Page 86

Her head tilted as she heard a faint whimper, and her heart lurched in her chest.

“Nipper?” She raced to the corner of the room and touched his back.

He whimpered again.

“Oh, my stars! You’re alive. I don’t believe it.” Eden’s eyes filled with tears.

He lifted a foot then slumped down and wheezed out a breath.

“You poor little guy. Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I’ll make you better.” She looked over at the caged guard. “Have you got a medical kit down here?”

He scowled at her.

She lifted the gun and pointed it at him. “Answer me.”

He jerked up his chin. “Over there.”

Eden raced to the other side of the cargo hold and found a stack of medical supplies in a cabinet. She returned to Nipper with a medical kit. She was no expert but had basic medical training, just like all field staff on the Apocalypse. She checked through the kit and recognized a health scanner. She ran it over Nipper.

He had a broken paw, but everything else seemed okay. There was no internal bleeding.

Eden checked through the equipment in the medical kit and located a pain relief pen and a healing plaster similar to the ones used on the Apocalypse.

“No biting me while I treat you. This will make you feel better.” She jabbed the pain relief pen into Nipper then gently eased the healing plaster around his sore paw.

He gave a gentle purr, and his fur fluffed up.

“Take it easy. I don’t want you moving too much.” Eden looked around for something to use as a makeshift sling to carry him in. “Give me your shirt,” she said to Dazet.

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you don’t want a bullet hole in the middle of your forehead.”

“Crazy bitch,” he muttered as he undid his shirt and slung it at her.

She wrapped the shirt around her middle and over her uninjured shoulder before tying the sleeves behind her. She then used the main body of the shirt to shape a papoose large enough to hold Nipper.

“Let’s see if you fit in here.” She lifted him carefully and placed him in the papoose.

He shuffled around for a few seconds then snuggled against her, purred, and licked her arm.

“Good boy.” She leaned down and kissed his head. “Now, let’s get out of here and get our guy back.”

***

Blaze kept his eyesclosed. After Madrie had finished negotiating with his parents, and they’d agreed to pay the ransom, he’d faked unconsciousness.

Two Pecket had dragged him to the corner of the cockpit, and he was being watched by a single guard.

He should be dead. His heart had stuttered several times, wanting to give up, but every time he lost his grip, an image of Eden popped into his head.

It was the thought of her that kept him going. He needed to know she was free. When she was safe, he could let go. And he’d know once she’d escaped. There’d be no way she’d go quietly.

He could also feel her. He sensed her energy. It was spiky and full of anger. She was still on the ship.

“There’s something wrong with the communication system,” Olark said to Madrie. “No one’s responding from the cargo hold or the mess room.”

“Everything looks like it’s functioning. Try again,” Madrie said.