36. Chapter 36
Chapter 36
A proper rescue.
I heard a creak, but I couldn’t move. I wanted to, but I was so tired and cold. My limbs felt like a million pounds, my mouth was painfully dry, and my stomach was the size of a raisin. Voices echoed in the frozen air. Maybe the winged alien had finally broken inside? Hopefully, death would be quick.
Burying my nose in the blanket that contained the faintest tinge of Serlotminden’s fragrance, I gave in to whatever was to come. The voices grew louder and louder. One voice I understood. The words. English. I didn’t recognize who spoke, though. It wasn’t Serlotminden.
The tent parted, and light blinded me through my eyelids. I couldn’t even twitch.
“No. Oh god. Fuck. This poor kid. Mindy will never forgive us,” the deep voice said.
I groaned. “Mindy.”
A blurry figure hovered over me, leaning closer. A perfectly ordinary human with brown hair, brown eyes, white skin, and round face appeared. Human. I breathed, “Serlotminden?”
“Alive. Are you Bartholomew?”
“Teddy.”
He smiled, drawing away, and I said in a rush, “Don’t leave me. Please.”
He swallowed, grabbing my hand. “I have you. You’re safe, Teddy.”
Other drakcol shifted closer. One was grayish-blue, another was black, and the last was light gray. I tried to shift back, but I couldn’t do more than grunt as I slightly wiggled. Serlotminden. I wanted him. No one else.
“It’s alright,” the human said. “My name’s Seth.”
“Seth.” Mindy had talked about him. He was the reason we humans had been taken in the first place, but I couldn’t be mad at him. He’d come for me. He was saving me. Tears burned my eyes. “Thank you.”
Seth rolled me onto a stretcher because I shied away when the drakcol came near me. Anytime Seth tried to let go of me, I reached for him; I didn’t want him to leave. I didn’t want to be alone again. I was so cold, and I hurt so bad.
He settled next to me in the shuttle, gripping my fingers. “Leader of Team Human, indeed.”
The drakcol with gray scales laughed. “I told you.” His voice was rough, but his words were in English, though severely garbled, almost like Serlotminden’s. “I’m a horrible choice. You’re naturally the best.”
“Seriously, Caleb?”
He was Caleb—the human ghost in a drakcol body.
“Don was talking to the Maykian warship about violating their space again, and he declared you owned all the humans, so we had the right to come and retrieve Bartholomew.”
“What?” Seth squeaked. “What did you just say?”
“‘Owned’ might be wrong. Maybe lead? Control? I don’t remember. But he was arguing fairly hard, and I might or might not have given him some insider tips,” Caleb said, grinning and snuggling into the black drakcol’s side.
“Caleb,” the black drakcol said with a chuckle.
Caleb continued, “Did you know that Maykians are super protective of families and have really strict protocols? So having you be the undisputed leader is a good thing. This way we won’t die. Isn’t that great?”
Seth sighed. “Fuck.”
“I thought it was a pretty great idea. I wandered Maykian space back when I was dead for at least a year, maybe more. I know a lot. Like a lot a lot. Don seemed to like the plan, and we haven’t been shot yet, so it’s fantastic!”
“Caleb,” Seth groaned.
My eyes closed as they bickered in English. I didn’t exactly understand what was going on, but I knew one thing. I was going back to where I belonged. To my mate’s side. That was all that mattered.
I blinked. Vines covered in flowers hung over me, intermixed with recessed lights. I took a sharp breath and promptly sneezed. My nose dripping and my eyes itching, I looked around. Where the hell was I? It was warm, wherever it was. That was an improvement, and the bed was soft—also nice.
A hand tightened on mine. Seth. “I’ve got you, Teddy. You’re really cold and dehydrated and skinny. You look like hell.” He flushed. “Not that it matters. Or doesn’t matter. You’re going to be fine. There’s a great doctor here. He’ll check you out.”
“Serlotminden?” I asked, struggling to speak. I sneezed again, making my muscles ache. God, my eyes were on fire.
“I’m taking you to him right now.”
The plants disappeared and were replaced by gray. Almost instantly, I spotted Serlotminden on a bed. My pulse skyrocketed. He was here. But he wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t he moving?
“Mindy,” I shouted. I groaned when I tried to throw myself off the cot. I needed to touch him.
Seth gripped my shoulder. “Hold on.”
“Serlotminden,” I called. “Honey.”
His deep green eyes snapped open and locked onto me. “Flower,” he growled and launched forward. I tried to get to him as he clawed off the bed to reach me. The grayish-blue drakcol held him, and Serlotminden wordlessly yelled, tail thrashing.
“You’re going to hurt yourself. Stop it, Speedy,” the blue alien ordered.
“Hold on,” Seth said while I struggled to escape his hold. Mindy roared, punching at the two drakcol keeping him on the bed. “For fuck’s sake,” Seth yelled. “Hold on for one fucking second.”
He shoved the stretcher to Mindy’s side. I didn’t wait for help and crawled to him. Serlotminden seized me and dragged me closer. His breath was rough as he nuzzled me. “Bartholomew.”
I held him tight. He was alive. He was alright. He was here.
Someone came close, tugging on me.
Serlotminden snarled, pushing the man away. “Do not touch my mate.”
The blue and black aliens tried to pin Mindy, who was growling.
“Fuck it all,” Seth said. “I swear you are all the most dramatic brothers I have ever met.” He pushed the drakcol away and snagged Mindy’s chin, which made me frown. “Teddy is hurt. He needs help, so shut the hell up.”
“Bartholomew,” Mindy said, focusing on me.
“I’m going to sedate both of them.” A female drakcol with golden hair in a long braid approached. Another person, a human man who had dot tattoos on his face, agreed.
I tried to protest, needing to see Serlotminden more, but I was so tired.
Seth said, “We won’t take you away from Mindy, but we need to treat you both without the drama. Or Mindy attacking someone.”
Something pricked my arm, and my vision went weird, but Serlotminden was in front of me. I took a deep breath and relaxed against him. We were together.
Someone burst into the room. “Prince Consort Seth, you are needed immediately. The Maykians are threatening to destroy us.”
“This is your fault, Caleb,” Seth said, voice growing further away.
“It will be alright, Husband,” another voice said. “I will protect you.”
Caleb spoke, “Don’t worry. I’ll talk you through it. Everything will be fine. I mean, if they do kill us, it won’t be so bad.” When several people growled, he continued in a rush, “But they won’t kill us. You’ll be supreme leader in no time, Seth. I’m a great talker. Ask Fyn. It will be perfectly fine. I swear. I’m great at plans.”
The door closed before I heard a response, but I didn’t really care. My fingers were waving and doubled as I lifted my heavy arm to touch Mindy. He was here.
“Flower,” he muttered, tail hooking around my ankle.
I breathed in his scent and let myself drift away.
I rubbed Bartholomew’s arm, relishing the feel of his skin against my scales. He was settled against me with several tubes in both of his arms. He was ill. Severe dehydration, multiple vitamin deficiencies, extremely underweight, slight tears to his shoulders and elbows that were already healing—he was lucky to be alive. The Amorian physician, Klars, had assured me that all Bartholomew needed was time to recover.
I was far more injured, though I was conscious, unlike my mate. Bartholomew hadn’t reacted well to the sedative, but I’d been told by Klars that my mate would awaken eventually.
The creature who’d attacked me had had some kind of venom on their talons, making the wounds slow to heal. They kept reopening, even when sealed, and the venom was spreading. Doctor Muznim had done several things, but she was still trying to neutralize whatever was preventing me from healing. Hopefully, she would find an answer soon.
But I wasn’t that concerned for myself. I needed my Bartholomew to awaken, badly. When I heard him call my name, it had dragged me out of my medicated sleep. Seeing him next to Seth and my brothers had been surreal and I’d needed to hold him, to assure myself he was actually here.
His earthen scent tickled my nose and soothed my stress. He was here beside me. He was safe. We were fine. I never wanted to feel the despair of not having him beside me again. I would do whatever was necessary to keep him. I could not lose him. Not to Earth. Not to death. Not to anything.
My lips trailed over his forehead. “Mate.”
Kalvoxrencol laughed. “You are deep in love. Hallonnixmin and Gilvaxtin are going to be sorry to have missed this.”
I scoffed. More like they would’ve enjoyed teasing me. When Dontilvynsan decided to search for me, he’d left Hallonnixmin and Gilvaxtin in Monqilcolnen’s care. Our cousin had escorted them home, much to their protests.
“You are no better. Where is Seth?”
“Probably feeding the nightmare pet you brought home, arguing with the Maykians who are calling him the Supreme Human of Earth, or watching our child.”
“Does he ever look away from your kit?”
“No,” he said, leaning back, wings resting on either side of him. “He can’t. We have been gone longer than planned, and it worries him. I believe the doctors in charge of our child are happy about our delay, because Seth normally arrived in the morning at the nesting facility and only left when I dragged him away. Having him beside the baby’s pod is… difficult for them.”
I wondered if Bartholomew would be that clingy. We had not discussed children, but I wanted a child who looked exactly like him. A little baby with his deep brown eyes that had green and golden flecks. His black hair that I was desperate to see long. His smooth pink-golden skin. I took another deep breath of his fragrance as I rubbed on him to scent mark him.
“There were more humans?” Kalvoxrencol asked.
“That’s what my mate says. His close friend was on Xome. I have to retrieve him.”
Kalvoxrencol lifted an eyebrow. “Competition?”
“No,” I said, brushing Bartholomew’s arm. “Friend. Vince.”
His brow crinkled.
“What?”
“I think I’ve heard that name before.”
“Humans do share names, much like we do. Though,” I said, grinning, “my mate has a much better name than yours.”
Kalvoxrencol growled in warning, which I ignored.
“Bartholomew Reginald Lucian Cavendish-Wallingford,” I said with pride. My mate was the best, obviously.
Mouth open, he blinked. “Is he royalty?”
“He says no, but I think he’s lying.”
“He must be with a name like that.”
I laughed, and Bartholomew shifted against me. I kissed his forehead, holding him closer. “I have you, Flower. I’m right here.”
He relaxed, still asleep.
Kalvoxrencol’s tail twisted around mine. “I’m glad you found him.”
“As am I. I can’t imagine life without him.”
“Please don’t scare us again.”
“Didn’t like a taste of what you’ve done to us over the cycles?” I teased, regretting the words the instant they left my mouth.
He jerked back, expression shuttering.
I reached for him. “Pest.”
“It’s alright.”
“‘No,” I said, hugging my littlest brother with one arm. “It’s not. I didn’t mean it. My apologies for scaring you.”
Kalvoxrencol smiled, but it was tainted with sadness, and I felt so guilty. He had tried so hard to move on from his past mistakes, and I didn’t want to be the one to remind him of them. I ruffled his hair, squeezing him. He slipped out of my grasp, and then the room. When the door slid closed, I promised myself to make it up to him.
My gaze went back to my mate, and my soul thrashed. Bartholomew was staring at me.
“Mate,” I breathed.
He grinned, but his eyes turned wet.
I lifted his chin and kissed him. “No, please, don’t cry.”
Tears slid down his cheeks, and the sight shattered me.
I wiped them away. “I am here. I promise.”
“I thought the last thing I would ever hear you say was my name,” he sobbed.
“Never. I will never leave you.”
“You’d better not.”
Now was not the time, but I couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going to leave me?”
He met my gaze. “Never.”
“Do you mean that?”
“I’m not going to leave you.”
I pressed my lips to his, keeping the movement gentle. We were both fragile. We would have time later to do more. Right now, I needed to be with my mate. To feel him beside me. To breathe the same air.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you too, Honey.”
The translation was odd—sweet insect secretion—as was hearing his voice in my own language, but I recognized the endearment for what it was. I rubbed my nose against his and pressed as close to him as possible. My mate. My flower. My soul. We had survived, and I wouldn’t let him go.
His hand slid to one of my bandages. “Are you alright?”
I opened my mouth to lie to him, but I stopped. I would wish for the truth if the situation was reversed, so, of course, he deserved the same from me. “No.”
Bartholomew’s eyes widened in worry. “Honey?”
“No, Flower.” I groaned when I tried to roll toward him.
“Stop moving,” he snapped, the anger a rare show for him.
“That alien did some damage to me, but Doctor Muznim is taking care of me.”
He grabbed my chin. “You are not allowed to die.”
I grinned. “I won’t.”
“Where’s Pookie?”
“Our daughter is in my—our quarters. The doctor healed her leg, and Seth has been taking excellent care of her.”
A long breath rushed out of his lips. “Thank god. I was scared someone might hurt her.”
“She’s safe.” I nuzzled his head, and Bartholomew took a deep inhale. “We’re safe. We’re together. Everything is fine.”