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Now more than ever, Cazar was determined not to come back home if he couldn’t remove the parasite. Remaining here wasn’t worth the risk of hurting the ones he loved.
Kylok studied him, his black eyes laser focused on Cazar. “You’re lying to me. What is the real reason you do not wish to find a pilot?”
Cazar glowered, hating how easy Kylok could read him. “You do not know I am lying.”
Kylok raised a brow. “Yes, I do. You are terrible at it.”
Cazar looked down at the ground, running a hand through his disheveled hair, weighing the pros and cons of conveying his reasons to his eldest brother. Knowing Kylok couldn’t hold him hostage on Aragnok if he disagreed anyway, Cazar finally said, “I plan to stay on Lorshna if I cannot remove the parasite. It is safer for everyone that way. If a crew is present, they may attempt to persuade me to return home.”
Kylok stiffened, his demeanor shifting to cold and calculating for an instant before he suddenly shrugged, his usual aloof features sliding easily into place. “Then it is good that you have an older brother who is more than capable of taking you to your destination.”
Cazar’s head snapped up in surprise. “You’d do that for me, brother? Even now, knowing that you may have to leave me behind?”
Kylok sighed dramatically. “If you have not figured out by now that I would do anything for you then perhaps you really aren’t the genius of the family.”
“Perhaps we are all idiots and you are just dumber than I am,” Cazar joked.
Kylok narrowed his eyes, an irritated rumble sounding from his chest. “You are lucky you are my favorite brother.” He turned toward the door. “Prepare yourself. I’ll secure a vessel, tell Alejandra of our plans, and we’ll meet again in a few hours.”
Cazar agreed eagerly, feeling more like himself than he had in weeks. Now that a solid plan was forming, he felt as if he could conquer anything. A sense of purpose filled Cazar, and he was out of his office before Kylok could say anything else, walking briskly toward his room to pack.
The sooner he was rid of this nuisance, the sooner he could return to Evie as the male he was before, the male she had chosen. The sooner he could claim her and start a life with her. He didn’t want to waste another second in his lab when a solution was just across the galaxy, waiting to be discovered.
Cazar expected to feel the parasite’s fury at his hasty decision to leave and possibly never return, the creature was no doubt listening in, but instead all he felt was an inflated sense of purpose.
And anticipation.
The latter left him unsettled.
“What?” Evie exclaimed, dropping her cup onto the table ungracefully. The corsna spilled, leaking onto the table. She grimaced at the waste. Alex handed her a cloth, and Evie began to soak up the mess. Her mind was reeling, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
Alex bit her lower lip, shaking her head softly.
“That’s what Kylok told me when he came home earlier. I guess he was able to talk Cazar into allowing him to come, but Cazar is planning on going to a different planet to remove the parasite. He wants to leave as soon as possible.”
“Why does it feel like everyone already knows about this but me?” Evie tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but her chin quivered before she schooled her features.
Alex’s eyes softened with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Evie.”
Evie sighed, dropping the cloth onto the table. Was removing Joe even an option? She’d heard that it was fused to Cazar on a molecular level… If anyone could find a way, she was confident it was Cazar. But a small part of her wondered if it was the right choice. What if, in removing Joe, he ended up hurting himself in the process?Fused togethersounded pretty permanent.
Cazar was clearly struggling with these changes in his life, and Evie hated that he was going through so much, but she was beginning to worry that he’d do something drastic and irreparable to himself.
Her heart ached the longer she thought about it, and she even felt distraught at the prospect of the parasite being evicted or Cazar becoming wounded just to be rid of it.
She’d barely interacted with Joe, but he’d felt familiar to her since she’d first seen him in Cazar’s lab. Back then, he’d just been this cute, black blob that reminded her of Flubber. Granted, he’d quickly morphed into a heinous monster who ate the heads off people, but he’d never been anything but gentle with her.
Stop thinking about yourself, she thought irritably.You might have been safe, but Jakkar was injured.
Her attempt to help Cazar had only made things worse. And now he was going to just leave without saying anything to her. Like he’d done the past month, he was shutting her out despite the fact that his control only slipped when he felt she was threatened.
Her morose thoughts slowly shifted to those of indignation, causing her to focus on an issue that was really starting to grate on her nerves. She was Cazar’s freaking mate. Or mostly his mate, even if it was unofficial. And instead of confiding in her, in treating her like his brother’s treated their mates, he’d only come to her willingly when he’d wanted a booty call.
Did he think he was just going to disappear for weeks–again–come back sans Joe, and she wouldn’t notice his absence? Did he even plan on telling her about his plans? Or was he just going to keep her in the dark forever?
Or maybe he hadn’t confided in her because he wanted nothing to do with her after what happened a few days ago.
That wasn’t fair to her at all, and the more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. All she’d wanted to do was support Cazar, especially through this ordeal, and he was keeping her at bayagain.
