Chapter 24

Blaide

"What the hell are you doing living in a cave?"

Blaide looked around the dim space, confusion filling him as he took in the primitive conditions. As the oldest of his unit and the one he'd consider the most refined, he'd expected to find Ursuli relaxing in a villa on the ocean, not a hole in the rock with wet floors.

Ursuli's eyes narrowed, half of his body still drifting amidst the dark mist of the cave from the surprise of Blaide's unexpected arrival. Blaide always found it amusing the way Ursuli turned into a puff of smoke when startled or irritated and had done his best over the years to push the man's buttons. Usually calm and collected, the doctor had been hard to rile during their time in the service together.

"Why are you here?"

The growled words didn't bother Blaide, though Liz's apprehension flooded their bond. She stood behind him, clinging to his arm and tail after Ursuli had disappeared into the darkness except for his glowing eyes. He'd made his upper body visible again, but he'd left his lower half in his incorporeal form.

"Shrapnel near my spine. Medic thought I was going to let some sergeant cut it out of me."

Blaide huffed, quirking a smile at Ursuli as he waited for the usual speech about how every military surgeon sucked, but Ursuli only turned away.

"You should have let them."

The muttered words sent Blaide's jaw dropping, the shock passing through him feeling like ice water in his veins. He knew their last mission together had shaken Ursuli's confidence, but the man before him seemed nothing like the one he remembered.

"You know I won't let anyone else touch me. None of us would. You're the best."

Ursuli's snort bounced off the pitted walls, making the cave feel claustrophobic despite its spaciousness, and, for a moment, Blaide wished he'd left Liz in the hut they'd rented so he could ask Ursuli what was wrong. It had been a while since Blaide had last seen Ursuli, and even though he'd sensed the alpha was struggling, he hadn't expected him to be this bad. Stewing alone in a cave had clearly done nothing to help Ursuli get over what he saw as his failure.

"How did you get shrapnel stuck in your hide again anyway? Don't tell me you reenlisted. You're smarter than that."

Those burning pink eyes pinned him in place, demanding answers.

"No. I settled on a planet with high resources and ended up in the middle of an invasion. Got turned into a pincushion by my own bomb."

"Saving an entire village," Liz said from his side. She'd finally moved out from hiding behind him when Ursuli hadn't stalked closer.

Ursuli's gaze moved between them before the touch of a smile lifted the corner of his lips.

"Did he woo you with his heroics? Convince you he was some elite warrior so he could claim you?"

If anyone but one of his brothers said those words, especially with a smirk on his lips, Blaide would have taken offense, but he only felt relief at seeing a hint of his old friend. Raising a brow, Blaide turned and looked down at his mate as she tucked herself closer to his side.

"Ursuli, this is my mate, Liz. Liz, this is our medic, Ursuli. He always has a stick up his ass, when he actually has an ass, though he usually has better taste in domiciles."

Gesturing to Ursuli's incomplete form, Blaide highlighted his joke by pointing out Ursuli's smoky lower half.

His mirth died as he cast his gaze around the cave. Years of rushing tides had created a smooth floor, but the walls and roof above were still rough, natural rock. The opening of the cave faced the ocean with only a thin strip of dry land coming in from the side. Near the back of the cave, a single cot and table sat beside a separate pool of water.

"Where I choose to live is my concern. This location makes it clear I wish to be left alone, at least to smart individuals."

Blaide ignored Ursuli's scowl. The man obviously needed some company. He'd known vaguely where Ursuli had settled, but the only way he'd actually found Ursuli was by describing him to the locals and asking them for his specific location. If he'd known the man was still suffering, he'd have come sooner.

"I need your help, old friend. And I think perhaps you need reminded of your greatness."

He said the words gently, but Ursuli still huffed in irritation and turned away. The lingering tendrils of smoke reaching toward Blaide belied Ursuli's need to connect.

"Let's see what you did to yourself, then. That way, you can get your mate off this rock and back to your den and leave me to my peace."

Giving Liz's hand a reassuring squeeze, Blaide let go and moved further into the cave, unbuttoning and shedding the shirt he'd worn over his bandages. Ursuli came back with a rickety wooden stool, setting it in the middle of the floor and waiting for Blaide to take a seat. Turning his back to his friend, he let his eyes move to Liz as Ursuli removed the bandages with deft fingers.

"Come."

She'd stayed where he left her by the entrance, but when Blaide held a hand toward her, she crept closer. Her eyes flicked between him and the man at his back, but she forced down her worry and took his fingers in hers and guided his forehead against her chest to give Ursuli a better view.

"You always knew how to mess yourself up," Ursuli muttered.

All Blaide felt on his back was a ghost of cool air before soft pings resonated through the cave as pellets dropped to the ground. They clinked and bounced, rolling away as the chill moved up to the largest wound.

"This one's going to need stitches."

Blaide grunted, the sound of Liz's heartbeat beneath his ear soothing him into a relaxed state. He trusted Ursuli to fix him since his heritage gave him tools no one else had. It was rare to find a surgeon who could literally insert himself into your body to stop the bleeding and block your nerves.

He felt Ursuli move away to rummage through something along the back of the cave before returning.

"You're lucky I still have this stuff."

The words came with pressure along the edges of the piece of metal resting in his flesh. Ursuli's chill penetrated the wound, the pain melting away as he worked. The first few times Ursuli treated him, the idea of having parts of another man moving around inside him turned his stomach, but after seeing the amazing things Ursuli could do, he'd trusted no one else. If the military was better to their medics and smarter about recruitment, they'd enlist as many of Ursuli's kind as they could. Their body count would decrease significantly, all because of natural-born talents from those called Reapers. But because of leadership failures, most of the betas and omegas who became medics were half-trained at best.

Which gave medics the stigma of being both soft and the last person you wanted to trust with your health.

Ursuli was the opposite of soft. He was terrifying. When Blaide had seen him in action, he'd promptly decided Ursuli was the deadliest of them all.

Ursuli's species had been called many things over the years, from demons and wraiths to ghosts and specters. His incorporeal form frightened more people than not, which was why he usually kept his solid appearance, but it seemed being on his own had let him relax into a more natural state.

Blaide felt the metal leave his back and heard it drop to the ground with a clank as Ursuli's quick fingers stitched the torn flesh. It was a relief to take a full breath without the chunk grinding inside him, and Blaide sat up once Ursuli moved away.

Glancing down at the metal shard, he huffed at the irony of it clearly being the blade he'd forced into the battery. Stretching and testing his reach, he grinned at Liz before pulling her into a deep kiss.

"Have her pull the stitches out in two weeks. And do something about that sorry excuse for a tail."

Shooting a glare over his shoulder, Blaide released his mate and turned to face his friend.

"As grateful as I am, that was a low blow."

They'd always teased him about his tail. They knew it was important to him and would take any chance to poke fun at the way he groomed it. The singed section upset him, but he hadn't had time to take care of it yet.

"Maybe if I show you just how caustic my bedside manners have become, you'll think twice before invading someone's home next time."

Huffing, Blaide grinned at his friend and shifted closer.

"Not likely."

Gripping his shoulders, Blaide pulled the other alpha in for a hug but ended up holding smoke. Chuckling, he walked back to Liz and took her hand, pulling her toward the sunlight.

"Okay. I know when I'm not wanted. I'll leave."

Stopping in the opening to the beach, he turned and peered back into the darkness. The only thing he could find were Ursuli's glowing eyes.

"We'll see you at Armyn's coronation?"

Ursuli's body solidified, arms crossed over his chest, his tattered clothing barely keeping him presentable, but his expression softened as he stared back at Blaide.

"I'll always be there for my brothers."

With a nod, Blaide turned away. He'd give Ursuli a little more time to work things out on his own, but he'd never abandon his friend. If he didn't seem better at the coronation, Blaide would jump in with both feet to pull his friend out of the hole he seemed lost in.

He spared a thought for the other two men he considered brothers and wondered how they were fairing. Quasim had suffered worse than the rest of their squad, but he'd seemed to be working toward overcoming the tragedy he'd survived.

And Armyn was… Well, he was Armyn. Too stubborn, proud, and ridiculously cocky for his own good.

Looking down at his little mate as she stared across the ocean, a smile crossed Blaide's face. He wasn't sure where life was going to lead them, especially with so many ties pulling them toward different worlds, but somehow, they'd find a place for themselves.