The tent parted, and light blinded me through my eyelids. I couldn’t even twitch.
“No. Oh god. Fuck. This poor kid. Mindy will never forgive us,” the deep voice said.
I groaned. “Mindy.”
A blurry figure hovered over me, leaning closer. A perfectly ordinary human with brown hair, brown eyes, white skin, and round face appeared. Human. I breathed, “Serlotminden?”
“Alive. Are you Bartholomew?”
“Teddy.”
He smiled, drawing away, and I said in a rush, “Don’t leave me. Please.”
He swallowed, grabbing my hand. “I have you. You’re safe, Teddy.”
Other drakcol shifted closer. One was grayish-blue, another was black, and the last was light gray. I tried to shift back, but I couldn’t do more than grunt as I slightly wiggled. Serlotminden. I wanted him. No one else.
“It’s alright,” the human said. “My name’s Seth.”
“Seth.” Mindy had talked about him. He was the reason we humans had been taken in the first place, but I couldn’t be mad at him. He’d come for me. He was saving me. Tears burned my eyes. “Thank you.”
Seth rolled me onto a stretcher because I shied away when the drakcol came near me. Anytime Seth tried to let go of me, I reached for him; I didn’t want him to leave. I didn’t want to be alone again. I was so cold, and I hurt so bad.
He settled next to me in the shuttle, gripping my fingers. “Leader of Team Human, indeed.”
The drakcol with gray scales laughed. “I told you.” His voice was rough, but his words were in English, though severely garbled, almost like Serlotminden’s. “I’m a horrible choice. You’re naturally the best.”
“Seriously, Caleb?”
He was Caleb—the human ghost in a drakcol body.
“Don was talking to the Maykian warship about violating their space again, and he declared you owned all the humans, so we had the right to come and retrieve Bartholomew.”
“What?” Seth squeaked. “What did you just say?”
“‘Owned’ might be wrong. Maybe lead? Control? I don’t remember. But he was arguing fairly hard, and I might or might not have given him some insider tips,” Caleb said, grinning and snuggling into the black drakcol’s side.
“Caleb,” the black drakcol said with a chuckle.
Caleb continued, “Did you know that Maykians are super protective of families and have really strict protocols? So having you be the undisputed leader is a good thing. This way we won’t die. Isn’t that great?”
Seth sighed. “Fuck.”
“I thought it was a pretty great idea. I wandered Maykian space back when I was dead for at least a year, maybe more. I know a lot. Likea lota lot. Don seemed to like the plan, and we haven’t been shot yet, so it’s fantastic!”
“Caleb,” Seth groaned.
My eyes closed as they bickered in English. I didn’t exactly understand what was going on, but I knew one thing. I was going back to where I belonged. To my mate’s side. That was all that mattered.
I blinked. Vines covered in flowers hung over me, intermixed with recessed lights. I took a sharp breath and promptly sneezed. My nose dripping and my eyes itching, I looked around. Where the hell was I? It was warm, wherever it was. That was an improvement, and the bed was soft—also nice.
A hand tightened on mine. Seth. “I’ve got you, Teddy. You’re really cold and dehydrated and skinny. You look like hell.” He flushed. “Not that it matters. Or doesn’t matter. You’re going to be fine. There’s a great doctor here. He’ll check you out.”
“Serlotminden?” I asked, struggling to speak. I sneezed again, making my muscles ache. God, my eyes were on fire.
“I’m taking you to him right now.”
The plants disappeared and were replaced by gray. Almost instantly, I spotted Serlotminden on a bed. My pulse skyrocketed. He was here. But he wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t he moving?
