Page 26 of Marked for Vengeance
She did know one thing, however. If she didn’t kill the second creature, hewoulddie. He’d been through too much to win another fight against a monster like that.
It stood in the same place it had been before, but something had changed. It took a moment for her to see it. The creature had puffed up its throat until it looked like it had swallowed a balloon. Then it raised its head and loosed a booming call that almost deafened her.
“Shut up!” she screamed as she raised the pulse rifle to her shoulder.
Still vocalizing, the beast broke into a run, its lower legs driving it forward at a terrifying speed. It was charging toward the pool, and she knew without looking what it was heading for.
Vengeance.
She pulled the trigger once, twice, three times. It kept running. Body shots weren’t going to stop it. She paused, assessed, and chose a new target.
One leg buckled as an energy pulse shattered its knee joint. Did lizards have knees? She had no idea, but whatever she’d hit, it worked.
Once the creature was down, it was only a matter of time before she ended its life, but every second she had to focus on the monster was agony. She needed to get to Vengeance.
The second she was certain it was safe, she unclipped herself from the rope and started climbing down. By the time she reached the bottom, her hands were bloody and her pants were torn to shreds.
“Venge! You better not be dead!”
No answer. And no body. She didn’t know if that was good or bad. She called out again as she splashed into the pool, trying to find him.
A golden blur moved from behind the waterfall. “I’m here.”
He was alive. Thank the gods. Now she would not have to murder him for getting himself killed. The thought didn’t make any sense, even to her, so she cast it aside and focused on reaching his side.
He looked rough. His nose was bloody, his face swollen, and one of his horns was broken. She stopped in front of him, afraid to hug him in case she caused him pain.
“I told you I didn’t need the rope.”
She gaped at him for a second, not sure if she wanted to laugh, cry, or yell at him. She threw herself into his arms and kissed him instead.
Then she shouted, “I thought I’d lost you before I could tell you I loved you. Don’t you ever do that again!”
“Which part? Fight a thing we’ll have to come up with a name for? Get knocked off a waterfall by the nameless thing’s death throes? Or watch as my beautiful little warrior saved me from being eaten?”
“All of that!” she said. “And we’re calling them boomers.”
“Good name.” He smiled at her, which only made his split lip bleed more.
Tears streamed down her face as she led him to dry land. Then she gave him her rifle while she treated the worst of his injuries with items from her personal med-kit.
He kept touching her as if to reassure himself she was alright, and she never left his side for more than a second as she cleaned his wounds, regenerated the worst of the damage, and bandaged the rest.
He let her fuss over him, but the moment she was finished, he took charge again. “Sit.”
“What? Why?”
“Because your hands are cut to ribbons. Show me how to use that regeneration thing you used on me.”
She’d forgotten about her own injuries. Now that he pointed them out, the pain kicked in along with a heady sense of relief that unleashed a flood of tears.
“Damn it. You see what you made me do?” She held up one hand. “This is your fault, mister-I-don’t-need-a-rope.”
He kissed away her tears and then set to work patching her up. It didn’t take long, which was a good thing. Other boomers could be around. Even if not, the scavengers would show up soon. Too much blood and death lingered in the air for them to ignore.
“I wish I could give you some pain killers, but I have no idea how the meds in that kit would react to your biology.”
“I’ll be fine. You’re the one who needs something for pain.” He pointed to the kit. “Which one do you need?”
