Chapter 26
Vaelor
I love you. Her words played in his mind over and over. It had warmed him greatly but at the same time, did she mean those words?
She slept for two hours. He allowed it because her body had been through quite an ordeal. When she woke up, she ate the soup that he kept warm for her. She managed to hold it down. More water to hydrate her. Then they covered the fire and began their journey.
“Will we get there before sunset?” Mara asked. She pulled the heavy fur skin around her tighter.
He had slowed greatly so that she didn’t have to struggle in her weakened state to keep up. Vaelor checked the horizon. There was no way they would beat the sun setting.
“No, but we will make it there tonight.”
“It is what it is.”
“There’s something else,” he said.
“What?”
“We’ll need to put the furs away before we get there.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want anyone to know that your biosuit is not keeping you warm. I also don’t want them to know about the other sabotage we’ve encountered.”
“But shouldn’t we warn them that their food may be poisoned?”
“I want to see their reaction when we arrive.”
“You still think one of the players is behind all this?”
“I do.”
“But my biosuit could have only been tampered with by the GSG technicians. That points to the GSG trying to manipulate the game to make the winners of their choosing.”
She had a point.
“If the GSG is behind it all, why would you be the only player sabotaged?”
Mara considered. “I guess you are right. I just hate to think that someone we had spent time with and gotten to know would try to kill me.”
He stopped to put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. “They may have only wanted to force you to pull out of the games. The intent to kill may not have been there. Each sabotage was an escalation. The shredding of the tent didn’t scare you off, so they had to try something else.”
She sighed and nodded. They began walking again.
“If I ever find out who poisoned me, I’m going to retaliate?”
He couldn’t help the smile. No way would his sweet and gentle female harm another. But he indulged.
“How do you plan to do that?”
“I’m going to serve them a hot cup of tea.”
“Tea? Is that poisonous to the others?”
“No, but tea with Emberleaf isn’t going to be a fun night.”
He burst out with laughter. Emberleaf, found on most planets, can be ingested but if not diluted properly, causes twenty-four hours of extreme stomach issues. His people rarely used it for anything.
“You are a vengeful female indeed.”
His female.
Mara smiled and started whistling a song he found pleasant.
Two hours after the sun had set, they stopped right outside of the campsite. Mara took the coat off and packed it in her pack. Vaelor then led the way into camp.
Laughter halted at their appearance. It was silent—too silent. Then, Blaine jumped up to greet them.
“Hi friends. We were about to give up on either of you showing. What took you so long?”
Mara looked at Vaelor before answering and he gave a small shake of his head.
Mara then smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “We got side tracked. No big deal.”
“Well, come over to the fire and get warm. You must be freezing.”
He could tell that those words were suspicious to Mara, when she stiffened. But he encouraged her.
“I’ll set up the tent. You go by the fire.”
He watched with a frown as Blaine put an arm over her shoulders and towed her to the fire. He chattered away the whole time. The male was going to lose a hand if he kept touching his mate.
“You must be starving,” Blaine commented, clueless to how his life was in peril.
“I’m good. Vaelor fixed me a soup that was really filling.”
“That’s… nice of him.”
“Yes it was,” she agreed.
Vaelor listened for a few minutes to the conversation. No one else greeted them. But they did seem to look at him and Mara quite a bit. The only one that didn’t seem to be bothered by their appearance was the Cyborg.
He sat in front of the fire, eyes staring blankly out. That one didn’t seem to have a desire to attack them, he didn’t seem to desire anything. But he may have seen something. He would have to find a moment to question the male.
Vaelor took little time in setting up the tent with the bedding. It still smelled of their lovemaking. He resented the fact that they won’t be able to have any real privacy with the others around. But there was safety in numbers. Whoever was sabotaging them would not be able to act out publicly.
All that mattered to him now was keeping Mara safe. She was determined to finish the games, so he would do everything in his power to make that happen. But he would not let anything else happen to her.
He felt a tightness in his chest at the thought that he could have lost her to food toxins. Whoever was responsible for that, would pay.
Pulling something out of his pack, he took it to the fire. Putting the contents in a cup, he watered water and then handed the entire cup to Mara.
She looked up in surprise. “What’s this?”
“Tea,” he said simply
They shared a look then both laughed.
Blaine looked at the two of them confused. “I don’t get it.”
Mara took the cup from Vaelor and sipped the contents. “It’s an inside joke.”
Vaelor winked at her then went to sit beside the Cyborg. He had to wait a bit until the Cyborg was done recharging.
Vaelor was patient. Luckily, it didn’t take long.
The Cyborg didn’t look at him.
“Crytharian. You made it.”
“Both Mara and I did.”
“You have also mated it seems.”
“How do you know that?”
“I may be part machine, but I still have enhanced senses. All the species here do except for the humans. So, they will know that you have claimed her as well.”
“You are part machine. Does that mean that you are free from letting your emotions rule your actions?”
“That is true of most of my kind. Why do you ask?”
“Have you noticed any of the players who do not act honorably?”
“You seek information about the other players. How would this assist me in my goal to win the games?”
“If I have information I would share it with you.”
“Let’s test this theory. Why were you late coming to camp today?”
That surprised Vaelor. The Cyborg was recharging so how did he know when they arrived?
The Cyborg waited patiently for him to answer. In the end, he did not believe the Cyborg was responsible for the sabotage.
“Mara suffered food poisoning. We had to treat it first.”
The Cyborg showed actual concern when he looked over at Mara. “Is she well?”
“Yes. But it was only her food that was contaminated with toxins.”
“Do you have any of the food or anything that touched the food?”
“Why would you need that?”
“I can do an examination and determine what the toxin was and that may help narrow down the culprit.”
Vaelor reached into a pocket of his biosuit and pulled out a cloth he had used to wipe the sweat and drool from Mara. He was going to toss it into the fire when he got a chance.
“Will this be enough?”
“Yes. Place it on the ground in front of me.”
He did something he had never thought he would do.
“Thank you, Dugan.”
The other male nodded but didn’t take his eyes off of the cloth.
He looked over at Mara, who was barely listening to the constant talking by Blaine. She gave him a tired expression. Standing up, he walked over to her, held out his hand.
“Let’s get some rest. Tomorrow is another challenging day.”
She took it without hesitation. He could feel all eyes on them as they went to their tent. He didn’t care. All that mattered was Mara. She slept in his arms peacefully while he stayed up to guard her.