He was younger than Melissa had expected—barely past adolescence by Cire standards, with skin that still had the bright, unmarked look of youth. But his eyes were old, shadowed with experiences no young person should have to carry.
“Captain Becsul.” He straightened to attention, his posture stiff and formal. “It’s an honor.”
“At ease, Kellan.” Becsul’s voice was gentle. “You’re doing me a favor, not reporting for duty.”
The young Cire relaxed slightly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “The industrial sector is mostly clear. The regular patrols have been diverted to the main spaceport entrance, but there’s a checkpoint at the junction of tunnels C-7 and C-9 that wasn’t there yesterday.”
“Can we go around it?”
“Yes, but it adds another hour to the route.” Kellan hesitated. “There’s also… something else. I heard chatter on the security frequency. Naran’s people have brought in tracking animals. Some kind of modified hunters.”
Becsul’s expression didn’t change, but Melissa felt his tension through the bond that now connected them—a thread of steel running between their hearts.
“How long before they find the tunnel entrance?”
“I don’t know. Hours, maybe less.” Kellan’s skin flushed darker with anxiety. “I’m sorry, Captain. I should have known sooner.”
“You’ve done more than enough.” Becsul clasped the young Cire’s shoulder. “The information is invaluable. We’ll move quickly and avoid the checkpoint.”
They set off again, Kellan leading the way through passages that grew increasingly industrial—pipes running along the ceiling, the distant hum of machinery, the occasional flicker of emergency lighting. The air smelled different here, tinged with ozone and heated metal.
Melissa’s legs were screaming now, her back a solid knot of pain, but she forced herself to keep moving. Robbie had finally fallen asleep against her chest, lulled by the rhythm of her footsteps, and she was grateful for small mercies.
“Not much farther,” Sarah murmured beside her. The other woman looked as exhausted as Melissa felt, but determination burned in her eyes. “We’re going to make it.”
“We are,” Melissa agreed. Because the alternative was unthinkable.
The port accesstunnels were a maze.
Kellan guided them through the twisting passages with confident familiarity, pointing out hazards and shortcuts with the ease of long practice. He’d grown up in this area, Melissa learned—his family had worked the industrial sector before the Red Death had claimed most of them.
“I was twelve when it happened,” he said quietly, when Becsul asked about his parents. “My mother died first. Then my sisters.My father held on for another year, but the grief… it was too much.”
“I’m sorry,” Melissa said, meaning it.
Kellan’s smile was sad but genuine. “Captain Becsul found me in the streets afterward. Gave me a purpose. A reason to keep going.” He glanced at Becsul with something like reverence. “He’s done that for a lot of us. The lost ones. The abandoned ones. The ones the Council forgot.”
Another piece of the puzzle. Another layer of the man she’d claimed as her mate.
How many lives have you touched? she wondered, watching Becsul move through the darkness ahead. How many people owe you everything?
They emerged into a larger tunnel, and suddenly Melissa could see light ahead—real light, not the artificial blue of their handheld devices. The port access was close.
“Wait.” Becsul held up his fist, and everyone froze.
Voices. Distant but approaching. And footsteps—heavy, booted footsteps that echoed through the tunnel with military precision.
“Patrol,” Kellan whispered. “They must have extended the perimeter.”
“How many?”
“I can’t tell. Three, maybe four.”
Becsul was already scanning the passage, his eyes finding a narrow maintenance alcove partially hidden by a tangle of pipes. “Everyone in there. Now. Stay quiet.”
They crowded into the alcove—barely big enough for all of them, bodies pressed together in the darkness. Melissa held her breath, her hand covering Robbie’s small body as if she could shield him from discovery by will alone.
The footsteps grew louder. She could hear voices now, fragments of conversation that made her blood run cold.
