Noctura

sixty four

"I got some stuff," I tell him.

He immediately comes over to where I am, next to Teagan, and rummages through the basket of first aid supplies.

"We can use these for her shoulder," he tells me, showing me some white bandages. "But we need something for her wrist. There's no splint in here or anything."

"Well, what if we wrap it up really tight? Until we find a splint or something," I offer.

Minho sighs. "We need a doctor. She needs to be in a hospital."

I give Minho a sad look. "I'm sorry. We can't really take her to a hospital right now. There's still a war going on outside and—"

I'm interrupted when the front door suddenly swings open and then quickly shuts.

Minho and I both look over to see Yoon standing there.

There's blood on his jacket, but I don't think it's his. He's breathing heavily, but he seems like he's fine.

"What happened?" Yoon asks, moving over toward us, seeing Teagan on the couch. "Wait, Teagan? Why is Teagan here?"

"You know Teagan?" Minho asks. "How?"

"She got the information about Jinwoo for me," Yoon says. He looks down at her, confused. "What happened to her? Is she okay?"

"She's unconscious," Minho answers. "I saved her. I had to save her. Seunghoon saw me and he... Mariela took him."

"Mariela? Oh, Minho..."

Minho looks up at Yoon, confusion in his eyes. "What?"

"She's leading this attack, Minho."

"She's... she's leading the attack? She's a Malum leader? I thought she was just fighting for the wrong team."

Yoon shakes his head. "The reason she wouldn't help us when we asked her was because she was going to lead this attack. She's fighting against us."

I clear my throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think we should bandage Teagan's shoulder. It's still bleeding."

"Right, right." Minho quickly grabs the bandages, moves Teagan's shirt, and starts placing the bandage on the areas where there is an open wound.

"Her wrist is broken or something," I explain to Yoon. "We don't know what to do for a cast or a splint."

"We should get her to a hospital so they can cast it," Yoon says. "And she'll be safe from everything happening in this war anyway. How did she fall unconscious?"

"I don't know," Minho responds. "She just... passed out. I didn't know what else to do so I just took her here. Should we take her to a hospital?"

"Yes," Yoon responds. "We should get her to a hospital. She needs—"

The door swings open and Yoon immediately has his pistol pointed at the person slamming the door closed behind them.

It's a Noctura man with black and violet eyes. Yoon doesn't lower his pistol, so I'm guessing he doesn't know this person.

"Who are you?" Yoon asks, confirming my suspicions. "Why are you here?"

"Saw you run this way," the man answers with a grin. He puts his hands up in defense. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm just here for a message."

I see Yoon glance at Minho. "What message?"

"A message for Minho Song," the man says. "From Mariela Loftis, leader of the Malums."

"What's the message?" Minho steps forward, carefully blocking Teagan from the man's view.

"She has your friend." The man grins. "She's going to kill him if you don't meet her somewhere."

"Where?" Minho almost yells.

"A bus stop you guys used to meet at a lot," the man responds. "A ways away from here, I guess. Somewhere you guys won't be disturbed by all the gunfire as much."

"Fine," Minho snaps. "I'll go. I'll meet her. When?"

"In thirty minutes."

"Tell her I'll be there. Go! Get out of here!"

The man slinks away, making sure the front door is closed behind him.

Yoon turns to Minho and me, pocketing his pistol. "What do you think she wants?"

"She'll want me to do something in exchange for Seunghoon's life," Minho says. "I just have to see what she wants. I have to try to save him. He's not dead yet, but he will be soon, unless I do something about it."

Yoon nods. "Jinwoo and I will take Teagan to the hospital. I'll bring him back here and we'll see if we can do any more to help in the war. Will you be okay?"

"I should be fine," Minho responds. He turns to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Be careful, Jinwoo. Remember, let your instincts take over, but don't let anyone get close enough to you to hurt you. Try not to kill any of the humans, we want them to know we're on their side."

"It's okay, Minho, I know." I give him a slight smile. "You need to go save your friend."

Minho lets out a long sigh. "Okay. Yoon, Jinwoo, be careful."

He leaves first, wishing us well.

Yoon then grabs Teagan, telling me we'll go to the nearest hospital, a few blocks down.

I tell him I'll watch his back and protect him as he carries Teagan that way.

And then we're off, separate from Minho, separate from the war.