Chapter 39
Mara
There was absolutely no way she was going to relieve herself inside the tent with Vaelor lying right there.
Even if he was asleep. Even if he insisted, he wouldn’t notice.
It would be like a couple using the bathroom with the door open, something she had never understood and never would.
She liked her privacy, even at the end of the world.
Even in the middle of a frozen death-trap planet.
So, she slipped out of the tent as quietly as she could, hugging her arms around herself as the cold slapped her in the face. She reached for her biosuit, glad that it was warm and dry. She put it on.
The storm had eased, but the air still carried a sharp bite that made her breath puff out in white clouds.
The fire Vaelor had built crackled softly behind her, casting a warm glow over the clearing.
Beyond that circle of light, the ice forest stretched into darkness—towering crystalline trees that glittered like glass spears under the moonlight.
She found a boulder a short distance away and hurried, because the cold was vicious and she had no desire to freeze her ass off. Literally.
Once she was done, she used sanitizer to clean up, shivering as the wind cut through her thin underlayer. She longed—achingly—for a hot bubble bath. A real one. With steam and scented soap and a door she could lock. When this was all over, she was going to soak until her skin pruned.
She turned back toward the tent, eager to crawl into the warm bedding beside Vaelor. Her boots crunched softly over the snow-crusted ground. The fire’s glow was a welcome beacon.
Then she heard it.
A crunch of ice behind her.
She froze.
Her heart thudded once—hard—before instinct screamed at her to run. She opened her mouth to call out to Vaelor, but she never got the chance.
Something slammed into the back of her head.
Pain exploded. The world spun. The firelight blurred into streaks of orange and blue.
Then darkness swallowed her whole.
When she woke, she was lying on the cold ground, her cheek pressed against rough ice. Her head throbbed, a deep, pulsing ache that made her stomach roll. Her hands were tied in front of her, wrists burning where the rope bit into her skin. Her mouth was dry. Her vision swam.
She blinked until the world steadied.
Blaine stood a few feet away, his back to her, shoulders tense. He was breathing hard, like he’d been pacing. Or working himself up to something.
Dugan was nowhere in sight.
Neither was Vaelor.
Panic fluttered in her chest, but she forced herself to stay still. Maybe if she pretended to still be unconscious, she could—
“Stop pretending,” Blaine said without turning. “I know you’re awake.”
His voice was cold. Hard. Stripped of the easygoing charm he’d always used around her. It sent a chill down her spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.
She pushed herself upright, scooting until she could sit. Her head throbbed at the movement. She glared at him—the man she had once thought was her friend.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He finally turned.
The sight of him made her flinch.
The board Vaelor had thrown at him on the bridge had left a jagged, angry scar across his face. One eye was swollen and bloodshot. The other burned with something unhinged.
“Winning this damn game,” he said. “I’m going to be the only human to win the Galactic Survivor Games. I’ll be famous. Rich. Untouchable.”
“You’ve been trying to kill me because I’m the only other human here?” she asked, disbelief and fury tangling in her chest.
“I tried to get you to withdraw,” he snapped. “But you’re so stubborn.”
“So now you want to kill me.”
“I don’t want you dead,” he said, though his tone suggested otherwise. “But I wouldn’t mind killing your partner. That damn Crytharian has dodged every move I’ve made. Look what he did to my face!”
He stepped closer, looming over her. She recoiled instinctively. His breath smelled sour, his expression twisted with rage.
“He’s going to pay for what he did to me.”
Before she could respond, a voice echoed across the ice.
“Mara!”
Vaelor.
Her heart leapt—and then plummeted.
He didn’t know Blaine was here. He didn’t know Blaine was armed, desperate, and furious. He didn’t know he was walking straight into a trap.
She opened her mouth to warn him, but Blaine lunged and slapped a hand over her mouth.
“Sorry, babe,” he hissed. “Can’t let you do that.”
He pressed something sticky over her lips—tape. She gagged, the adhesive pulling painfully at her skin.
Blaine straightened, turning toward the direction of Vaelor’s voice. Mara’s pulse hammered. She had to do something. Anything.
Her hands were tied. Her mouth sealed. But Blaine had made one mistake.
He hadn’t tied her feet.
She waited—heart pounding—until his attention shifted fully toward the sound of Vaelor calling her name.
Then she moved.
She surged to her feet, stumbling slightly, and threw her entire weight into Blaine’s back. He shouted in surprise, arms pinwheeling as he toppled forward onto the ice.
Mara didn’t wait to see if he recovered.
She ran.
Her balance was off, her hands useless, still tied, but adrenaline pushed her forward.
She crashed through the ice trees, branches scraping her arms. She tripped over a fallen log and hit the ground hard, her tied hands taking the brunt of the fall.
Pain shot up her arms, but she forced herself up again.
Vaelor! Please find me!
She called out to him mentally, even though she knew the tether didn’t work that way. But she needed him. Needed his strength, his steadiness, his presence.
She kept running, breath ragged, vision blurring. She glanced over her shoulder, but the ice forest distorted everything—shadows shifting, shapes twisting. She couldn’t tell if Blaine was following.
“Mara!”
The voice was closer now.
She stumbled into a pair of strong arms. Her forehead hit a warm chest, and she sagged with relief.
Vaelor.
He cupped her face, eyes blazing with fear and fury. She tried to speak, but the tape muffled her words.
He peeled it off gently.
“It was Blaine,” she gasped. “He snuck up on me—dragged me away from our campsite.”
Vaelor grabbed the rope binding her wrists and snapped it like thread. “Did he hurt you?”
“Other than hitting me, tying me up, and taping my mouth shut… I’m fine.”
He pulled her against him, holding her so tightly she could feel his heart pounding. “I am going to hunt him down.”
She clutched him, fingers digging into his back. “Don’t go. I think he wanted to lure you into a trap.”
His jaw clenched. “How did you get away?”
“He didn’t tie my feet. I knocked him down and ran.”
“You’re safe now,” he murmured, voice rough. “I’ve got you.”
She looked up into his eyes—full of concern, fury, and something deeper.
“I know I’m safe,” she whispered. “I’m with you.”