I glimpsed the copter diving into a nearby canyon, about to crash like me; the wolf released its hold at the last second.
Then--
Impact. I landed in a standing position. The ground pulverized my legs.
15
"I have you," Aric grated. "Hold on, sieva!"
Consciousness wavered. I wanted to warn Aric, but speech felt impossible. So I tried to reach him mentally. The Emperor is coming. He's recharging.
Aric clutched me with one arm. With his other, he wielded a sword, cleaving his way through Bagmen.
So many. Thousands. Their wails were deafening.
Aric needed both hands, or he'd never get through this swarm alive. I would probably turn into a Bagger anyway. I was handicapping him. Leave me.
If Aric heard me, he didn't react, just continued to fight. As he swung and slashed, I saw flashes from the canyon: a blast, then billowing smoke. The helicopter had exploded! Would Aric get Sol and Zara's icons? Or would Lark?
The giant fireball from the crash lit our way.
Two howls sounded over the wails. Scarface and Maneater leapt in front of Thanatos, clearing a path through Baggers like a snowplow.
Aric murmured, "Good show, Fauna."
I was about to black out. "D-Dying. Sorry . . ."
He spurred Thanatos. "You are not dying!" We galloped faster. "Empress?"
All my reserves of strength were gone. I couldn't even answer him.
"Sieva?" The last thing I heard was his agonized bellow. . . .
When I roused again, I heard thundering hooves. Aric's ragged breaths. Steady rain.
I cracked open my eyes. Had we escaped the Bagmen? I whispered, "Aric?" I'd never been so cold; my body shuddered.
"Ah, gods, you're awake." He raised his helmet visor. "Don't talk. We're almost home." He looked exhausted. Rain pelted his armor and dripped down his proud face. If he'd been burned from the searing flood, his enhanced healing had already mended his skin.
When his eyes went starry as he gazed down at me, I released the tourniquet on my heart and started to bleed out, was dying anyway. "My powerful knight." I peered up at him with all the love I felt for him. "Knew you . . . couldn't be dead." I reached for his face, but my arm collapsed halfway.
"Save your strength, sieva."
"Baggers bit me . . . a lot. You'll . . . kill me . . . before I turn. Right?"
"It will not come to that," he said, his voice a rasp. "I will get you well from this."
Mist swirled around us as we rode at a breakneck pace. How was he still going? "Will you take care . . . of Gran?"
"You will not die! I will not allow it."
I tried to shake my head. Mistake. Neck broken? "Emperor will find your home . . . destroy you. Big finale."
"You led the Sun in the exact wrong direction, love."
I had? Naturally. "Will you kill . . . Richter for me?"
"Do not talk! If you save your strength, you will regenerate."
"Sol said the bites . . . neutralize Arcana powers. Healing myself . . . is a power." Something was very wrong inside me. Sickness had me by the throat, wouldn't let go.
Like a wolf slowly breaking my neck.
After the tiniest hesitation, Aric said, "Doesn't matter. This will be different."
I disagreed. Which meant I needed to talk to him. "Have to . . . tell you things." All the things I might have regretted. I began murmuring the thoughts in my head, not really aware of what I was saying.
I trusted Aric to pick what was important from my ramblings. I spoke until I was on the verge of unconsciousness again.
Whatever I'd said affected him. He yanked off his helmet so he could press his lips to my forehead as he clutched me close. . . .
I must have blacked out again; I jolted back to awareness when Aric yelled, "Circe, let us pass!"
The sound of waves, and then water receding. Was the Priestess nearby?
Thanatos galloped upward, upward, the air growing even colder. Just when I was about to drift off again, Aric told me, "We're home."
I was back at the castle of lost time? I opened my eyes, squinting. We rode through the giant gate and into the courtyard. Hooves clattered on the brick. Gas lights stung my eyes.
"I'm getting you help. Just hold on." Aric cradled me against his chest as he dropped from Thanatos and rushed inside, spurs ringing. "Lark, get the EMT!"
Lark . . . I'd missed her over the last few weeks. She'd led Aric to me. They'd both fought to save me.
"We're prepped and ready to go in the nursery, boss," she answered. "Under the sunlamps, just like you said."
Sunlamps. Clever Aric. They had strengthened me before. But I sensed I was beyond help. He hurried down the many steps to the underground nursery, telling me, "Stay with me. You must stay with me."
He laid me on a bed. I squeezed my eyes closed against the blazing overhead light. I heard shears as my clothes were cut away.
Lark sucked in a breath. "She's one big wound. I've seen roadkill in better shape."
"Enough!" Aric snapped.
A man said, "She's been bitten multiple times. Those are bullet wounds in her chest. The EMT? Wasn't his name Paul? He'd patched up Lark after Ogen's attack. "Her legs are . . . done. What do you expect me to do for her?"
I tried to speak, to tell him I loved him and to ask about Gran, but no words passed my lips.
"I know why dying might seem tempting"--because I could follow Jack?--"but I need you. Come back to me."
Another wave of agony hit. I heard a scream.
Mine?
Voice thick, he said, "I wish to the gods I could take this pain for you." He rocked me. "You're too strong to die, and too stubborn to turn. Your only path is to come back to me."