“And you listened to her?” Rovos growls, leaning into the screen. Anna’s head swings back and forth between us, an increasingly worried look on her face.
“I wanted to take her to the medbot, but… she refused.”
“Vittu!” Rovos snarls. He starts to push himself to his feet, but Anna manages to settle him back down.
Over her shoulder, she asks me, “What is wrong with her? What are her symptoms?”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t been acting like herself,” I say, spearing my hands through my hair. “She’s inpain, but I can’t see where she might be injured.”
Rovos swears up a streak, and this time manages to push himself out of his chair, where he starts to pace back and forth.
“What? What is it? What’s wrong with her?” I shout through the screen.
“She’s gone into heat.”
She’s…in heat?
“Does this… happen to her often?” I ask. “And how thefucking hellsdo you know?”
Rovos turns an angry look at me. “This shouldn’t happen at all. She takes suppressants—has for revs—as for how Iknow: I was the one who found the healer who started her on them! I couldn’t stand to see her in such pain every time she’d have a cycle.”
“Do you think she missed her dose?” Anna asks. “There has been a lot going on.”
“No. Igid never misses a dose.” Scrubbing his hands down his face, Rovos falls back into his chair and leans forward, giving me a withering look. “Go to the med room. Look to see what kind of tranquilizers are on board.”
“What?” Anna and I both shout.
“She’s Niveron, or at least part. When their heats aretriggered,” he throws a menacing glare at me, “it is absolutely unbearable unless the male who triggered them… helps them through it.”
“Wait—you think I’m the one who triggered her heat?” Haven’t I been thinking of her asmyfemale? What if she’s my fated after all?
“You must have,” Rovos sighs. “I’ve never seen her act this way with any another male.”
“But she acts like she hates me.”
“Exactly.” Rovos leans back and grins. “If she truly hated you, she’d have killed you by now.”
Well, there’s a sobering thought.
“I should have seen this coming.” Rovos’ grin falls away, and he closes his eyes. “The suppressants should have countered even a triggered heat.”
As much as I don’t want to go against her wishes for me to keep my distance, I can’t leave her to suffer. Especially if I’m the one who caused this.
“What kind of tranq should I look for?”
Rovos sighs and glances at Anna. “Brumansia extract might do it, but it’s dangerous, and if the dose is too high, it can—do more harm than good.”
In other words, fuck it up and she dies.
Fucking hells.What am I supposed to do? The thought of letting her suffer feels like someone pulling my heart out through my chest. But if I drug her, I could possibly kill her if I don’t get the dosage right.
“Brox,” Rovos growls, leaning in and locking his eyes with mine. “Under any other circumstance, I’d be pulling you through this screen and ripping your head off. I want you to know that.”
I swallow past the lump that’s formed in my throat. “I—I’ll… keep you updated.”
“Right now, all I want you to focus on is taking care of Igid. I won’t be expecting to hear from you anytime soon.” His face scrunches in a grimace, while Anna tries, and fails, to hide her smile.
Rovos kills the comm, and the screen goes dark.
