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If I were different, she’d be safe.
I’m not sure if I blacked out, but more of the crew pour into the room looking for their intruder. I’m blessed to have this rutting cloak, otherwise, they’d shoot me from the threshold. But they don’t see me in my pathetic fetal position on the floor. They enter, combing the perimeter for clues with their weapons raised.
I go silent; the adrenaline helping me get a hold of my emotions.
Get through this,I tell myself.Then you get Kaye as far away from your bloodstained self as possible.
I grab an ankle and swing whatever clueless victim I’ve snatched with all my might toward his cohort. All of them jump into action, but without understanding what happened, they bumble around like fools. It’s all the time I need to get to my feet and screw my head on straight.
“No, there’s something in here with us—” the one I tossed is saying. “Turn the lights up brighter. They’re masked somehow.”
No time to waste, so I start firing headshots.
One, two, three drop before they start shooting back in the proper direction. I can’t even bring myself to enjoy it.
* * *
“Rut it all,”I grumble as I dial the ship.
I haven’t done such a messy job in ten passings at least.
“Listening,” Kira greets me.
“Therearerutting kill-bots on this ship, but half of them are junk and none of them seem fully functional.”
“Hm, half trap, half-truth?” He muses. “If you’re calling, I assume you’re not trapped?”
“That’s why you’re our genius. Now what do we do with these? Do you want them?”
A chuckle. “And where would I put them?”
“Storage unit?”
It goes quiet as Kira considers.
“We should turn it over to the Alliance. You said it before, they’ll be pleased with an excuse to pursue Intergalactic Union sanctions against the Azza.”
“Either way, I’ll take images of everything here and get the bots stored somewhere. I have Alliance contacts through which I can initiate matters. Do you think it matters who we approach?”
We go on to discuss the options as I sweep through the ship to record every shred of evidence that could incriminate the Azza. It feels like going through the motions, all the while thoughts about Kaye’s safety are doing acrobatic performances in the background of my mind. I should’ve never taken her. I should’ve let her continue on with her human choices, untainted by my presence in her life. Even in the short time we’ve spent together, I could’ve exposed her existence as my mate to the wrong person. I should know better than anyone that there are a million ways to find out someone’s secrets. How many times have I pried into a stranger’s life for a full cycle before they even knew I was hunting them? Whether it be comm lines, security footage, a drop of blood, accessing a profile on public search systems…
Every paranoia I’ve had towards protecting my own life are multiplied tenfold.
After all, I value her tenfold and more than I value my own wretched self.
No, I need to get her far from me before I make a grave misstep.
I’m not an easy male to kill but losing her would end me.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
KAYE
The man lookslike he swam through grape jelly and then got a bucket of slime dropped on his head. I stare in shock and confusion until I realize he’s soaked to the bone in alien blood. The Azza are vaguely purple on the inside of their squishy squid bodies. And I can never forget that the lizard species called Plax bleed green. That was the species of alien who stole Frankie, Raina, me, and others from our colony on the day that started all this. I clawed at one of their faces as they dragged us away, and the green color darkened under my fingernails slowly for a week straight before I could get my hands clean again.
I blink.
“You shouldn’t see me like this,” he rasps, darting back toward the ship. “Wait there. I’ll clean up in my craft and meet you in my room soon.”
