Chapter 9 #2
“Ysa should have a say in this,” Mandy said firmly, but when Asmoded’s stare mirrored my own, I knew I’d won.
No brig time. He wasn’t threatening to kick me off the ship if I didn’t fall in line; he was backing me up—to his own mate.
I didn’t need to have grown up with a sister to know that was going to backfire on him in private, but that was not my problem.
When I was dismissed moments later, I began walking away with victory singing in my veins.
That feeling was crushed when Asmoded’s words chased after me: “You’re reporting to the med bay, Thatcher.
I don’t believe you’ve slept, either, and you’re no good to me—or to Ysa—if you’re not functioning at peak performance. ”
“Fuck,” I swore, my body shaking as a wave of rage crashed through me. I wanted to turn around and yank his vocal cords from his throat, through the scaly plates that covered his neck. How dare he… how dare he be right. I did need to make sure I was in peak form to keep Ysa safe.
The thought of staying away from her even longer physically ached, though; I was certain that such a moment was exactly what our unwelcome stowaway was waiting for.
By now, it had to have recovered enough to try again; I had only harmed it a little.
So far she’d been safe in the engine room, but I did not believe that would last much longer.
“No delays. You’re walking directly to the med bay and reporting to Dravion.
I will be waiting for his call to confirm you showed up.
If it takes too long, I will send the Sineater after you and lock you up in the brig, understood?
” I understood that order just fine, and as much as I wanted to show up at Ysa’s engine room right now, I wouldn’t.
The threat of the brig was enough to make me behave, for now.
A force field like the one in the brig wasn’t going to keep me in, though, but they didn’t need to know that. That was my ace.
“Yes sir,” I responded, and I knew the angry tone would have gotten me punished if this were still the UAR.
It wasn’t, though, and Asmoded had thick skin.
He didn’t care about my attitude as long as I obeyed.
The pull to head for the engine room was strong, though, and when I had to choose between going left to the med bay or right to Ysa, my feet almost carried me to her instead of where they should have gone.
Dravion was waiting for me by the entrance to the med bay, his tentacles undulating gently beneath him.
Pink and blue, with faint silvery marks, they were far too pretty and delicate-looking to be the part of him everyone feared.
The Grolarnx that, by all accounts, killed and devoured, hypnotizing its prey with the third eye at the center of its forehead.
Dravion looked shockingly normal—his top half at least—but he did have an eye at the center of his forehead that he always kept shut.
“He’s here,” I heard him say, and then the light on the comm device strapped to his wrist winked out.
It was tempting to turn around right then and there and leave.
I’d done as ordered and reported to the med bay.
Ysa was in danger, and I simply could not shake the feeling that before long, even the engine room wouldn’t be safe.
At some point, that creature wasn’t going to be satisfied playing around with some fringe systems; it was going to try to take control.
Ysa feared that. I was trying to be prepared, but an enemy you could not see or track, and that did not kill or threaten…
it was a difficult enemy to prepare for.
“This won’t take long, I promise,” Dravion said.
His tone was gentle, kind, but the way his body moved to block the hallway made it all too clear he’d picked up on my desire.
Damned empath, the parts of him he’d inherited from his Aderian side.
I knew they weren’t supposed to be telepathic, but one couldn’t help but wonder just how deep this empathic gift went.
Dravion never let on, never said a thing.
In fact, he seemed to like pretending he wasn’t gifted, like one side of the family tree clearly was. I didn’t buy it.
“Have you been sleeping?” he asked as I sat down on the edge of a medical cot and crossed my arms over my chest. I glared because the answer was obvious; we both knew I hadn’t slept in days.
I was fine, though. My body could handle it—the nanobots were compensating.
He didn’t press for an answer as he circled around me with his handheld scanner, and he didn’t tell me to lie down, either.
He hummed as he moved, one tentacle coiling and uncoiling, a pencil in its grip and ink staining the very tip.
Then he sighed deeply and eyed me with some frustration.
“It’s a good thing your nanobots make you so durable, my friend.
You need at least a few hours each day, though, to rest your brain.
Please try tonight. Asmoded listened, didn’t he?
There are guards being assigned to Ysa as we speak. You can take a break.”
I scoffed before I could stop myself and knew I’d given far too much away.
His all-black eyes narrowed on me, shimmering like fathomless mirrors.
Deep, endless pools of shiny black that wanted to suck me in and expose all my secrets, all my feelings.
See, this was why I avoided Aderians like the plague.
This was why I was happy to live on a mercenary vessel that empaths generally avoided.
No prying. I shut my eyes, swore, and turned my head away.
“I’ll sleep if she sleeps,” I said, and I’d make damn sure that she did.
No way was I going to let her stay awake for nearly forty-eight hours a second time.
She could be angry about that all she wanted—not that I believed she’d informed on me to the captain—but I’d make sure she slept.
In my arms, perhaps I’d feel certain she was safe enough that I could rest a little, too.
“Hmm,” Dravion said. “I am sure that will delight her to hear,” he added.
My head jerked up in time to catch the faintest hint of a smile lingering around the corner of his mouth.
He was joking. Dravion was making a joke.
At my expense. I exhaled, held onto my temper by my fingernails, and swallowed back the curses that wanted to explode anyway.
That bastard. How could he joke about this?
This was life or death! I was the only one here dedicated to keeping Ysa safe, and I would, come hell or highwater.
“Are you done here?” I demanded when I felt the anger uncoil its tight grip around my gut and ease back like an ebbing wave.
Dravion shook his head, and his long, sleek black hair slid over his shoulder and covered much of his left side in a shimmering curtain.
Highly impractical for a warrior, I knew that because I’d let my own grow—a bit of rebellion against the strict UAR regulations I’d escaped.
Of course, mine just brushed my shoulders, while Dravion’s came all the way down to his fucking waist. The man was drowning in the stuff; it was girl hair, frankly, but he seemed to take great pride in it.
In that, the Aderians held common ground with the Ulinial, and now his hair reminded me of Ysa, damn it.
“I’m going to give you some of my nutrient mix as a precaution,” he said.
“Because I know you aren’t going to heed my advice anyway.
” He held up an injector, the type every med kit on the Varakartoom carried—his special, proprietary blend, specifically designed to boost a healing, flagging body.
No mercenary left the ship without at least one of those injectors in their pocket.
On a mission, you never knew when you might need one.
It might be the tipping point between life and death.
I knew that getting shot up with the stuff always boosted my nanobots, a side effect Dravion likely had not intended, but which was useful anyway.
I felt its effects almost immediately. My mind felt clearer, my body stronger, and my movements faster.
It was easier to control my temper now, and a lot harder to deny that my obsession with Ysa was unhealthy.
I should trust that Asmoded had sent guards who would do right by her, that she was safe.
Task fulfilled, I should do what everyone wanted and crash on my bunk for a couple of hours.
That was what a healthy, balanced guy would do, even when he cared as much about Ysa’s fate as I did.
I could see it, but I still let my feet take me to the engine room.
Ysa was mine, and now that I’d held her in my arms, listened to her sleepy sighs, I wasn’t going to let her go. She was mine to protect.
The engine room was suspiciously noisy when I arrived.
I hesitated at the threshold, wondering if I should go in now that Asmoded had agreed with my assessment.
It was the perfect excuse to break that one rule and enter her domain.
I could hold it over her, the captain said so, you need a guard.
Except I didn’t, because I wanted her to trust me, come to me herself, and she still had Ivo and Grunn in the engine room with her.
I was certain they were enough of a deterrent for the nasty stowaway in our systems not to attack.
Except… my senses prickled, and I ducked around the corner anyway.
It sounded far too much like a fight. It was a fight.
Ivo had Grunn grappled with all four of his arms, and the Rhico male seemed to be attempting, to the best of his ability, to break free and gore his coworker with his horn.
If not for the fact that Ysa was completely missing, I might have stepped back and watched to see who’d come out the victor.
She was, though. There was no sign of her anywhere, not a hint of her blue skin or clomping boot steps, no laugh or tease, or firm calls to get her guys back in line.
Ignoring the tussling pair, I strode around them and ducked into Ysa’s workroom, only to come up empty as well, dismay settling heavily over me. Where had she gone? And if she wasn’t here, was she still safe? Had Asmoded’s assigned guards arrived yet, were they with her?
Then fury filled me, and even the extra nutrients enhancing my nanobots’ abilities could not hold it in check.
She’d left the safety of the engine room.
She could be in danger right now, and I wouldn’t be able to reach her.
When I found her, I was going to shackle her to my side and make damn sure she never left my sight.
Grunn and Ivo still hadn’t noticed me, so when I stormed from Ysa’s workroom and demanded answers, they jerked apart guiltily.
Grunn straightened into a military posture, fists at his sides, while Ivo raised all four hands in surrender.
“Boss, ah… we didn’t see you there. Please don’t tell Ysa we were fighting!
We finished the repairs she asked us to do.
” Ivo kept babbling, but his hands lowered and assumed something very close to a boxing position, as if he was ready to fight me too if I said something he didn’t want to hear.
Grunn had much more sense, thankfully. His small, beady eyes met mine, unflinching despite the rage I was sure was visible on my face.
His muscles grew tight all over his body, like he was bracing himself against an attack.
It would not help him if I decided to kill him, nothing would.
His answer saved him: “She’s on the bridge.
Raukesh was assigned to guard her. She’s not alone.
” I said nothing, just spun on my heel and sprinted from the engine room.