Page 10 of HaL

“Stay with me, Roja. You have fought too hard to give up now … Lord of Light, I pray that you do not take her from me only moments after I have held her in my arms.”

I see Troza and her apprentice standing at the main entrance with a gurney as I approach. The main dock’s seal opens, and I slide inside, barely stopping the glider before I hit one of the main pillars in the area due to my excessive speed.

Because it is in the way, I practically rip off the speeder’s canopy trying to get out. The moment Troza sees me, she motions for me to follow her. My arms wrap protectively around Dawn, my body so in tune with hers that I try to force my will into her to survive. Holding her as close as I can, I pray the warmth from my own body has helped enough on the way here to stabilize her. Walking into the med bay, the heat inside takes my breath away, but I know they had to raise the temperature for Dawn.

Troza stops in front of the heated bed with a frown on her face as she looks me up and down. Then, she motions for everyone else to leave the area.

“HaL, you are going to have to force your body to release her, or I am going to have to sedate you.”

“What … why?” Loosening my arms, I go to lay Dawn down on the heated mat only to realize she is stuck to me. Holding my arms out to the side, I look down and find that her entire body has been completely encased in my hair. The only thing you can see of her is her long red hair mixed within the silver of my own.

Troza must have noticed my confusion, as I have no idea what has happened. She reaches up, cupping my cheek lovingly, like she has done since I was a youngling, being one of the few I have ever allowed to touch me.

“HaL, you need to relax and let me take her.”

“I am not doing this on purpose. I do not understand what is going on or how this even happened.”

“This female is yours. Your body knew it before your mind could catch up. Your other half recognized her as its mate, and the moment you found her, instinct took over. You wrapped yourself around her, shielding her with your warmth as though the entire world were a threat.

But warmth alone is not enough for her now. I am going to give you something to calm you, and then I will carefully free her from your coat. You need to let me do it.

Your wilder side will not understand that I am trying to help, HaL. To it, I am the threat standing between you and your mate. So, you must keep it under control. If you attack me when I try to take her from you, you could destroy both of us.”

“Go ahead, I have a tight rein on him.”

She gives me a sad smile even though her words are teasing.

“I can see that.”

The smirk on her bluish cheeks makes me take a deep breath as I draw in her familiar, comforting scent. Closing my eyes, I will the beast that resides inside me to step back and allow Troza to save the one thing that has become the center of our attention. For once, we are both in the same frame of mind, and I feel the hair holding Dawn safely against me loosening on its own, and within a tic, she is free. My arms lower her battered and slight frame onto the medical platform, but I cannot step away.

“I am unable to leave.”

“I know, HaL and I will not ask you to, so instead, you can make yourself useful. Her feet and hands are frostbitten, and if not properly tended to, she could lose them. I need you to carefully work the circulation back into her joints as I recalibrate this machine for her human form. Thank the Lord of Light that I was able to contact ANDI when I heard from Bane that a human might be in the pod, and he was able to send me this download right before you got here.”

Troza knew I needed something for my beast to focus on otherwise the minimum hold I was maintaining could turn deadly in an instant. So, doing as I am told, I gather her small fingers into my much larger ones.

I trace each joint, moving them slowly in one direction and then the other, checking to make sure none has seized. I watch as the med chamber’s mechanical arms lower from the ceiling, cutting away and disintegrating the layers of clothing she was wearing.

With every piece they remove, my anger grows.

My beast’s growls fill the room as more of her skin is exposed, each sound deeper and more threatening than the last. At this point, I am not sure there is a single place on her body that is not bruised, cut, or broken. I have to force myself to release my grip on the platform’s railing before I crush it completely. The metal is already giving beneath the pressure of my hands when Troza clears her throat.

“Go ahead and growl and snarl all you want, but if you tear up my platform. I will have you removed from this room, even if it takes ten of our best trained to get you out of here. These are all superficial wounds, HaL. She is tough, or she would not be here. Her body will heal if we can get her stabilized quickly enough. Right now, this arm has me more concerned than the bruising covering her soft, thin skin, or the cold that has seeped into her core.”

“Her name is Dawn.”

Her knowing, bright silver eyes turn toward me. “You have met her before and somehow resisted the pull of the mate bond. HaL, it is not like you to keep things from me.”

“There was nothing to tell, Troza. I knew there was a reason I could not get her off my mind, but I never dreamed it was because she was mine. I have never heard of one of our kind mating with another species, well, that is, if you overlook me. But now that I think on it further, she is the only female I have ever willingly touched, besides you.”

Troza gives me a look that says she wants to say something more, but instead, she looks down to where my hands are balled up. “How do her feet look?”

“They are shredded along her heels to the point that I am scared to maneuver them much, as the few scabs seem fresh. Her toes are so small, I fear my claws are going to hurt her worse.”

Several of the machine’s articulated arms withdraw as soon as the last of her garments are removed, folding back into the walls with a quiet mechanical hiss. I barely notice them. My attention is fixed on the damage plainly marked across her skin—bruising, scars, and other injuries that I cannot bring myself to look at for too long.

Troza moves to her side and takes hold of one of her arms, positioning it carefully against the restraints. The machine comes alive around her. A fine mist sprays over her body, coating her skin as the system begins the sterilization process. The air fills with the sharp, metallic scent of ionization. Pale light flickers over her flesh as the machine scans and treats her, its instruments moving with unsettling precision.