Chapter Nineteen
He’d no sooner fallen asleep when every light in his penthouse blasted on. “Stratos, wake up!” Aaia said sharply.
He bolted upright. “Aaia, what the flek! The building had better be on fire, or I’m going to have you decommissioned.” He’d been operating on next-to-no sleep for a month, his brain wracked by thoughts, regrets, and recriminations. Exhausted, he desperately needed sleep.
“Savannah needs you. She was attacked.”
He sprang out of bed. “Attacked! What? Is she all right?” He pulled on some pants.
“She is not well. A medic is en route to her apartment.”
Not my Savannah.
Frustrated, he hadn’t been fair to her lately, acting like the asshole she’d once accused him of being. He’d barely spoken two words to her all week. And now, she was hurt. “What happened?”
“I do not know for sure. She is unable to speak coherently, but I performed a scan. Her injuries are consistent with a dorian attack.”
His blood ran cold. How could that be? “Send my vehicle—”
“It is waiting for you outside.”
* * * *
Aaia let him into Savannah’s apartment.
She rocked on the sofa, her hands cradled against her chest. At his entrance, her head shot up. Tears stained her bewildered face. “Stratos—what are you doing here?”
“Aaia said you needed help.” His heart thumped, and he rushed to her side.
“You said you were sending a medic!” She glowered at the ceiling. Aaia wasn’t in the ceiling. She was everywhere, but he understood the gesture. He’d glowered at the ceiling a time or two himself.
“Stratos has a medical degree,” Aaia reminded her. “But I also called for a medic who will be here shortly.”
“Let me look at you,” he said and knelt by her side.
She held out her hands. There was a shiny appearance to her right wrist and left palm, which were red, swollen, and blistered.
The condition of her hands was consistent with a dorian attack, as Aaia had said.
She needed treatment immediately to neutralize the caustic toxin exuded by the creature. “What happened?” he asked.
Her door opened then, and a medic entered. “What seems to be the problem?”
“A creature attacked me. It grabbed me, wrapped a burning band around my wrist, and dragged me into the alley. It’s still burning. I feel it.”
“All indications are it was a dorian,” Aaia announced.
“Who said that?” the medic said.
“My apartment AI.”
Stratos moved out of the way. The medic donned protective gloves and then removed a diagnostic scanner from his bag and ran it over her injured skin. Watching the readout on his device, he nodded. “Dorian.”
“Like I said,” Aaia commented.
The medic frowned. “There shouldn’t be any of them left. You’re lucky we still carry the antidote.” He loaded an injector from a vial and pressed it to her shoulder. “This will neutralize the poison.”
“How long before it takes effect? It still burns,” Savannah said.
“Dorian secretions are caustic, but the antidote will start working right away. I’ll give you a topical painkiller and neutralizer.” He extracted an atomizer from his bag and sprayed her hands and wrists.
“That’s better!” Her entire body seemed to sigh.
Stratos felt his own tension ease. “Shouldn’t she remove her clothes to prevent transfer contamination?”
“Yes. The antidote will protect her from further burns, but she should remove the clothes she’s wearing. I’ll need to have them tested.”
“Maybe I should change now, then?”
The medic nodded. “When you’re done, I’ll record the incident details. The attack has to be reported. The Office for the Eradication of Invasive Species will analyze the clothes for confirmation.”
She wobbled to her feet.
“I’ll help you undress,” Stratos said.
Her face tinged with pink. “I can handle it.”
* * * *
Savannah fled to her bedroom. “Why did you call him?” she scolded Aaia.
“He must be informed if his assistant is not going to be at work.”
“I will be there!” The blisters were healing, and the searing pain had receded to tolerable soreness.
Avoiding the slimy spots, she removed her jacket—but then didn’t know what to do with it while she finished undressing. She hesitated to lay it on the bed because of contamination. With two fingers, she held it away, unsure what to do, and the house robo rolled in.
She handed the jacket to the bot. Aaia thought of everything, although sometimes the AI exceeded the parameters of her programming—like contacting Stratos.
Scared and hurting, Savannah had felt a flash of relief when he strode in, but she’d been off-kilter and not thinking straight.
She and the AI needed to have a talk about boundaries.
Which begged the question, why had he come? It wasn’t like he cared about her. Maybe like Aaia had said—he wished to ensure she’d didn’t miss any work.
Shit. “Aaia what time is it?”
“Two a.m.”
Double shit. She’d be a zombie tomorrow…today.
She removed her blouse and then wiggled out of her slacks and gave them to the bot. Probably the pants were okay but better safe than sorry. “Take the clothes to the medic,” she instructed and pulled on some comfy sweats.
She returned to the main room to find Stratos pacing, and the medic tapping into a tablet.
Stratos whipped around. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. I’ll be at work, don’t worry.”
“No, you won’t. You’re taking the day off.”
“To do what?”
“Recover.”
“I’m fine. Or I will be in the morning.” She waved her healing hands as proof.
“In five or six hours?”
“Can we talk about this later?” she said, and asked the medic, “What do you need for your report?”
“From the analysis of the excretions”—he peered at his scanner—“it was definitely a dorian. Was there only the one?”
“I only saw one. What exactly is a dorian?”
“It’s a predatory invasive nonnative species released on Oberia by the Prellims with the intention of decimating our food sources,” Stratos said.
“The dorian is an indiscriminate eater. It will eat anything it can swallow. It couldn’t have swallowed you, but it would have tried,” the medic said. “Young children, on the other hand...we lost several babies during the infestation.”
“Five,” Aaia chimed in.
“Oh, my god.” Savannah felt the blood drain from her face, and she sank onto the sofa before her legs gave out.
“Where did you encounter it? Be as specific as you can. They are territorial; it’s probably still in the vicinity.”
She gave him the location. “I walk by that area every day on my way to and from work. It could have grabbed me at any time.” She shuddered.
“It’s nocturnal. The creature rarely ventures out in daytime,” the medic said.
“She often leaves for work before it gets light and doesn’t return until after dark,” Aaia piped up.
“I’ll send my vehicle for you from now on,” Stratos said.
“You can’t do that indefinitely.”
“I can do it forever.” His intense gaze met hers.
“I injured the dorian,” she said, and explained how she’d gotten away by stabbing it in the eye.
Stratos jerked and then growled. “Vehicle. From now on.”
“As soon as the invasive species office gets my report, I’m certain they’ll act on it immediately. One last question. What time did you see it? This will help them pinpoint how far it may have traveled within its territory.”
“I left work around 11 p.m., so maybe 11:10?”
Stratos frowned.
The medic tapped into the tablet. “And…the report is sent! Do you have any questions?”
“Can I find out when it’s been captured?”
“You can track the progress on the invasive species site. The dorian will be red-flagged.” He took another look at her wrist and palm, pronounced them “healing nicely,” packed up his equipment, and departed, leaving her alone with a glowering Stratos and an uncharacteristically silent AI.
“I apologize for having been a bother,” she felt compelled to say. “Aaia shouldn’t have called you. As you can see, it was unnecessary. I’m fine.” You can leave now. Nervously, she rubbed her palms together and then noted it didn’t hurt at all.
“Aaia did the right thing,” he said. “Why were you at the office so late? I got the impression you were going to leave about the time I did.”
“Right after you left, your mother called a meeting for the morning. I prepared the documentation you’ll need.”
“Next time, tell my mother to go flek herself,” he said.
“Only you can get away with that. I would never tell a CEO or my boss’s mother to go flek herself.”
“You work too hard. You go above and beyond the call of duty all the time.”
She blinked. “I’m surprised you noticed.”
“I notice. I don’t say thank you often enough, but I notice.”
Why did that make her knees go weak? Threaten to make her cry? “Yeah, well…well…”
“Well, what?”
“Just well.” She didn’t trust herself to speak. She was still reeling after having nearly been digested by a dangerous invasive species. Stratos being in her apartment didn’t help her equilibrium either.
“I mean it about you taking the day off.”
“You’re going to need me tomorrow.”
“I need you every day,” he replied, and her heart did a little flutter until he added, “I got along without you for months before you came. I can manage for one day.” He paused. “That’s an order.”
“Well, since you put it so nicely.”
“And the next day, my vehicle will pick you up.”
“Fine.” She wouldn’t refuse the ride. She dreaded having to go by the location where she got attacked. What if they didn’t capture the dorian right away? What if it remembered her and held a grudge? She’d probably blinded it in one eye. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled, a real one, the kind she hadn’t seen since before the kiss, and her stomach did its flip-floppy thing.
“I, um, I think I’m going to go to bed.”
“Good idea. Will you be all right? I can sleep on the couch.”
His surprising offer ignited a powerful yearning for him to stay, but she didn’t dare read too much into his concern. The comfort his presence provided tonight would lead to more tension tomorrow.
“No, no…I’ll be fine. I am fine.” She raked her hand through the rat’s nest on her head; her hair had come loose, and she’d lost the clip.
Besides the healing burns and the scrapes on her back from being dragged, her body ached.
She’d hit the ground hard when the dorian yanked her off her feet.
She’d probably have bruises to show for it.
She walked toward the door.
“You’re kicking me out.” He made a wry face.
“You have to sleep, too,” she said. “And check your schedule. Don’t forget the documents—they’re in the system in the—”
“I’ll find them. I’m not helpless.”
The man couldn’t find a document if he held it in his hand. But maybe that didn’t need to be her problem tonight.
“Maybe I ask you to find things for me because I like your company,” he said.
Her mouth went dry. His comment seemed to imply so much more. Or was her addled brain making an inference that hadn’t been intended? His presence confused her. She didn’t recognize Nice Guy Stratos.
She longed to lean on him, let him take over, but feared where it would lead. Punch-drunk, she questioned her competence to make smart decisions. Don’t sign any important legal documents, and don’t let your sexy boss stay over.
“I’ll see you the day after tomorrow,” she said firmly.
“Technically, tomorrow,” he corrected. “It’s today already.”
“Technically, it’s always today,” she replied.
“If you need anything…”
“I won’t.” Don’t go.
Without any further effort to change her mind, he left.
Dammit. She leaned against the door, her emotions in an uproar.
“You should have let him stay,” Aaia said.
“Butt out,” she retorted and then marched into her bath. After showering, she donned her jammies and crawled into bed. Overwrought, exhausted, she fell asleep almost immediately.