Leather & Lace- THE SPECTER SERIES [book five]

Chapter FOURTEEN

Lacey Paxton

Ace brings the axe down heavy, his aim landing true, the fluid motion over in a split second and it is done.. The brute force of his swing visible by the sight of the axe blade buried deep into the black soil, wedged between the part of Serge's arm that is still attached, and the part that is not..

Devi gasps in shock, her face drained of colour, her skin an ashy grey.. "Oh!.. Bozhe moy!"

You fall to your knees, dousing the freshly severed stump with a generous splash of vodka, cleaning away the soil and debris that clings to the sticky blood, before dipping Serge's stumpy wrist into the bowl of gunpowder and without a second thought, setting it alight..

The flame bursts to life, aided by the fierce accelerant it burns fast, hot and bright, quickly cartorising the open vein and essentially searing it closed..

The blaze scorches your fingertips and singes the hair from your arms.. You turn your face away from the powerful waft of heat and sizzling blue light as the sour scent of roasted fleshed rises in the air..

With the wound now sealed, you dampen the second, still clean, half of the towel with the remaining alcohol and wrap it carefully around the bloodied nub..

Then, you bring two fingertips to Serge's neck, underneath his jaw, relieved to feel the faint flutter of a weak pulse..

He has survived the very worst of his ordeal.. Now, a long road of recovery lies ahead.. Provided he survives the next vital few hours..

You begin on the next set of instructions.. "We should move him inside, now.. I think this first aid kit has everything I need to do a blood transfusion, which will give him a fighting chance.. I'm O negative, so I can--"

"No, Doll-face.." Ace objects, his voice gentle but stern as he shakes his head moving to easily lift Serge in his behemoth arms, the unconscious man much shorter and lighter framed posing to issue for Ace to carry.. "You've lost enough blood already, Lace, and your a quarter my size.. You can use mine.."

You frown at him.. "But--"

"I'm O negative, too.." He shrugs..

You wonder just how many things you don't know about him.. Realising, you really don't know anything..

You wrap a comforting arm around Devi's shoulders as the two of you follow Ace towards the humble little home.. "It's going to be okay, Devi.."

....

After tending to the final procedures on Serge's arm, and administering a backyard transfusion that would have your professors deeply concerned, Devi kindly offers you a change of clothes and a pale of fresh water from the well to clean yourself up in the washroom..

You wash your face and rinse your hair using a bar of honey-milk scented soap before getting dressed.. The beautiful black silky soft harem pants are breezy and the high-necked fine knit maroon skivvy is a little too large, so you knot it, high at the waist..

You don't look half bad, all things considered..

You quietly cross the threshold of the living room where Devi sits at Serge's bedside, she holds a cool washcloth to his head, smiling tiredly to you as you tiptoe by, pointing to the door in question.. "Ace outside?.."

She nods.. "Da.. Yez.."

You smile at her as you push against the door..

Her warbly voice catches you as she shuffles to her feet, from the table beside her she lifts a basket of apples, not red, but not green either, these are a speckled smattering of both.. Some kind of hybrid.. You nod respectfully in gratitude, selecting one for yourself and one for Ace..