“Lily, I’m here.”
She snapped her head toward him. One of the vukri seized the moment and bolted for the logistics hatch through which they had entered the Vitromium.
“Khar, I was so worried about you!”
Without breaking her rhythm, Lily hurled the ball. It struck the fleeing vukri in the leg, dropping it in a heap with a strangled cry.
Khar felt time slow to a standstill as the vukri and the two of them locked eyes.
Humans, it seemed, could see at an angle as well as straight ahead, something neither he nor the intruders had anticipated based on the forward placement of her eyes. Though they stood on opposite sides, fear mixed with respect bound them together in a single, breathless pause.
Lily stepped closer to Khar and wrapped one arm around him from the side, keeping the vukri in her line of sight.
“I’m so glad you’re all right. I think we can call the promenade guard now. They cannot escape.”
Khar looked down at the small head pressed against his chest, at the dark, silky hair, then at his own skin as it continued to deepen in tone, shading toward near black. Lily noticed it too and lifted her face toward him.
“What is happening to you? This is not blood loss, is it?”
Khar shook his head. The gesture was still new to him. He had only ever seen Lily use it, but it felt appropriate now. Necessary, even.
He knew this was not blood loss.
He had never imagined this could happen to him, but somewhere amid the chaos of the fight—or perhaps the moment Lily pressed against him—the irreversible process of Divani imprinting had begun.
It was not supposed to happen. Not to the strongest. Not to the undefeated of his kind.
But he was not undefeated anymore, was he?
Still, his body was already changing. Reshaping. Attuning itself to a single chosen mate, preparing to become her biologically perfect counterpart.
There was no escape from Divani imprinting.
Khar had always known that.
He drew a deep breath and lowered his massive, clawed hand onto Lily’s shoulder. She leaned into him a little more, never taking her eyes off the vukri.
“Lily. I am opening the rear stasis locker. Can you herd them?”
“I think so. They are very afraid of the ball.”
Khar might have shaken his head at her calling a guest-ship collision dampener a ball, but now was not the time. He issued the command to Vitro, and with Lily’s enthusiastic assistance, the vukri were quickly secured. Even the motionless ones were revived and deposited beside the others.
When it was over, dizziness washed over Khar, but Lily did not let go of him.
He could not afford to collapse yet. To receive their reward, everything had to be handled discreetly, including the cleanup. Lily protested briefly, but Khar insisted that despite the absence of visible injuries, she submit to a scan by the wall-mounted medical unit in the cargo bay. When it confirmed she was unharmed, Khar filed the incident report with promenade security.
Lily returned to the control room to guide Vegrun and Silomarila on yet another unnecessary shopping excursion, buying them enough time to transfer the vukri to authorities without notice.
As expected of a security force assigned to the playground of the wealthy, the response was flawless. The intruders were taken into custody and Khar’s statement recorded before Vegrun and his companion had even begun their return. By then, Khar was already in Vitro’s medical bay, sealing the puncture wound in his chest.
By the time Vegrun and his lover returned, and Lily finally escaped them, there was no trace of the injury. Khar had replenished his circulation with several chrono-cycles’ worth of premium nutrients from the medical station’s exorbitantly priced reserves. He would need them for the imprinting process, and Vegrun could hardly complain about supplies used in the line of duty.
The upper portion of Khar’s uniform was beyond saving, so he donned a white medical robe reserved for patients. He lacked the patience to fuss with the tiny fasteners at the front and left his chest bare.
The medical station announced Lily’s presence at the door. Khar released the lock and pretended to be occupied with reorganizing instruments as she hurried inside.
“Khar, how are you? Are you really all right?” Lily asked, worry threading her voice.
