Damsel[ed]: No Rescue Required

Chapter 35: Taking One for the Team

I swallow hard. Heaven's hacking up blood now, her attempts at speech painful gurgles. I can feel all the moving parts inside me buckle and screech to stops, my muscles frozen stiff. Heaven can't die. She has that rapid healing thing! That has to do something!

Fake Hev swings at me, but I duck the blow. "Um, stop the bleeding, right?"

Even I have to admit, that's a bit of an oversimplification. 'Stop the bleeding' is what you say when someone pricks their finger on a fro-yo rewards card, not when a maniac slashed their neck open with a sword. Gats nods and yanks his shirt off, wrapping it around Hev's neck.

My heart thuds. Once, a key nicked her finger and Gats took off three layers of clothing to wrap around the cut. "Dude," Heaven had said, "you don't need to pull a Teen Male Celebrity every time I bleed. I can take care of myself. Unless I'm dying. In which case, I'll be happy to take your shirt."

Heaven's eyes flutter shut, and she grabs Gats' hand so hard if her superstrength returned she'd crush it. "Gats, buddy," she finally forces out, "get me an ambulance."

Pseudo-Gal lunges toward them. Jaylin throws herself in front of the couple as a human shield, and the clone shrieks to a halt.

"Let them go," Jay says. "Please."

Fake Hev narrows her eyes. "Get out of my way."

Well, this is my fight. My stupid powers and stupid parents caused this, and I won't let Gats and Hev die because of it.

Gats hefts Heaven in a bridal carry, her neck propped against his shoulder.

I shudder. Moving an injured person is a big no-no, but Gats has no other choice, and I pray her healing factor will fix the damage he causes.

Heaven hangs tight Gats, her flushed brown skin pressed against his chest where her shirt's ripped apart. Seeing Heaven so, well, princessy raises my pulse. She should be the one with Gats in her arms.

In the damsel-knight-dragon equation, she's the knight, and the reversal leaves me clench-fisted.

Jaylin shakes her head. Pseudo-Gal/Owl aims for her, but I hurl myself at Owl's legs and bowl her over. "Get out of here! I'll hold her back!" The pain in my wounds intensifies. Gats doesn't protest. Jay grabs his arm, and guides him out of the room.

I hope Jaylin isn't leading them into a trap. If she is, Heaven's prospects have grown that much grimmer.

My throbbing shoulder leaves me dizzy and my ribs sting. The woman kicks me off, sending me skidding into the chandelier's remains. Thousands of glass shards poke into my back, and though they hurt, I ignore them and search for a weapon. My eyes land on one of the broken fixture's branches, and I snatch it. When Owl charges me,  I catch her arm with the its hook. I shove her back. My heart flies.

She arches an eyebrow. "Not bad." She swings her sword and I raise the branch to block its flat edge.

"You don't have to kill me, you know." I force all my strength into my lunge and thrust the branch at her. It's hard to talk when you're fighting for you life, but if Luke Skywalker could, then so can I.

"Oh." Her purple eyes flash. It's awfully creepy how exact she looks compared to Galaxy, or, well, Heaven. "But I do. You know too much."

I shoot her an exasperated look. The room is so empty we have enough space to move without bumping into anything. I wish there were a couch, just so I could hide under it. "I don't know anything!" I never do!

She twists her caught arm swings her blade at my chest. I jump back, lungs surging. The black of the weapon melts into the darkness, its whistle the only signal of when it's about to slice me.