I crawl to Zorin and help him sit up. “I told you to stay on the ship.”
He draws me against him with fervor, despite his battered condition, and braces my forehead to his. “Say that again.”
“That you were supposed to stay…”
“No. That you love me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you thought it.” Zorin keeps his blood soaked mouth away from mine. “We’re telepathic in Shifter form, or when our foreheads touch. Ignus could explain the science to you. I’m more of a mechanic.”
“I do love you.” I search his face for a clean spot. “I just don’t want to kiss you right now.”
A smile cracks on his face. He laughs bashfully. “Fair enough.”
Azrim shakily gets himself to his feet and offers Zorin a hand. Zorin takes it and stands.
They hug in a desperate, weary way, but they finally seem to have found peace.
“Thank you for coming for me, brother,” Azrim quietly says.
Zorin laughs in relief. “I wasn’t going to abandon you.”
Azrim pulls their foreheads together. They remain silent, having a private conversation.
“Isn’t that sweet?” a quiet voice says to me.
I jolt and look over at Onidus, who is similarly splattered with blood. He looks almost human in his battle gear if it wasn’t for the light flames licking off of his skin.
“Ah, don’t mind the afterburn. I won’t let it hurt you.” He motions to my mate and his brother. “Two for one is a good deal.”
I scowl at him.
“What? I see through things, too.” He winks at me. “Anyway, my crew just boarded with the returning Neb fighters. Stole one and infiltrated the hangars. They are finishing up in the portside aft fighter wing.
“Looks like the Mindorans saved two new ships to add to the fleet. That’s good. We’ll be able to study these and upgrade our defense systems. But...” He shifts uncomfortably. “Viriden wants to see you. I know you have injured that need care. So we want you to dock at our mothership as soon as you’re able.”
Azrim walks up to us, pats Onidus on the shoulder and draws me into a hug. “You are more reckless than my Jezza ever was. But I am glad Zorin has you.”
As he leans back, Azrim covertly inhales a breath of me and steals an all-too-close look into my eyes. “Go with him. I will help the crews here and meet you there.”
39: Tessi
“You and Azrim seem to be getting along better,” Zorin says as I help him limp back onto my ship. Radar joins us, but curls up on a bed in a nearby room at the back.
“I hope so.” I motion for Zorin to lie back on the medical bed in the bay across from the bedroom. “I need to patch you up.”
“I need a bath first. I am filthy.”
Closing up the ramp, I set us on autopilot for Viriden’s mothership. The skies are clear, and scanners show no enemy ships left in orbit but the two we’ve taken and the debris of the rest.
Zorin peeks into the bathroom at the back of the bedroom. “So are you, by the way.”
I grimace. “Didn’t know he was going to burst like that. I thought he’d just crumple because his bones were dust.”
Zorin chuckles. “Welcome to life with the Aegeris pack.”
I can see why their bloodline might scare Lunas.
