Because they want you to die...

For all he knew, one of them could have locked the doors and sent the Fledon in.

Coughing, he pulled his knife out to try and pry the doors apart.

The blade snapped in half.

His head swam as he felt the poison invading his body. Unable to fight it and his dancing eyesight, he pounded against the door, trying to call out for help. But his damaged voice wasn't loud enough to be heard over the fire.

Maris and Zarya were upstairs. They'd never make it down here in time.

I'm going to die.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Look on the bright side. At least she's not outside your doors, laughing this time.

It was sad when that thought actually did comfort him.

Coughing and choking, he hit the floor a moment before everything went dark.

13.

Maris finally had Zarya laughing again as he told her stories about his older brother who was a clumsy pyrotech.

They'd just reached Darling's office to make sure he'd eaten when they heard a loud crash inside. Rushing forward, Maris tried to open the door, but it refused to budge.

He pulled back with a curse. "The door's jammed."

Her heart pounded as she heard Darling on the other side, trying to get out, and she smelled smoke.

"Where's the release?" Zarya asked.

"Just tried it. It's jammed, too." Maris started coughing from the noxious smoke that filled the hallway, then his face went pale. "You smell that?"

Yes, she did.

Cursing, she looked around the hallway, trying to find something fast as she wrapped the scarf on her dress around her mouth and nose. They only had a few minutes before that poison killed Darling.

Her gaze went to the stairs.

That was it...

She ran to the huge table in the foyer where there was an oversize lead vase of fresh cut flowers. Without breaking stride, she seized it, dumped the flowers and water out of it, then slammed the vase into the balustrade as hard as she could.

The iron spindle didn't budge. Shrieking in outrage, she summoned every ounce of strength she had and slammed the vase down again and again on the balustrade. Break, damn you, break!

Finally, the wood cracked. Yes! She dropped the vase and kicked one of the iron spindles out of the balustrade. Seizing the spindle, she ran back to the wall beside the door and used it to break open the plaster and expose the wiring beneath.

"Hold on, baby," she whispered, trying her best not to breathe the toxin in. Still it burned and hurt her throat. She could only imagine how much worse it must be on Darling who was trapped on the other side.

Maris helped her tear out the plaster. "We're not going to make it. He's probably already dead."

She refused to believe that.

They had to get to him. The alternative was unacceptable.

She jerked the wires out and started reworking them. "Don't you dare die on me, Darling Cruel!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "I swear I'll follow you into hell to beat you if you do!"

It seemed like eternity had come and gone before the doors finally parted. Even so, they only opened an inch, then stopped. Working together, she and Maris continued to tug and push until they pulled them farther apart.

The smoke was so thick, it was hard to see. But as she started forward, her foot grazed something hard. Looking down, she saw Darling sprawled on the floor, just inside the doorway.

As she reached for him, Maris was there. He grabbed Darling by the arms and pulled him free of the room. Then he bent down and picked him up to carry him toward the reception hall.

Coughing, she ran behind them as the guards and firefighters finally came rushing toward them.

None stopped to check on their governor. Or asked about his condition.

Maris laid Darling down on one of the sofas, then pulled the mask off Darling's face. "Darling?"

His features pale, he didn't respond. Her heart stopped beating as terror filled her. Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead...

Maris placed his hand on Darling's carotid to feel for a pulse.

Zarya saw the agony in Maris's dark eyes as he looked up at her.

"We're too late."

Darling came awake to the bitterest taste imaginable in his mouth. It was so foul that before he could stop himself, his stomach heaved.

"Right here, sweetie."

Someone rolled him to his side and held a trash can for him while he purged his body of the toxin. It wasn't until he was finished that he realized it was Zarya who helped him.

"Leave him on his side for a minute."

Darling's vision swam to the point he couldn't see anything, but he recognized Syn's voice while someone, Zarya he hoped, stroked his hair with a gentle hand.

"It's all right, buddy," Syn said comfortingly from a short distance away. "We've got you."

Darling squeezed his eyes shut. "Where am I?"

"In your room. Can you see anything?" Syn asked.

He shook his head. "Eyes won't focus."

"That's probably not helping your nausea. Hang on."

Darling hissed as Syn gave him a shot in his hip. "Damn it, warn me before you hit the trigger!"

But at least it didn't take long for the drug to settle his stomach.

Syn gripped his shoulder. "All right, we're going to roll you back. Slowly."

As they turned him, the room spun so badly, Darling had to close his eyes to keep from being sick again. Once he was flat on his back, he let out a long breath as he tried to will his eyes to normal.

It was useless. They continued to violently shake and disorient him.

"What happened?" Darling asked.

Syn's voice was a fierce growl. "Some asshole launched a rocket full of Fledon into your office."

Darling slowly remembered the details of the attack as Zarya took his hand into hers. "I was locked in."

"Yeah," Hauk said irritably from Darling's blind side. "We know. You're lucky your girlfriend's trained. She saved your ass, boy. You owe her."

Darling tightened his hand around Zarya's. That was the one thing about her, in a fight, she was always levelheaded and resourceful. "Thank you."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Anytime, sweetie."

Darling opened his mouth to speak, then went into a horrible round of coughing.

Zarya let go of his hand as he struggled to expel all the poison out of his body. In between the coughs, he cursed at the pain it caused him. She hated seeing him like this. But she was so grateful she'd been able to resuscitate him that his coughing was music to her ears.

Syn put the oxygen mask back over his face. "Just breathe. Slow and easy."

Darling went completely limp.

As she panicked in concern for Darling, Syn held his hand up to her. "It's all right. I knocked him out again. He doesn't need to be coughing like that right now. He's likely to do more damage."

Hauk glared from his post on the opposite side of the room. "I want the balls of the cowardly bastard responsible for this."

"You?" Zarya asked, meeting his bloodlust head on. "I want them for earrings."

The Andarion smiled at her. "I really like you."

"Thanks." But her smile faded as she met Syn's grimace. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just wondering which of us is going to be the one to tell Darling that you're the reason he was attacked."

A pall covered Zarya all day as Syn and Hauk came and went from Darling's room while she and Maris watched over him. Syn's words hung heavy in her heart, and by the way Syn tended Darling, she could tell that Darling was in a lot worse shape than Syn was letting them know.

Please don't die. The one thing all of this had taught her was how much Darling meant to her. The thought of living without him...

How could she have forgotten how agonizing those weeks of not knowing where Kere was had been?

And now that she really knew him... his face, his past... it was so much worse. He was no longer her mythical, larger than life lover. Now he was human, and he'd carved an even deeper place into her heart.

What pained her most was the knowledge that this was all her fault. The Resistant members Darling had spared were trying to liberate her from his "custody." After his attack, they'd sent over a demand for her release.

I'm going to be the death of him. No matter how hard she tried to argue it, she kept coming back to that one basic fact. So long as she was with him, he was in danger.

But she couldn't stand the thought of leaving him. Especially not in the condition he was in.

Yet if she stayed, her allies-his enemies, would kill him.

"Maybe I should leave."

"Are you serious?"

Zarya hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud until Mari's question startled her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she met his gaze on the other side of the bed. "How can I stay when I endanger him?"

Maris shot to his feet and closed the distance between them. "You can't go, Zarya. You can't. Do you not understand what it would do to him? He wasn't human until you came."

But she didn't believe that. "He was human."

Maris's face paled and when he spoke, it was in the sincerest tone she'd ever heard. "No, he wasn't. He was not the man you know." He pulled Darling's computer off the nightstand and turned it on.

After a few minutes, he handed it to her.

Scowling, she focused her attention on the video he'd pulled up. It took her a second to realize it was Darling she was looking at-something that filled her with dread. Whatever Maris intended to show her couldn't be good and she wasn't sure she wanted to see it.

Yet, she couldn't take her eyes off the screen.

Dressed in a long flowing cloak over a black battlesuit, Darling had the cowl pulled up over his head. His gold mask glowed in the dim exterior light as he headed across the back gardens, into the barracks where the royal guard took up quarters when they were on duty.

None of them bowed at his entrance. That, in and of itself, was an act of defiance and treason that was punishable by death, according to their laws. Each of those soldiers had sworn a blood oath to lay down their lives for their governor and his family.

But there was no loyalty on their faces that night. Several even spat at the ground near Darling's booted feet.

With a calmness she couldn't fathom, Darling swept his gaze around the room.

"What are you doing here?" their commander challenged Darling in a tone that would have had any aristo calling out for the pleb's arrest.

When Darling spoke, the most terrifying part was how calm and in control he appeared to be. "It's the Day of Reckoning. I'm here solely for those who have assaulted me. The rest of you can leave."

By the expression on the commander's face, it was obvious he was one of the culprits, and that he didn't see a threat in Darling's words. "We don't listen to you, kieratun."

Zarya sucked her breath in sharply at the insult that accused Darling of having slept with his father.