He wanted to return and put his brother through the nearest wall.
Instead, he remained beside Veya.
Halfway along the corridor, pain folded her around herself. One hand clutched her abdomen, and a broken sound escaped before she could suppress it.
Dax caught her.
“Veya.”
She attempted to answer but could not force words through the pain.
Her skin burned against his hands.
Dax lifted her before her knees could strike the stone. Veya’s arms settled weakly around his neck, and her face turned against his shoulder as though she had finally stopped attempting to fight gravity.
Shadow carried them through the remaining corridors.
Dax rematerialized outside the eastern guest suite, opened the door with one shoulder, and carried her inside. Firelight moved low across the room, catching along the bed and carved wooden panels.
He placed Veya carefully upon the mattress.
She immediately curled around the pain.
Dax stepped back and dragged one hand through his hair. The room held the scents of sweat, lingering blood, and the attraction both of them had spent hours attempting to separate from everything else happening to her.
Veya looked at him.
Her green eyes were wild but focused.
“Dax.”
He heard the need in her voice and forced himself not to mistake it for permission.
“I know you’re in pain.”
“I cannot stop it.” She pushed herself upright, moving too quickly and swaying when the room shifted around her. “I feel as though I’m burning from inside my own skin.”
“I can call the medical team again.”
“No.”
“Veya—”
“No more needles. No more people standing over me and discussing what my body is doing as though I’m not in the room.”
She moved toward him across the mattress.
The neckline of the loose shift fell from one shoulder, but Dax kept his attention on her face.
“I want you,” she said.
His body responded before thought could intervene.
Dax stepped back once.
“Veya, listen to me.”
“I am listening.”
