The Fence

Chapter 31: Disarray

~Grey~

Everything happens in slow motion.

"Kirbena, open your eyes now. We need to head back inside."

She pulls her face from my neck, but she doesn't completely let go. Her hands still rest on my shoulders, and she peers up at me with so many different emotions. I don't let go of her either, keeping my own hands around her waist, ready to catch her if she falls.

"Thank you," she whispers, sniffling. "He was going to shoot me."

A wave of guilt shoots up my spine. I shouldn't have given Nixon the opportunity to threaten her like this. I should have listened to her and left him outside. I move my hand up to her face to flick away her tears, unconsciously rubbing my thumb over her cheekbone soothingly.

I want to see her smile if only to make myself feel better. "It's just another favor you owe me," I say, watching her relax. She gives me my wish, leaning into my touch. She brings her own hand up to the side of my face, gazing at me through her lashes. I stare right back, but I know something's changed. She wants to be closer, closer than we already are, and suddenly I have the overwhelming urge to kiss her. I bring my face closer to hers, ready to let everything go, when she stumbles back with a gasp.

The bang that sounds happens almost completely in sync with her cry of pain, and her hands leave my face to clutch at the side of her stomach.

Her voice is barely a whisper. "He was going to shoot me," she repeats. Her legs buckle under her simultaneously, sending her spiraling towards the ground. I leap towards her with all the speed in my body, barely catching her in time. Her head dangles over the side of my arm where I cradle her, and she moans in misery.

I rip my eyes from her face with spiked breathing, frantically searching where Nixon was. Based on how we were standing, he had to have shot her from the side, and he wasn't aiming for me. Wherever he is, he's long gone, because he's nowhere in sight.

Panic rises in my chest, and all I can do in that moment is clutch Kirbena tightly in my arms. I can't breathe; my throat is closing up.

"Grey!" Light snaps. "Wake up!"

I return my attention to the girl in my grasp, using my free hand to smooth her hair back. "Kirbena," I whisper, my voice hoarse. I press my hand to hers over her wound. "Can you hear me?"

Kirbena swallows, her voice hitching in the back of her throat. She's still conscious, and she's struggling to breathe as well. I realize that I have to be the strong one.

"You, uh," My brain can't make coherent thoughts. "I need you to..."

"Grey! Wake. Up!"

I shake my head. "I need you to tell Sutikka to hold his blade over your wound. Can you do that?"

"W-why?" she coughs.

"You're bleeding a lot," I murmur, reaching for the weapon on the ground. "You and Sutikka are bonded. He'll absorb your blood and cover your wound until we get you to Donte. Okay?"

It's enough to earn me a strained head nod and a swallow, mentally giving Sutikka his instructions. I feel beads of sweat forming on my brow, a dizzying sensation of helplessness clouding my brain's ability to function. With my mind so slow right now, the only thing I can think of is having Sutikka absorb her blood and then try to filter it back into her body through their bond. If the plan goes wrong and Sutikka can't do it, Kirbena will die. It's something only a weapon and a person can do with a strong bond, and what if their bond isn't strong enough?