Page 124 of Dustwalker

The first time Ronin had reawakened, many years ago, he’d lost himself. Now, he was losing the only person he’d come to care about in all that time.

This was the world he’d been brought back into. A world where Lara was on the verge of death and everything had gone so, so wrong. Newton had reactivated Ronin, but it was Lara who’d granted him life.

“I wish I could help,” Newton said.

A swell of that overwhelming emotion, that hatred, surged within Ronin, searing through his wiring. He snapped his face toward the synth. “You stood andwatched.”

“What good could I have done, Ronin? They would’ve torn me apart, and neither of us would be active now.”

“It might’ve granted me enough time to end them! A chance to fight. A chance…to save her.” Ronin looked at Lara and lifted a hand again, trailing his trembling fingers over her bloody cheek. How long before her skin went cold?

“You have a chance to avenge her, hollow as that is, back in Cheyenne.”

In Cheyenne. Could Ronin bring himself to go near that place again? Could he bear to walk the same paths he’d walked with Lara, to be reminded of her with each step? Back there, where?—

No. She can’t die. She can’t… I will not let her.

Ronin leaned forward, carefully slipping one arm beneath Lara’s knees and the other under her shoulders and neck. She neither moved nor made a sound as he lifted her off the ground and drew her against him. Her body hung limp, her broken arm folded over her midsection while the other dangled, and her head lolled.

And there was blood. So much blood. It was pooled on the ground and stained her skin.

“Lara…” Cradling her against his chest, he withdrew his arm from beneath her knees and reached up to touch her face again. But his hand stopped, hovering over her swollen eyes, shaking. Had he a human heart, it would have broken.

Ronin looked over his shoulder, fixing an optic on Newton. “You saidyoudon’t have the tools to save her.”

“Correct.” Newton tilted his head, brow plates shifting down and drawing together. “The Air Force Base.”

“Do they?”

“They did, when I was last there. It’s been many years…”

“Will she survive the journey?” The answer didn’t matter. If it was her only chance, he’d take her there, no matter the risks. If she were to die, it would be in his arms as he attempted to save her. He’d be holding her so she wouldn’t be alone. So she knew she’d never be alone.

And he knew it would break him.

“I don’t know,” Newton said. “Time is of the essence, but she is in a delicate state. You must hurry, and?—”

“Wemust hurry. You’re coming.”

“I-I…I can be of no?—”

“You had a part in shaping this world, Newton, regardless of your intentions. You can’t hide away and pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Gathering Lara against his chest with her cheek resting upon him, Ronin stood. He turned toward Newton and met his gaze. “This is who I am. I will not stand here and wait for her to die. Have you remembered who you are? Get me into that base, so we can save her.”

Newton was silent as precious seconds ticked by. The wind sighed over the hills, carrying loose dirt that had been deposited by the storm.

Finally, he nodded. “Let’s go, Ronin.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Ronin recorded the passage of two hours, fifty-one minutes, and seventeen seconds before they reached the outskirts of the base. Not for the first time since meeting Lara, Ronin doubted if his internal clock was correct. Days, weeks,yearshad gone by as he’d run, clutching Lara to him with as much delicacy, firmness, and stability as he could simultaneously manage.

She’d yet to awaken.

Despite his care, his hurried trek across the uneven terrain had jarred her several times, but she hadn’t stirred. All his willpower had been focused on moving forward. He could not allow himself to succumb to the urge to check her pulse and breathing every ten meters, knowing that the slightest delay could doom her.

For all his talkativeness in the shelter, Newton had been silent during the journey.