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I point to another door that remains ajar. We step over what looks like a bin of face masks spilled onto the floor to go through the door. It creaks and I wince, but no one starts shooting. The door opens into a hall that can go left or right. A smear of blood runs along the right wall.
I’m both thankful and disgusted all at once.
If she’s hurt…
I can’t think about that now. All that matters is finding her. We have Avrell and his nanobots, so if she’s hurt, he’ll fix her.
Hadrian and I walk stealthily down the long, dark corridor until we reach another door. This one takes another flight of stairs up. Up and up. We go several more floors up until we reach a control room. It’s then I hear it.
A groan.
Her groan.
She’s lying, curled up so rekking small, on the floor by a table. The sick Kevin with sores all over his face has pulled on some sort of headset on and is mashing buttons on his table he sits at.
“Fuck!” he growls. “They’re here.”
He takes off toward another door, sending his chair careening in his flight. I bellow at Hadrian, “Get him!” My priority is my mate. She needs me. As Hadrian fires his zonnoblaster, echoing loudly in the room, I run over to Willow.
She’s so pale.
And hurt.
Rekk!
“Willow,” I bark out, pulling her to me. “Talk to me, bright star. Where are you hurt?” Besides the obvious gash on her head. My poor mate.
She moans and flutters her eyes open. “Theron.”
“I’m here.” I yank off my face mask and kiss her gently on the lips. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Crackling can be heard behind me and then an unfamiliar voice.
“Copy that, Private. Transmission received. Bringing the rain within a fortnight. Over and out.”
Willow’s mouth drops open and tears well in her eyes. I worry she’s in more pain. Before she can speak, the door reopens and Hadrian walks back in, his zu-gear splattered with blood.
“He put up a good fight?” I ask, frowning at the mess.
Hadrian glowers through his mask. “Not nearly enough, unfortunately. But Lyric told me all about this particular Kevin…” His sub-bones start popping, which makes mine crack in response. “I sent him to The Eternals. After I bashed his face in with the end of my zonnoblaster.”
Willow’s body relaxes tremendously. This Kevin hurt her in ways I am not sure I’ll ever want to know. In this moment, I’m incredibly thankful for Hadrian. He’ll make a good commander one day.
“Thank you,” I grunt out.
“Everyone okay in here?” Julie calls out before entering.
“It’s clear,” I bark. “Willow needs medical attention, though.”
Julie rushes over to us and looks over Willow’s gash. “Ooh, that’s nasty. It’ll need stitches and she might have a concussion. Let’s get her back to Exilium.”
“There we go,” Avrell says, smiling through his mask. “Looking good as new.”
Willow blinks away her confusion and touches her forehead where the gash once was. “What did you do to me?”
“Creepy alien shit,” Zoe answers for her. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. I’m totally skeeved out right now.”
Hadrian snorts and I squeeze Willow’s hand.
“It’s not ‘creepy alien shit,’” Avrell grumbles out. “It’s nanobots. They are bionetically engineered to locate areas that need repairing and healing. It’s what we morts have been using for ages.” He shakes his nog at Julie, who’s holding a medical kit. “You will not come near my patient with a thread and zuta-metal stick. She is not a piece of clothing to stitch up. For Eternals’ sake, those barbaric ways have long been eradicated.”
“It still works,” Julie argues. “And had you not been here, Zoe or I would have done it. She’d be just fine.”
“Yeah,” Zoe says, high-fiving Julie.
Avrell ignores them as he handles his wegloscan. “I want to check something else too as some of your readings were coming out elevated.” He gives me a pointed look. “Ahhh, yes.” The scanner blinks green. “Just as I imagined.”
“What is it?” I demand, hating that he’s smiling when my mate might be hurting.
“Willow is pregnant.”
The room grows quiet.
“With your mortling, Theron. Everyone knows she’s your mate. Don’t act shocked.”
My eyes drag over to hers that are wide. Gently, I rub my palm over her stomach. She carries my mortling in her womb?
Willow starts to cry and all three of the other women in the room tense up.
“W-What if it’s not Theron’s?” Willow sobs. “What if it’s Felix’s? From before?”
I want to go back to that mountain and stomp that Kevin’s face in one more time just for making her cry. For hearing again in not so many words what he did to her.
Avrell smiles. “Fear not, alien. Though it is early, the wegloscan detects both mort and human bionetics. Is Theron the father?”
She chokes out a laugh. “Yes. Yes, he is.”
