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“Where? Are you okay?”
He has his hands on my arms and he’s looking me up and down before he finishes speaking. His hands are cool on my skin but the fire in his eyes and the grumble in his voice are warm and embracing.
“I’m fine,” I say. “My head hurts, but it will pass.”
“You are sure?”
“I am. But they did worse to you. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I will protect you,” he says, stopping his inspection and looking into my eyes. He moistens his lips with his dark, alien tongue.
He smells of sandalwood and musk. It’s a heady scent and either the smell of him, or the concussion I probably gave myself, is making me light-headed.
“You are my treasure.”
He says it last softly, barely more than a whisper, but it makes me tremble. I want to give myself to him fully. The way he makes me feel when he looks at me like this, with blatant desire, makes me come undone. He’s strong, and warm, and I know he’ll love me forever.
I touch his face and trail my fingers down onto his chest. A low grumble emerges and I want to rest my head against his chest and listen to it and the beating of his heart. I want him to hold me as we lie together and watch the suns rise. I want everything, but that’s a dim and only slightly possible future. It won’t happen if we don’t escape.
He knows it as well as I do. He steps back, turning his attention to the wall and only then do I realize I never answered him.
“Yes!” I exclaim too loudly.
My own voice echoes back to me off the stone walls and machines. Charlie snickers and Asia barks a laugh. My cheeks flush hot with embarrassment. He looks over his shoulder with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen and he nods.
“Mine,” he says, then he punches the wall so hard that it makes me wince.
The empty echo that resonates from his action makes it clear that there’s nothing behind that wall. He shakes his hand. I’m sure that had to hurt but Bahr just frowns at the wall. He runs his hands over it then steps back. I study the wall too. It’s an empty spot, two desks sit to either side of the space and there’s no obvious opening or trigger. I move closer and try running my hands over it too but nothing.
“Guys, come here,” Charlie says.
Bahr continues trying to figure out the wall while I go and join Charlie alongside Asia.
“What’s up?” Asia asks.
“I could be wrong,” Charlie begins, pausing and touching some of the crystals on the keyboard looking thing. As she does the screen changes, but I still don’t understand what I’m looking at. I recognize the double helix thing that is DNA but recognizing something and understanding it are two entirely different things.
“Wrong about?” I prompt.
“They’re cloning,” Charlie says, leaning in closer to the monitor. “They are. No, I’m sure of it.”
“Cloning? That’s illegal,” Asia says.
“Humans outlawed it, we’re not on Earth and they’re not human,” Charlie says.
“But what? What are they cloning?” I ask.
“Zmaj,” she says softly. “It looks like they’re cloning Zmaj.”
“You’re kidding me? Why?” Asia asks.
“I don’t know but this is really advanced science,” Charlie says. “I don’t understand their technology, but I do get the principles involved. We’ve done similar stuff with plant seeds, manipulating the genetic code to make it more viable in different environments.”
“Are you saying they’re not only cloning, but that they’re manipulating these guys’ genetics?” I ask.
“Yeah, looks like it,” Charlie says.
“Ha,” Bahr exclaims, and when I turn he’s managed to open a hidden door.
