Radek opened the dark closet to reveal a small, trembling human child cowering in the smallest space possible. He was tiny, probably not even old enough for school yet. His face was wet with tears, and his nose was red and leaking.
“It’s okay, Davy. Your dad is here, right upstairs. I just need you to stay still for a minute so I can make sure it’s safe for you to come out, okay?”
The boy sniffed and gave a shaky nod.
Tucked along the left side of the closet was one of the Raide’s favorite type of explosive devices. The small, superheated charge would destroy everything in a limited radius and set fire to the area. It wasn’t big enough for the noise to draw the attention of people nearby, but it was absolutely lethal if triggered accidentally.
Davy’s little body would stand no chance against that kind of blast.
Radek shifted his position so that he was between the explosives and the child while he searched the boy for signs of triggering devices.
“Did he attach anything to you, Davy?” asked Radek.
“The monster?”
“Yeah. The monster. Did he make you sit in a special spot?”
“He told me to hold this.” Davy held out his tiny, clenched fist. “He said if I let go, I’ll blow up.”
Radek wrapped his hand around the child’s, being careful not to exert too much pressure. With his free hand, he felt behind the boy, carefully searching for any redundant triggers. When he found none, he turned his attention to the floor, which was concrete. Nothing under there to worry about.
“Okay. We’re going to go out now, but I want you to do exactly what I say.”
His voice was thick and choked with tears, but his eyes were filled with trust. “Okay.”
“Wrap your arm around my neck and hold on tight. I want you to close your eyes and keep them closed until I say you can open them. Understand?”
Davy nodded and did as Radek asked.
He tucked the child’s head against his bare chest and lifted him slowly off the floor. Nothing blew up. The lights on the explosives didn’t shift color, indicating activation.
The small, shivering bundle in his arms reminded him to move slowly, carefully, searching for signs of anything he’d missed. Of course, Talan had already made the trek back up the steps, so chances were they were safe.
The moment Reece laid eyes on his son, they overflowed with tears. He started to move forward, but Radek’s sharp tone made him stop. “Don’t. Go straight outside the way we came in. Don’t touch anything.”
Radek hurried over the crumpled bodies of both Dregorgs and Cyturs, tucking his chin against Davy’s head to make sure he kept it down.
The boy had already been through enough tonight. He didn’t need this pile of alien bodies to add to his nightmares.
“You can open your eyes now, but don’t open your hand.”
Keeping his fist around Davy’s, he handed the child into the waiting arms of his father. His hold was awkward as if he were injured, but he didn’t let go of his boy.
Watching their tear-filled reunion made something in Radek’s chest shift out of place. A hot, strange feeling settled right behind his heart and expanded until it was hard to breathe. What was it like to love like that? To be loved like that?
“Thank you,” said Reece into his son’s hair. His wet eyes lifted until he was looking at Radek. “Thank you for saving my boy.”
Radek nodded and swallowed through the tightness in his throat. “We need to move away from the house. Then I need to get that device out of his hand.”
He started walking, keeping the child’s tiny fist in his own the whole time, so that Reece had no choice but to follow. When they were out of range of any Raide devices he knew existed, he eased the trigger from the boy’s fingers. They were clenched so hard, he had to peel the tiny digits away, one by one, but he managed to keep the lever depressed while he transferred it to his grip.
“Leave now,” Radek said. “Don’t go home. Leave the state for a few days. Give me your number, and I’ll call you when it’s safe to come back home.”
“How will you know it’s safe?” Reece asked.
Radek glanced meaningfully at the boy, then met the father’s gaze. “Because I’m going to eliminate the threat. Permanently.”
Reece nodded his understanding. “Good. He deserves whatever he gets for stealing my baby.”
“Go now. I have to clean up here before I can leave.”
“The bodies?”
“Just go,” said Radek. “The less you know, the better.”
From the front of the house came the sound of Talan’s voice lifted in a bellow of rage and denial.
Radek gathered a burst of heat from deep in his core and channeled it to his fingertip. He melted the metal hinge on the triggering device so that the lever stayed pressed against the dull gray housing. Once that was done and he was sure he wouldn’t trigger the explosives, he turned and ran to help his friend.
Talan screamed as the Raide flung Zoe to the ground. She rolled, leaving behind a streak of red in the snow. Krotian disappeared as he fled, but his footsteps were clearly visible. Talan had to pick between following the Raide or stopping Zoe’s bleeding.
It wasn’t even a choice.
He sprinted to Zoe’s side and pressed his hand over the wound. Her skin was slick with blood.
Panic lit her eyes. She tried to bat his hands away, but he gathered her against him and held on tight. “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he said, hoping to soothe her. “Krotian is gone.”
And he was. He’d hit the plowed pavement of the street and disappeared out of sight, not even leaving footprints behind.
Zoe was a target out here in the open, but the only shelter to be had was the house stocked with explosive traps, or the open cab of his truck covered in shattered chunks of glass.
She looked at him, and he saw a flare of recognition. “Talan.” His name came out in a rush of relief, and she clung to him with more strength than he would have thought possible.
“Hold still. You’re bleeding.”
“Bleeding?” She sounded confused and groggy, though that wasn’t surprising after being subjected to a Raide’s gaze.
“You’re going to be fine. I can fix it, but we need your heart to slow down.”
Her pulse was racing under his palm, and he feared that his hand was the only thing keeping her from bleeding out.
Footsteps sounded behind him. Talan lifted her, and spun around to face the new threat.
It was only Radek hurrying toward them. “Is she okay?”
Talan shook his head slightly. “The Raide got away, but not before slitting her throat.”
Radek’s brow furrowed in confusion. “It doesn’t look that bad. She’s not bleeding much.”
Talan wanted to snarl in rage at his friend. Of course it was bad. Krotian had sliced her neck open. Her blood was all over the snow, seeping between his fingers as he struggled to keep the wound sealed.
He knew what that felt like—that deep, searing pain of having flesh torn open by one of those sharp claws. He remembered the way it scraped against his skull, digging deep enough to hit bone.
Americans frequently said that the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard was bad. Clearly they had never heard the sound of their own skull being scored by claws. Even now he could still hear that noise, and the mere memory was enough to lock up every muscle in his body.
“Talan,” came Radek’s voice from far away. “Pull it together, man.”
Talan snapped back to reality, only now realizing that he’d almost slipped into that cool, dark space that had saved his sanity when he’d been tortured. As much as he wanted to go back there and linger in the calm blackness, he couldn’t drift off yet. Zoe still needed him.
Her eyes didn’t seem to focus. Her body clenched hard as a shivering chill hit her. Her arms tightened around him, and he couldn’t tell if that was some kind of muscle convulsion, or if she was trying to get closer to his warmth.
He couldn’t bring himself to let her go, not even long enough to grab the vial he needed from his vest. Setting her back in the snow wasn’t an option. She was already freezing.
“I need the pink vial,” he told Talan. “Left side of my vest, just above my heart.”
Radek found the right one and pulled the stopper. “How much?”
“All of it. Pour it right over the wound. When I move my hand, you need to be fast.”
“I will be.”
“I hope so, because if you’re not, she’s going to bleed to death.”