I leave them, the two of them beginning to bicker as soon as I’m out of the room. I follow the hallway down to Solvi’s room, and I find her lying on her stomach, scribbling in her sketchbook with Flicker curled up on her back. I just…stand for a moment and look at her—at my little girl, growing so very, very fast.
She notices me and looks up.
“Baba,” she beams. “I’m so happy I’m home.”
I return the smile. “I am too, blossom,” I say. “I am too.”
CHAPTER 9
LYN
I almost—almost—goto the lab instead of medical.
There’s more testing to be done…more work, more data review. I had my vitals up the whole time I was testing my device—the device that is currently in my bag—and I should be able to figure out what’s going on.
But I also know that Kaelion—Dr. Rhyss—whatever the fuck he is to me now—will kill me if I go back to the lab, and that he’llknowwhen I scan in.
…so I go to fucking medical.
I call Thalara on my way over and ask her to meet me there, dying to tell her what’s going on and at least have someone to hold my hand. I’m buzzing with adrenaline, totally embarrassed, and honestly very freaked out. I still have no idea if I’ve given myself permanent brain damage.
Yeah. It’s good I’m going to medical.
Thalara is waiting in the annex of the clinic when I get there, jumping up to walk over to me. She frowns when she sees my clothes, cocking her head.
“You are…wearing Nyeri’i sleeping garments,” she says. “Is everything okay?”
“Not even a little bit.”
Thalara doesn’t ask any more questions—not yet. She just squeezes my hand and leads me to the front desk, where I check in under my student ID. The attendant glances once at my borrowed clothes, then keys something into their terminal with a noncommittal hum.
“Room three,” they say, nodding me through.
The clinic is quiet this early—just a few other students and researchers milling about, most of them half-asleep. Thalara bumps my shoulder gently, and I brace for the subsequent involuntary orgasm…
…but there’s nothing.
What the fuck?
“You going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to guess?” she asks. Her eyes widen, then, darting back over my clothes. “Oh my…did you sleep with Rhyss?!”
I glare at her. “What? Why would you even think that?”
“Well, you’ve always asked the question ‘what that tentacle hair do’—”
“That was a joke, Tay,” I mutter. “I’m not…no. No, I didn’t sleep with him. It’s so much worse than that.”
She chews anxiously on her lip. “You don’t have to tell me…”
“I want to,” I say. “It’s just—I tried out the pain translator last night.”
“Onyourself?”
I give her a tight nod.
She sucks in a breath. “And?”
We step into the examination room, where a cot is waiting with a desk beside it. A screen inside instructs me to wait for a nurse.
