Razor’s Traitorous Heart

Chapter 3

3

Razor blinked several times in an effort to clear his vision. He remained perfectly still as he ran an assessment over his body. Every part of him felt bruised and beaten. He ignored the throbbing in an effort to assess what was minor damage and what could be life-threatening. A low curse echoed through the cockpit when he realized that he was still face down. The only thing holding him in place was the seat harness. There was nothing else between him and the ground far below. The windshield of the helicopter was missing on his side.

He slowly raised his hand to wipe at the blood that kept blurring his vision. A deep cut ran just above his right brow. His arms were fine, but excruciating pain in his left leg hazed his vision when he tried to move it.

Drawing in a deep breath, he lowered his chin until he could look down at it. A shaft of metal, over six inches long, was embedded in his upper thigh. He turned his head so he could look at the pilot. The male hung lifelessly from his harness. A thick metal rod protruded from his chest.

“Hey, is anyone alive in there?” a soft voice called out from behind him. “Oh God!”

Razor turned his head as far as he could, but from the position he was in he couldn’t see who had called out. He could only feel it. A deep heat mixed with the pain running through him. Frustrated, he closed his eyes and wrapped his hand around the top of the metal in his leg and pulled in another deep breath in preparation for the pain that would come with removing it.

His eyes jerked open when he felt slender fingers close around his wrist. “Wait,” the husky voice whispered next to his ear. “Let me make sure it didn’t hit an artery. If it did, you’ll be dead before I can get you to safety.”

Razor turned his head and breathed in the sweet scent of wildflowers. A low moan escaped before he could contain it. The heat inside him flared again, rushing through him at such a speed that he had to close his eyes again to calm the dizziness.

“I am dead either way,” he murmured as the metal around them creaked and shifted again.

“Not on my watch you aren’t,” the voice replied with a trace of amusement. “Now, keep your pantyhose on. I’m going to reach around you and attach a strap to you so I can release the harness and free you. Is your other leg good?”

Razor’s eyes jerked open and his breath hissed out when the most beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes, mere inches from his face, looked back at him with a combination of humor and fear. The first thought that went through his mind was that this was the female from the image he had been studying right before the crash. The second and most disturbing was that she was in imminent danger.

“Leave me,” he ordered with a dark growl. “It is too dangerous. The whole thing could collapse at any moment. Get out now. I will get myself out if I can.”

Kali ignored everything around her, but what she was doing. If she thought about it, she would do exactly like the alien demanded. Hell, if she had known that there was an alien on board the damn ‘human’ helicopter, she would have left his ass to die instead of risking her neck to save him.

No, you wouldn’t have, her good side argued silently with her bad side. You would have helped anyway because you are a sucker for those in need.

“Yeah, and look where it has gotten me,” she muttered under her breath.

“What?” the alien male demanded before he let out a curse as the helicopter shifted again. “Get out!”

“Shut up!” she snapped back, quickly tying the thick cloth of a rolled up fire hose around his waist.

“You…” Razor’s voice died as the helicopter shifted violently.

This time the entire thing dropped several feet. A large section of the tail boom opened up and fell to the ground far below. The shift caught Kali off-guard as she adjusted her feet to get into a better position to unhook the straps holding him to his seat.

She screamed as the footholds she was using dropped from under her feet. She tilted and would have fallen through the opened windshield if his hand hadn’t shot out as she fell and wrapped around her arm. She slid down until his fingers clamped down with an iron grip around her wrist. Looking down, she stared at the ground wondering briefly if this was the way she would die.

“No,” the voice growled out.

Kali looked up at the face of the male who held her life in the palm of his hand. Dropping her gaze to his thigh, she studied the metal for a moment before deciding that unless they were built vastly different, the metal should have missed all the main arteries. She looked back up to see sweat glistening on his brow and his eyes glazed with pain, determination and anger.

“Well, I think the metal in your leg missed your artery. It’s still going to hurt like a b***h when I remove it,” she replied grimly. “You can’t pass out on me when I do, you hear me? I need you to keep it together until we are out of this mess.”

“Are you crazy, female?” his deep, rich voice asked in disbelief as he stared at her hanging from one hand over certain death. “You are going to get yourself killed!”

“Not tonight, I’m not,” Kali replied in a husky voice. “Just… don’t let go of me yet. I’d hate for you to prove me wrong.”

Lifting her legs up, she found a good foothold and reached up to grab the back of his seat. The move had her straddling his legs and her forehead pressed firmly against his. She knew that he was going to be pissed with what she was about to do, but there was no time for making the task at hand any easier. The moment he released her hand, she gripped the metal shard in his leg and pulled it out as quickly as possible.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, staring into his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

She dropped the blade of metal, letting it fall through the shattered glass to the ground below. Readjusting her position, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the bandana that she sometimes used to hold her hair back. It was barely long enough when folded diagonally to wrap around his thigh.

She hated having to hurt him, but some instinct told her that they were running out of time if they were going to get out of this alive. She needed him to be able to move and he wouldn’t be able to with a spear of metal in his leg. She glanced up as she finished tying the strip of cloth.

His head was pressed back against the seat, not an easy thing to do considering he was hanging by a few straps. His face was pale and his lips were pressed together so tightly they were almost white. His eyes had turned to a darker gold. It was the look of pain, anger and exhaustion shining in them that pulled at her sympathetic heart. She knew all too well what those feelings felt like.

She reached up and touched his cheek before pressing her lips lightly against his. It was the only thing she could think of to give him a moment of comfort. Resting her forehead against his again, she reached down and grasped the buckle holding the straps together.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked softly. “I’ll help balance you. Use your good leg to brace against the dash. I’ll act as your left leg. Try not to put too much weight on it if you can. We don’t want it to give out and have you collapse. The shift might take the whole thing down. Once we get on the back side of the seats the side door is open. If we get to the opening and the crane gives way, don’t worry about falling. I have the hose around you and it will hold you. Let it swing you down to the lower floor. The windows are all gone and I’ve kicked out the rest of the glass so just let the momentum take you to safety.”

“What…” he started to say hoarsely as the buckle opened and he gripped her as she wrapped her arms around him to keep him from falling. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Kali whispered in his ear. “Tonight isn’t my time to die.”