A pulse of panic, then rapid-fire images of what must be the compound at Xalcim. Followed by snapshots of manticores all over him—my gut twisted at what they were doing. But I didn’t think this had happened yet—it was his future, as he saw it.
Zyair then pushed on me an impression of us leaving orbit, and speeding away.
He actually tried to shove me aside,again.
Now, I was splendidly, gloriously angry. He wanted us to leave him to his fate. But we were mates, and he was asking the impossible.
I fed my anger into my reply. Showed us reclaiming his lifeless body. That we weren’t leaving without him, so he’d better be prepared to fight for his life.
For a moment, there was only blank silence.
Then I fed him one more image—of the four of us, lying in bed. As one.
A sign of what could be. No. Whatwouldbe.
He hesitated. Ultimately, he grabbed it, holding it to him. I offered a last image of me kissing him, and then, slowly withdrew.
Rhodes was staring at me.
“That was amazing,” he stated, his voice husky. “You are formidable.”
“She is awesome,” Xandros said in Primal, his hands squeezing my shoulders.
Pain shot through me. I gasped and pulled away.
“What is it?” he asked, concerned and contrite. “I should not have pressed so hard?—”
It was gone, almost as fast as it had appeared, but my head wasthrobbing even worse, now. “I’m not sure,” I said, rubbing my temple. “It was weird.”
“He must have pressed on a nerve,” Rhodes shot Xandros a glare.
I shivered. Was I getting sick? I tried a smile on Xandros.
He didn’t smile back. Instead, his nostrils flared. “Your scent is—different.”
I arched a brow. “Different? How? Are you saying I smell bad?”
“What! No!” He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine. “If anything, you smell even more delicious.”
“You are not eating her,” Rhodes ground out.
Xandros waggled a brow.
“Forget I said that,” his brother complained. “I walk into that every fucking time.”
Before Xandros could reply, Yani appeared in the entrance. “How close to the market is the dockyard?”
“Right near it,” Rhodes said. “You two can get the new shield actuator while we get Zyair.”
We’d already had this argument. But it clearly hadn’t been resolved. “I’m going with you,” I stated through gritted teeth.
“You cannot go with us,” Rhodes repeated patiently. “We will be in our dragon forms.”
Xandros slid his hand into my hair. “No way you will be able to hold on, little drifter, while we do what we need to do.”
I lifted my chin, but Rhodes locked gazes with me. “Yani and you need to get the actuator and return to install it. The ship must be ready for a fast depart.”
Dammit. We were at an impasse, again. The thought of them heading off alone to rescue Zyair filled me with angst.
