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In light of Keran’s precarious state, we remained on Haven for three days until he was stable enough to undergo the journey back to his homeworld. Orin had wisely not wanted to risk us being in deep space if his health entered a critical state that required equipment or medicine we didn’t have on board.
During that time, Krygor tore into the Twelve, the peacekeepers, and Haven as a whole for all these failures. That male was a beast of a man. The glimmer of insanity in his eyes made him even more intimidating than Keran. A part of me wished I could have witnessed the Twelve squirming before this giant as he unleashed his wrath on them.
He had lodged a formal complaint with the Galactic Council, and their official peacekeeping forces, the Sentinels, would run a full investigation into this entire mess. Granted, compulsion was largely to blame for this debacle. However, as a sanctuary planet, Haven and its administrators should have established multiple stopgaps to protect its population from external attacks.
The fact that Khel Praghan—who happened to be Dagna Mercy’s brother-in-law—ran the Sentinels reassured me that he would be thorough and that the Twelve wouldn’t get off easy as had often been the case when they openly discriminated against us hybrids.
For all that, I didn’t actually wish them ill. The work they were performing was important. For all their shortcomings, they had still provided us with reasonable shelter and relative safety for hybrids who had nowhere else to turn. I just hoped lessons would be learned and significant improvements made to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The trip back to Braxia took three days. During the journey, Orin kept Keran mostly sedated, allowing him to come around from time to time only so that he could make sure his cerebral functions had not been affected by his cardiac episode, and to make sure the healing was headed in the right direction. On those far too rare occasions, I’d been able to talk with him for a few minutes before his chief medical officer put him under again.
With less than an hour from landing on Braxia, my worry for Keran gradually shifted to more selfish concerns as to how the other hybrids and I would be received. Aside from the hybrid women who had settled lives in the main cities of Haven, every other hybrid had elected to return to Braxia with us. Krygor’s massive frigate had more than enough room to accommodate all of us. By the time we left Haven, his men had not yet managed to locate Keran’s own frigate and chasers. But they did the day after we departed.
The sound of the Infirmary’s doors opening pulled me out of my musings. To my surprise, instead of Orin coming to awaken Keran, it was Gavin who walked in. I couldn’t help the sense of awe his presence always stirred within me. By Braxian standards, that young man was breathtaking. I’d never met a hybrid this massive. If not for his smooth, almost delicate features, he would have easily passed for a pureblood.
Even though I realized part of my fascination with the young male stemmed from the lingering effects of the compulsion, my heart also filled with gratitude for him coming to our rescue, and above all saving Keran’s life.
“Hello, Dawn,” Gavin said with that incredibly gentle but deep voice of his. “How is he doing?’
I smiled before gently caressing Keran’s hand. “He’s doing alright, steadily mending, thanks to Orin.”
I gestured for him to take one of the other guest seats next to the bed.
He smiled but shook his head. “I’m not staying long enough. But don’t worry, the Veredians will fix him.”
I nodded, my throat tightening. “Yes, that’s what your Grappa said. I’ve seen how powerful they are, and I’m grateful.”
Gavin tilted his head to the side and gave me the strangest look. “You’re in love with him,” he said matter-of-factly.
I hesitated, prompting him to raise a curious eyebrow. That question had played over and over in my head since our rescue. I loved Jaek, but I wasn’t in love with him. There was no question in my mind that whatever my feelings for him, they would never match those I would expect to feel towards my soulmate. Every time I thought of my future, Keran’s face would pop before my eyes.
“In truth, I don’t know what I, Dawn Merrick, actually feel anymore. What the Sarenians did to us, this indoctrination makes it hard to know what genuinely comes from me, and what has been implanted in my head,” I replied in all sincerity. “When I see you, the first thought that comes to mind is ‘this is my Magnar.’ I cast it out immediately after, but it’s still my instinctive reaction. My heart tells me I’m in love with him, but my head—”
“Your head was tampered with,” Gavin interrupted in a gentle but firm tone. “Trust your heart, youarein love with him.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What makes you so sure?”
He shrugged. “I just feel it.”
I stiffened, my gaze locking with his stunning amber eyes. “Feel it? Like you felt you needed to come rescue Keran?”
This time, it was his turn to hesitate, before he shook his head. “No. It’s not the same. But the way you look at him, touch him, worry about him reminds me of the way my mother interacts with my father. I have been blessed to be surrounded by couples who truly love each other. My parents, Ravik and Mercy, and my Grappa with Hope. Soulmates have a unique way they look at each other. You have this look whenever you’re with him.”
I smiled before looking tenderly back at Keran. “You might be right.”
“Of course I am,” he replied in a teasing way. “As for the indoctrination, do not worry about it. The Veredians will be able to help all of you on that front as well.”
I sighed, my shoulders slouching as I thought of the hybrids again.
“This whole thing is such an all-around mess,” I said in a dejected tone. “The men had great prospects presented by Jardan. They gave it all up to come serve you.”
An uneasy expression settled on Gavin’s face, and he shifted on his feet. “So I heard. Jardan is livid. He’s been arguing for hours with Grappa, claiming that since the killer has been caught, the hybrids should have stayed on Haven during their recovery, and then made a free choice whether to pursue opportunities with him, or settle back on Braxia.”
“He has a point,” I said pensively. “Most of the men cannot afford the journey back to Haven. Many may feel like they have no choice but to stay on Braxia once the dust has settled.”
Gavin slightly frowned. “So you share his opinion on that?”
I pursed my lips while pondering the matter. “Maybe. The truth is that I have no idea what awaits us there. What if the purebloods are hostile to us? It would have been safer for only a handful of us to go to Braxia and assess the situation before bringing everyone back.”
