Page 334 of Hunters and Prey

Chapter 18

Chiara

Skye Palace

Planet Anarr

The Hai System

Chiara’s hands were still shaking. A combination of the adrenaline from her momentary kidnapping.

And the very last test.

It was one only she could do.

The edge of this damned floating island – that for a brief moment Chiara had thought she would meet her death from. Had the Snatcher been about to throw her off the edge or was he going to try and escape with her?

It was a question she would never get the answer to.

Chiara knew she never would have let the Snatcher capture her. She would have separated the Snatcher from the Drakesthai even if Roman hadn’t showed. And probably would have fallen to her death in the process.

Now she knew she could be on that edge if necessary – she knew that Roman would never let her fall. He had kept that promise. And now…Chiara knew she could live on a floating island if she needed to.

Her last test.

The edge no longer made her nervous.

Roman followed behind as she entered one of the surgical rooms. Chiara held up a hand for Roman to step back. Then she entered the surgical prep station and let it decontaminate her. Chiara stepped into the surgical covers next and approached the operating table with the Drakesthai still in surgery.

Gia and Gabe were doing an excellent job. His chest wound was nearly repaired and the cloned blood was replacing what the warrior had lost. Chiara grabbed a scanner and ran it over his head.

“Did you run the tests?” she asked Gia.

“The fractal lines on the back of his neck are already disappearing,” Gia told her as she sutured part of the male’s lungs closed with her laser. “I haven’t been able to do any tests though. Keeping him alive long enough to heal him has been problematic.”

“He coded three separate times before we got him stable,” Gabe informed her, pulling out a new breast plate he’d just printed from the bone replicator. Settling it into place he held it for Gia to fuse to the new ribs.

“All right give me a second here. You’re sure about what you said in your last report?” Chiara asked, running the necessary tests and scans on the brain.

Gia nodded, repairing the tissue and muscle as she started to close the warrior up. “Positive. Without a purposeful extraction the consciousness dissipates into nothing. That’s what happened with Drozer – the Snatcher that was in the Royal Guard, Alpha, when he tried to take the queen and she killed him for it.”

“So if they die in the host body they’re dead for real,” Chiara confirmed, looking up at Roman to make sure he was listening.

Based on how wide his eyes were he could definitely hear them.

“Yes, Doctor,” Gia confirmed.

“The same happens when they’re spontaneously removed from a host?”

“Yes. They need to be prepared to go back. The only way they could survive a spontaneous removal is if someone activated the extraction from the host body. It would have a clear path to follow. What do the tests say?” Gia looked up from the last layer of dermal tissue she was fusing together.

“The brain shows no sign of the Neprijat. Only the residual change left from the parasite. Already it seems to be healing the damaged neurons,” Chiara murmured. “We can successfully remove a Snatcher from a body now.”

She looked up at Roman and smiled. “Your warrior will live and the Snatcher is dead.”

There was a silver rim around Roman’s eyes as he just looked at her. “You’re sure?” he asked.

Chiara smiled and nodded. “Get him closed up and make sure he’s completely stable before putting him into recovery. Thank you for the excellent work Gia.”

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