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Red-hot panic sears my throat, burning me from the inside out. I try to swallow it back, but the feeling only intensifies as I lay eyes on a cold, lifeless keypad embedded in the wall. I tap on the keys marked with weird symbols, but nothing happens. The screen remains dark, and the door remains locked.
Sweat beads on my forehead the longer I stand here in vain. I have to go back and check on Mordox. My stomach drops knowing I failed him as I race back to where I left him lying prone on the ground.
"Mordox!" I drop to my knees next to his unconscious body. His eyes are shut tight and his brow is furrowed in pain. But he's alive!
Caught up in my despair, I didn’t see Tris curled up next to him until now. She's purring up a storm as if to comfort Mordox in his anguished repose.
"Hey, little girl," I pet her head with a trembling hand. "You came back. Are you okay? Did those giant bug things scare you as much as they did me?"
The faint voices in the distance must be my imagination. It's just wishful thinking, I know it is. But as they grow louder and more distinct, I know they have to be real.
I rush out of the foliage to find Darcy leading a group of four Ziarian males. I recognize Drax and Rooke, but the other two, I don't know them.
Darcy stops dead in her tracks, blinking hard as if she can't believe her eyes.
“Darcy!” I cry out, thrilled and relieved beyond words to see her, but my desperation to save Mordox overrides my reunion. “I need your help.”
Darcy races toward me with Rooke in hot pursuit, a fierce determination blazing in her dark eyes. She skids to a stop before me, her hands trembling as she brings them up to cup my face. Her intense gaze doesn't so much as waver as she takes me in.
“Are you okay?” Darcy hugs me gently before easing away. “Let's get you inside. Oh my god, Zoe, we've been so worried about you.”
“No. Not me." I tug out of her hold. "It's Mordox. He needs help.”
“Mordox?” Rooke stiffens, lifting his nose to the air and I know he's trying to catch Mordox's scent.
His scales raise across his shoulders and down his back. His horns tilt forward as he prepares for battle.
“He saved my life,” I defend, not liking how this is going. “Now I need to save his. Please, Darcy. Help me.”
“Zoe, Mordox took you captive. He stole you right out from under my nose. You can't be serious right now.” Darcy takes me by the elbow and starts to steer me toward the sunken steps as if I'm a child. “Did you hit your head or something? You're not thinking straight."
“No, Darcy. I didn't hit my head." I jerk my arm out of her hold, anger rising within me as I back away. As much as I appreciate Darcy taking me under her wing, I'm not completely helpless, and I'm not stupid. "My thinking is perfectly clear. If you won't help Mordox, then I'll disappear into the forest and do what I can for him. I need a medical cuff. The one he has is broken.”
“What do we do?” Darcy turns to Rooke for an answer.
“He helped you once!” I yell at Rooke and then Drax, who steps up to Rooke's side. “He helped you kill that monster. When I was hurt, he healed me and kept me safe. Protected me when those creatures from the darkness attacked." The hot press of tears gives way, rolling down my cheeks unchecked. I must make them understand if I'm to save my male! “Mordox is not who you think he is. Please, Darcy. He needs help.”
“Okay, Zoe.” Darcy puts her palms up in surrender. “Where is he?”
“I'm not telling. Not until those males promise not to hurt Mordox.”
“Zoe,” Drax's reasonable tone only fuels my anger. “Mordox is a killer.”
“Promise me, or I'll run into the forest, and you'll never see me again,” I bellow. “Promise me he will not be harmed!”
Drax turns to the two males behind him and then to Rooke. Each one reluctantly nods their heads in agreement.
Drax clears his throat. “No one will hurt Mordox. You have my word.”
I release the breath I'm holding and point behind me. “He's this way.”
I lead them to where Mordox lies unconscious. Crouching next to him, my heart pounds as I check to make sure he's still breathing.
"The medical cuff we have is broken. He needs a working one, fast," I stress.
"What did this to him?" Darcy sucks back gasps.
"Two of those insect creatures attacked us," I say and point in the direction where we came. "Mordox killed one back there. The other one ran off."
