Page 50 of Princess

“She took a bite,” King shouted to someone.

“Where are you injured?”Axel asked urgently.

“Thigh.My water broke, and something is stinging my side,” I gasped.

Axel lay me on my back.

“She’s got a piece of shrapnel above her hip.I need her back at the citadel.”

“The baby,” I said as another pain assaulted me.

King lifted me and started running toward the vehicles.I hurt so much I couldn’t breathe, and the jostling didn’t help.

“Can you get the shrapnel out?”King asked Axel after placing me in the back seat.

“She’s losing blood, and I’m afraid she’ll lose more.I can’t do anything until I know what we’re dealing with.”

“Fuck,” King said.

Chapter Twenty-Three

King

Marinah moaned loudly.Beck drove the vehicle while I sat in the back, holding her, with Axel squatting between the front seats, facing us.We were still in Warrior form, and the heavy weight of K-5 filled the vehicle.

“Should she shift?”I asked Axel, while trying to keep my voice calm for Marinah’s sake.

“I’m unsure,” he replied, while checking the pulse at her wrist.“I’ll know for sure once I see how deep the shrapnel goes.”

He turned and rummaged through the medical bag he’d dropped into the floorboard of the passenger seat.He pulled out tubing and a saline bag.

“I need to get an IV into her.I don’t think the bleeding is dangerous, but I’ll feel better once I have a line in.Hold her arm steady for me.”

“Are you with me, Marinah?”I asked.

“Hurts,” she said between tightly clenched teeth.

I rearranged her so I could hold her arm out to Axel.She groaned again, and her body curled tightly against the pain.Axel got the needle in.My heart felt like it was pounding through my chest.

“Hold on,” I told her.

“Holding,” she ground out.

“Give her something for pain,” I demanded.

“No,” both Axel and Marinah said at the same time.

I growled low in my throat, but didn’t argue.

We pulled into the courtyard, and Axel jumped out.I tried to move toward the door, but Marinah grabbed my arm, her claws digging in.

“Don’t move me right now,” she gasped out.

“Get Kenneth and a stretcher,” Axel shouted.

I held Marinah while she panted.I realized blood saturated the front of me.I tried to take the second hellhound from her, but another attacked.

“I’m going to shift,” she gasped again.

---