“Why would we stay?”Terry gripped her hips, challenging him.
“An Eth cannot be separated from his Dar Eth.It is certain death for him.Together, you may choose to stay or leave.When he approaches you, I only ask one thing: please, show him kindness.To find one’s mate is a gift from the Maker.You hold his life in your hands.”
Terry folded her arms across her chest.“You say Wren will be secure, safe, but why is she inside this machine?How can you promise she’ll recover?”
“The chemicals the Maloidians injected into you were easy to eradicate.Wren has too many and too much.”Cylo gazed at Wren, amazed at how she still breathed.“Our only hope to save her is for our greatest medical…teachers to assess her.We bring her to Issneen where we can best help.”She was his to guard; that was all he could focus on.
“Her vitals are stable, but the med-E.D.cannot slow the modifications happening to her genetic code,” Qaff added.
“I vow to you, milady, that Wren is under my protection.I will defend her with my life.”The compulsion to be by her side was beyond anything Cylo had experienced, driving him to admit he’d die for her.Not just any woman, but Wren herself.
“What those assholes did to us was barbaric,” Terry growled.“Thank you for saving us.”She faced the women.“I’ve nothing waiting for me at home.I’ll stay.”
That the female insisted on remaining with Wren like he wasn’t good enough?Anger erupted so fast, Cylo struggled to control it.“Do you not trust me?Believe I lack honor?”
Terry staggered back, her hands raised.“No… Not at all.I just thought a friendly—”
“I am hostile?”Cylo roared.He gathered the shadows around himself and loomed over the argumentative and insulting woman.“Can you tell us what was injected into any of you?Is your Earthian medicine far superior to ours?Would we harm her in any way?”
“Violet is my Dar Eth.She will remain with me onKevol.”Durok weaved among the women to stand behind an older woman with a lovely gray hair color.
She lifted her chin, clenched her fists at her sides, but didn’t glance at Durok over her shoulder.“Seems I’m staying.”
“Then this matter is resolved.”Cylo turned his back on them and took a few seconds to calm the volatile emotions simmering under the surface.He focused on Wren, trying to gauge whether her skin was less purple.
“Operations Commander Malo on comm.”Fyca’s voice snapped Cylo from his daze.
He rolled his shoulders then tapped his O.D.I.“Patch him through to medical.”
Malo appeared on the display vid mounted to a bulkhead.“Cylo, I have read the report.Well done.”He glanced at the med-E.D.“May the woman survive.”
“I pray so,” Cylo said, resisting the urge to look away from Malo.
“Data Officer Olin has assured me that you have made the necessary arrangements for the women, and that a few of our males have found their Dar Eths.Indeed, King Xeus and I are well-pleased.”
A few males?Who else?Cylo bowed his head.“I could not have done this without my males.Olin is trawling through the data retrieved.Perhaps, soon, we will have a better understanding as to what the Yithians and Maloidians are up to.In addition, this…” He gazed at Wren.“…Woman befriended a Maloidian who is on board the scimitar and is willing to share what he knows.”
Malo grinned.“Excellent.Since she serves as a distraction, ensure Olin continues to update me.”The comm ended.
Cylo grimaced.As a reprimand for not attending to the report himself, he’d endured worse.He activated his O.D.I.“Olin, my thanks.”
“None needed,” came the male’s response.
“Yet a favor is owed.”Cylo disconnected the comm and faced Qaff.None would mention how costly favors for an operative could be.
Wrenwaswarm,comfortable,and yet, not herself.Something was odd.No pain twinged through her, disturbing her sleep.It almost felt like it was her off-day and she’d slept in.She stretched then wiggled her backside, searching for a comfortable spot on her lumpy mattress.That spot was elusive, so she gave up.
How many hours….no,days,had she been asleep?Time felt different, distant.A sense of weightlessness lingered.She was no doubt on a leap.Her eyes wouldn’t open to let her gaze upon the beauty that was Pluto.Splice zinged through her veins, adding a little heat.Images flashed like memories, but they were so far-fetched, they had to be fiction.Silver sharks with fangs, yellow-tentacled, black-spotted aliens, and a purple liquid.She shook her head, trying to shove them aside.No, she wanted to remember the hero who’d stormed in to save her.Piercing dark blue eyes, the kind she could drown in.Long, black hair in a thick braid that swayed across his tight ass when he moved.A sharp jawline, even lips, led her gaze to his long nose and low-arched, black brows.
When he’d touched her knee, peace had descended, calming her frantic heartbeat.Why was she scared?That didn’t matter.He’d gotten her to follow him.Probably with his smile hinting at a dimple in his left cheek.She’d never seen a more attractive man.What a weak-assed description.He was a stunner, she’d admit that.But what the hell was he doing strolling through her dreams?No such men existed on Demeter, well, except for Pierce, and he didn’t count.
She snorted.Not that she’d met every man on the station.Her stomach churned into a hot, tight, mess when her dimpled man called her ‘ensa.’The tone had the sexiness of ‘sweetheart,’ so she leaned toward it meaning that.
A gasp tore through her.
Was he Etterian?
She’d read about them in digi-mags.In person, any of them would be quite impressive.Still, what had made her mind conjure this specific man, down to the details?Her overactive imagination couldn’t have brought about her nightmarish adventure.Which meant…
