shocked and not believing her eyes, until he walked up close enough.
«Hunter!» she whispered, a smile crawling to her lips. «You’re… alive?»
The cyborg leaned in a bit, tilted his head and punched her.
The blow was so hard that Serena flew back, hitting the bars of the cage. The crowd around them roared, excited to see the fight.
«Hunter!» she gasped, straightening. «What are…»
He stepped up, landing another blow to her gut and making he gasp for air. His metal fingers grasped her short hair and jerked her up.
«Hunter…» the woman made yet another attempt to call to him.
The cyborg watched her without a single emotion in his blue eyes.
Serena felt his fist crashing into her ribs. The sharp pain immediately hit her, making her gasp for air, her lungs rapidly filling with blood. Another hit swept her off her feet, but the cyborg didn’t stop, kicking her in the gut and slamming her into the wall of the cage.
As the cyborg kneeled in, grabbing her clothes, Serena forced out:
«Hunter, please…»
Something in his face flinched, but only for a moment. He tilted his head, as emotionless, as before, and punched her in the face, knocking her out.
Straightening, he turned and left the cage, allowing for Pauliss to run in and check Serena’s pulse. The man threw her hand over his shoulder and dragged her out, hurrying into the locker rooms to get her some first aid.
Chapter 7. Near-Death
«Hunter…» Serena whispered, feeling blood trickling from her mouth.
She could barely hold her consciousness from slipping, dragged by someone through the streets towards her apartment. Fortunately, she lived quite close to the club.
«I’ll be whoever you wish, honey.» Pauliss chuckled, carrying her on his shoulder. «Just don’t die on me right now…»
He carried her to the fifth floor and opened her apartment, dragging her inside. The man threw down her bag and stepped towards the bedroom, but Serena finally tried to catch anything to stop him.
«No… Hunter…» she grabbed at the doorframe.
«Sure, whatever you say, pretty.» Pauliss pressed her to the wall, landing a kiss to her neck.
She felt so frail and incapable of moving her pained body, that couldn’t even push him away.
«Oh, I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for so long…» the man purred, caressing her body and making her bare her teeth in pain.
Suddenly the entrance door slid open and a man walked in, gritting his teeth.
Pauliss stepped away, surprised to see anyone appearing at such a time:
«Who the fuck are you? Get the fuck out!»
Serena slipped down to the floor, almost losing consciousness. Lindon growled, jolting to Pauliss and grabbing his clothes.
«And who the fuck do you think you are?» he asked. «She’s injured, and all you can think about is satisfying your lust for her?»
«Hey, I was doing what she asked for!» Pauliss tried talking himself out of this situation.
«Hunter…» Serena exhaled, trying hard to keep herself awake with the thought of Hunter being alive.
«See? Hunter! That’s me! I’m Hunter!»
«You have no honour!» Lindon threw Pauliss across the room, slamming him into the wall. «You’re not Hunter! Get out, before I break your neck!»
«Listen here, you jerk!» Pauliss straightened, angry at the stranger. «I don’t care who you think you are, but she’s mine!»
«Yeah, right! That’s why she’s calling someone else’s name!» Lindon walked up to Pauliss. «I know you’re not Hunter, you know you’re not Hunter. If you want, we can settle this the honourable way. A duel? Or would you prefer to leave intact, on your own and without any broken bones?»
Pauliss saw a very dark glint in the man’s eyes and raised his hands:
«Fine. I’m not Hunter. So what?»
«So… leave now, before I change my mind and break your arms for trying to take advantage of my fiancé!»
Pauliss’ face turned pale. He swallowed hard and hurried to exit the apartment, leaving the angry man with the heavily injured woman.
Lindon jolted to Serena, quickly getting out a portable medical scanner he took just in case, knowing how badly the woman could be hurt and saying that she’s fine. This time, however, he knew that even she would admit she was nowhere near fine.
«Shit!» Lindon shoved the scanner into his pocket and picked Serena up onto his arms.
Running out with her, he knew that the best way to help her was back at the ship, but it was parked ways away. He did, however, know about a small medical shop nearby, which operated as an emergency hospital for the locals.
Entering it, he was greeted by one of the medical pods activating and quickly lay down Serena inside, worried for her well-being. The pod came to life, scanning her for the injuries, and showing the extent of her wounds on the screen.
«Severe injuries detected. Administering first aid and healing stimulants.» the pod reported. «Bed rest highly advised.»
Lindon watched as the medical appendages set Serena’s broken ribs into place and applied the tight corset bandage to keep them in place while she will be healing. One of the appendages freed her lungs from all the blood that was collecting inside, and another set of stim-shots were made, administering some painkillers and stimulators to help her get to her feet for the time being.
When the pod opened up again, Lindon saw Serena slowly opening her eyes, barely able to be conscious.
«Serena…» he leaned over her, squeezing her palm. «Do you hear me?»
«Hunter… He…» the woman grimaced, feeling all her body aching.
«We saw.» Lindon swallowed a lump. «Are you good enough to walk?»
«We have to… find him… something… is wrong.»
«Wolfin is on his tail. I’m more worried about you. We need to get you back to the ship.»
«But…»
Lindon cupped her cheek, making her look at him:
«We’ll find him. We’ll find out what happened to him. Trust me. But right now… I need you to get up. I’ll help you to the ship.»
«My things…»
«We’ll get them on our way. Alright?»
Serena tried to push herself up, but felt her body protesting, so Lindon helped her slip off the pod, grasping her by the waist and trying not to press her too hard. Together they slowly made their way back to her apartment, where Serena stayed by the door, seated on a chair that stood there, while Lindon collected everything she told him to.
When the man walked up to her, bag in his hand, she took the syringe he offered her and made herself a shot of one of her special painkiller mixtures.
«I’ve contacted Lyssa. She’ll be up on the top floor shortly to pick us up.» Lindon helped Serena throw her arm over his shoulder.
This time they took the elevator to the top floor, and from there – the stairs to the roof, where ships could land shortly to drop off or pick up people and cargo. When they ascended the stairs, Lyssa was already there, waiting for them with the cargo bay door open.
«Welcome back, Captain!» the AI greeted Serena when the two walked in. «I highly advise you to get to your quarters and lie down.»
Serena