Read Online Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) by Kiersten Fay - Free Book Online Page A

break with a light
squeeze. She was marked with dirt from head to toe. A dingy, piece
of cloth clung to her like a second skin, barely covering
her.
    He moved his gaze to her face. Her skin
was pale, but flawless. She had pouty lips, full and a tempting
shade of pink. Blond, curling locks draped over her bare
shoulders.
    The female shivered.
    “Who are you?” he ground
out, finally pulling himself from his stupor. He realized he was
holding her upper body in his arms. When had he reached for her?
    At his booming voice, her eyes flew
open. If he wasn't already on the ground, he would have fallen to
his knees. Sebastian was instantly lost. The ship fell away and
there was only her. The blue of her eyes was indescribable, so
light they unabashedly pulled him in. No color imaginable compared.
Her eyes turned pleading. For what? He didn't know. But at that
moment he would have given it to her.
    What was wrong with him?
    Too soon, the color dulled and her head
lolled before she slipped into unconsciousness. Sebastian, alarmed
more than he should have been, felt for a pulse.
    Faint, but still there.
    The natural sounds of the ship slammed
into him, as his surroundings came back into focus. Some of the
crew had already gathered around, apparently repeating questions he
hadn't heard them ask. They looked at him expectantly and at her
with curiosity.
    Lifting her off the ground, Sebastian
took note of her weightlessness.
    “Back to your posts!” he ordered, and
then carried her out of the room without another word.
    The crew must have been as shocked as
he was to find this tiny creature, because none of them moved at
his command. He didn't care. His only focus was getting her to the
doctor. So he could find out how she was able to get onto his ship,
not so he could see the vivid color of her eyes again.
    Racing down the hall, he hardly noticed
people stopped to stare at the stranger in his arms. The elevator
made him impatient, moving slower than he remembered. He should get
someone to look at it. Finally, he reached the deck that housed
sickbay. A few more passageways, and he was there. The doors parted
for him, and he carefully laid her on one of the cots.
    From a desk in the corner of the room,
Dr. Oshwald looked up. He was a thin, lengthy man from one of the
short-lived races.
    It seemed to take the doctor a moment
to comprehend the sudden disturbance before he rushed to
Sebastian's side surveying the situation. His jaw
dropped.
    “Where…? Who is…?” He studied her as
Sebastian had, prickling his ire.
    In a pointed voice, Sebastian replied,
“I don't know who she is. I just found her hiding in a maintenance
compartment. She looks on the brink of death.”
    Dr. Oshwald went to work with a
skillful determination, while Sebastian leaned against the wall,
arms crossed, and watched.
    The doctor came from a race of healers,
their unique gifts worked on most, but not all. Sebastian had no
knowledge of the mechanics behind the doctor's invaluable gift.
He'd asked him about it once and the doctor had told him that it
was like looking inside the body with his mind’s eye. Oshwald could
search out the problem and then fix it as needed.
    That's what he was doing now, searching
through the female's body, all the while intermediately checking
her vitals in stony silence. Sebastian made his impatience known,
and the doctor finally began his healing touch, placing a hand near
her heart and the other at the crown of her head.
    He stayed like that for a lengthy time.
The whole while, she didn't stir, didn't make a sound. The
breathing movements of her chest were light and barely
noticeable.
    A sheen of sweat began to glisten on
the doctor's forehead. Finally, he removed his hands and slumped in
his chair with obvious exhaustion. With effort, he wiped his
forehead before he spoke. “She will live.” The words were heavy.
“If she'd been brought to me any later, there would have been
nothing I could have done for her.” Again he paused