“Councilor Williams, I have not released your client,” she said, frowning, as though she was trying to get back to normal despite the carnage all around them.
“That’s too damn bad,” Imani snapped. “My client is in need of medical care so we’re taking him.”
“Yes, well…all right, I suppose.” The judged nodded, still looking shocked. “But…what about those?” She nodded at the two remaining morphids which were standing silently over Lady Bittlebum’s headless body.
“Here.” Imani thrust the bloodstained blonde wig at her. “Wave this over their antennae and give them an order. I’m pretty sure that’s how Lady Bittlebum was controlling them—there’s some kind of scent or pheromone in the wig they respond to.”
“All right, well…” Judge Thoughtgood gingerly took the grimy wig, which was now more orange than yellow due to the blood it had soaked up, between her thumb and fingers and held it at an arms’ length.
“I have to go,” Imani told her. “And I’m never coming back to your horrible planet again!”
Turning, she followed the floating stretcher as the Kindred warriors steered it out of the courtroom.
Just let J’are live, she thought to herself as she walked. Please, just let him live!
Forty-Two
“Hey, doll, how are you doing?” Kat peeked into the room at the Med Center where Imani was sitting on an exam table. “I heard you were back here and I thought—”
Imani burst into tears.
“Oh, Kat!” she exclaimed, shaking her head. “Everything is such a mess!”
“Oh no! What’s wrong? What happened?” Kat came over at once and put a comforting arm around Imani’s shoulders.
“J’are’s going to die,” Imani sobbed. “I just know he is! And it’s all my fault for getting so angry at him and wishing we hadn’t gotten bonded!”
“Wait a minute—start from the beginning!” Kat exclaimed. “Who’s J’are and how did you get bonded to him?”
“He…he’s my client. Or he was my client—now he’s my mate. Or he will be if he lives—but oh, Kat—I’m so afraid he’s going to die!”
Imani couldn’t help herself. She was full of guilt and self-recrimination. She felt certain that because she hadn’t wanted to be bonded to the big Nightwalker in the first place, she was going to be punished by losing him. How could she have only realized she loved J’are when it was too late? And how could she live the rest of her life without him?
“Imani, honey…” Kat sounded bewildered. “You’ve only been gone a few days and you’re telling me you’re already bonded?”
At that moment Liv, the doctor who had been taking care of Imani since she got back to the Mother Ship, entered the room. She was looking down at a chart and talking as she came in.
“Well, you’re right about one thing—you’re definitely pregnant,” she told Imani. “But I’m afraid it’s too early to tell if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“What? Pregnant?” Kat exclaimed.
Liv looked up.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Imani—I didn’t know anyone else was in here with you. Kat, you’re supposed to ask before you go in to see a patient!” she admonished her friend.
“Sorry, doll—I just heard Imani was here and I wanted to check on her since I’m the one who got her ready to go to Yonnie Six in the first place,” Kat said. She squeezed Imani’s shoulders. “It sounds like things happened pretty fast over there, huh?”
“Extremely fast,” Imani agreed, swiping at her swollen eyes with a sleeve of the large medical gown she was wearing. She was grateful for it—it certainly covered more than her Yonnie Six court clothes.
“Want to talk about it?” Liv asked, coming to sit on the other side of Imani on the exam table.
“First can you tell me if J’are is all right?” Imani looked at her hopefully.
“The last I heard Sylvan was still working on him. He lost a lot of blood and I think there was some nerve damage from the pain collar,” Liv said gently. “But please don’t worry, hon—Sylvan is a very good surgeon and he’s being assisted by our Tolleg surgeon, Yipper. You couldn’t ask for a better team to work on your guy.”