Chapter Forty-Eight

“Don’t start with me. She’ll live.” Jysel stalked past his fuming twin and the TV, though he hesitated upon spotting Elara’s bloodied body being raised on a stretcher.

“‘Don’t start?!’ She looks dead ! Every station is talking about the color of her blood and theorizing about what the government’s intentions are!” Rel grabbed his twin by the front of his uniform and slammed him back against the wall, then paused when he saw the amount of blood covering his brother. Blood that didn’t smell like Elara’s. “What—”

“Kuhir-dal. Hers—” Jysel erupted into pained curses in multiple languages as Rel peeled back the strips of his uniform, revealing deep, bestial wounds, singe marks, and punctures.

“By the Abyss Father, what —” Rel exclaimed before promptly pulling Jysel’s arm over his shoulders and helping him walk upstairs. “Your wounds need to be cleaned before we heal them. What happened?”

“I succeeded in forcing Elara to fall into her Kuhir-dal state,” Jysel groaned, shaking his head loosely. “She is…much more dangerous if allowed to enter that state. It took nearly killing her to stop her. She will be fine, but she’s…a monstrous warrior in that state. Healing her wounds while still fighting, it’s… I don’t think she feels anything in that state. Her mind was a void of silence.”

“Ciheri, go find something to replenish Jysel’s strength,” Rel ordered as he passed the stunned man. “And tell Aldiner to find Casair. We’ll need to relocate Jysel to his hideout the moment we can.”

Rel helped his twin into his apartment and sat him on the couch before hurrying to gather the supplies needed for cleaning Jysel’s injuries. As he worked, Rel asked, “You’re telling me that this was necessary?”

“If you don’t want one or both of us to die…” Jysel left it at that.

“Did you finish the mission?” Rel sighed irritably. He didn’t want either of them to die, and he wasn’t exactly there for the fight or to hear their conversation, so he chose to trust Jysel’s judgement.

Jysel nodded, his teeth gritted, as he tried not to shy away from the liquid Rel had poured over his wounds. When he had a moment’s reprieve, he stated, “The weapon is destroyed—there will be no salvaging parts this time. Most of the humans involved with its construction and maintenance are dead, unless of course they receive new bodies from their government. I’m sure they were being backed up regularly…”

“Why didn’t you return with Casair, you utter—” Rel jammed a cloth against one of Jysel’s injuries hard enough to make him yowl in pain. “Well?”

“Their orders were to get out the moment they were finished!” Jysel answered, shying away from his angry twin. “Enough! It was painful enough to fight a queen we actually appreciate !”

“And your dark insinuations they aired on television?” Rel inquired dangerously, leaning toward Jysel.

“She asked me to make our conflict convincing, so I spoke in a ‘language’ humans would understand. We didn’t do anything other than fight!” Jysel snapped back viciously.

Rel studied Jysel intently, then let out a soft sigh. “‘Convincing’ is an understatement. I can but hope Zafir puts his medical knowledge to use and disproves the headlines that are circling. Even our mother has stepped in and is trying to insist you would not do such things.”

“Yes, I’m sure she’s terribly concerned as to how such rumors might affect her ability to sell us,” Jysel hissed through gritted teeth, his glow shifting to deep red.

Rel sighed softly and placed a hand against his brother’s chest, closing his eyes before emanating a melodic, resonating hum. Jysel groaned with pain as cracked bones knit back together, gashes filled and grew new skin, and bruises mended. A particularly nasty ‘pop’ of something moving back into place caught him off guard, making him choke on his own saliva.

Rel stepped aside, his work done, watching as Jysel coughed for air, splattering blood from his clothes all over the floor. Shaking his head, he walked a few feet away to wash the blood off his hands. “You will clean up the mess you’ve made—once you shower. Did you leave your wardrobe module behind, or…”

“You’re going to make me clean up…” Jysel cut himself off with an agitated growl. “…the shower is back there, right?”

“Indeed. I’ll dispose of your clothes. Put them in the metal box.” Rel nodded, drying his hands on a plush towel, then side-eyeing his twin. “Once Casair arrives, the three of us are going to discuss where to go from here. Understand?”

“Yes…now we can focus on retrieving the important one…” Jysel mused, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. He glanced over his shoulder at Rel. “We like her?”

“We do.” Rel nodded once.

“Then this poses opportunities…” Jysel murmured, mostly to himself, as he wandered to the bathroom for a shower. “Many opportunities indeed.”

[ End of Book One ]

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