Page 25 of Essa

I'm still only in my boxers, but when Seth is worried–when he calls for me–I go. I could be in the middle of a shower or going to the bathroom. It doesn't matter. He comes first, and he will always come first.

I sprint down the hall, my heart racing at what kind of danger he could be in. It's not until I turn the corner and see him standing near the door with his head leaning close to it that I let out a long exhale.

He's safe, he's fine. I pad over to him, wanting to ask why he sounded so worried when he called me down here, but he holds a finger to his mouth before tapping his temple. I give him a short nod and close my eyes, letting his mind meld with mine so he doesn't have to work so hard to tell me what's going on.

My senses prickle as the connection snaps into place, and I have to fight back the need to be in control. I don't get to be in charge when we're like this. I can only keep alert for outside dangers and be ready to act if someone comes up to us while we're connected. The world dims for a moment, and then mysenses heighten, my mind now attuned to what Seth is seeing, hearing, and feeling.

"Essa, we need you to calm down." Alik's voice is faint at first, growing louder as my mind melds to Seth's.

We're listening to a conversation in the entertainment room even though the door is shut, and something is playing on the comm screen to drown out the sounds of their conversation. I guess they still don't know all of Seth's secrets, even though he's been hanging out with them daily.

"He's forcing her to marry him!" Essa's voice is filled with a wild fury I've never heard before. She's not just mad but desperate and scared too. "My parents died last night, and he's already forcing her to marry him. She hasn't even had time to grieve!"

Oh fuck. I'm glad I didn't pick a fight with Essa last night. Was that why she was upset? Her parents just died? And there I was, trying to figure out how best to attack her so I wouldn't hurt her on accident so she could stick her fangs in my shoulder and take care of me.

Selfish fucking bastard. But it's not like that's a surprise.

"I understand, but we can't help you unless you calm down," Alik's voice wavers, fear in those words. Oh, Essa must look truly terrifying. The thought has my lip twitching, and the emotion flows to Seth, who hits my arm as though to remind me that she has just lost her parents. I tamp the smile down and scowl instead.

"I have to go back," Essa says, ignoring Alik's statement. "I have to go to Haven III. I can fix this. She doesn't have to be in a loveless marriage, not to that male."

"So what?" Alik asks. "Are you going to go back and marry him yourself?"

Like hell she's going to marry anyone. I want to go into the entertainment room and tell her she's being stupid.

Now, I want to pick a fight with her because it might take her mind off marrying someone else. Especially thinking about it when she still has Seth on this ship to keep her company. Not that he's allowed to do more than be friendly with her, but I've eased up on how much I hate them interacting. Probably because I like having both of their hands all over my body.

"I need to go to Haven III," Essa's voice is more resigned. "My sister doesn't deserve this. It was my responsibility."

"Let us go with you," Alik says.

"You can't. It's not safe for you on Haven III. It's not safe for any of you. I don't know the reception I'll get, and it only takes one bite for any of you to be made complacent."

Her answer has me wanting to ask her why she thinks it'll be safe for her then, but I don't need to. Alik is already on it.

"So we just leave you to do this on your own? You want to put yourself in danger instead?"

"I won't be in nearly as much as you would. No one will bite me, but I can't say the same about you or anyone else who comes with me."

"I'm not letting you go alone."

"The only protection I can give anyone on that planet is my venom in their veins and my collar on their necks. Seeing as you and Jovi have bond marks, no one will believe you're my concubines." Essa's voice is harder than I like. I want to smooth it out and get her back to purring soft things. "I'm not taking Sloane or Avery because they're small, weak humans. Phial isn't going because I don't trust him not to make a mess of the whole thing. I doubt Avery would like me marking him either."

"So you're going alone?" Alik asks, this time sounding resigned to the idea.

I gnash my teeth, wanting him to fight her on it more. Obviously, she doesn't want to do whatever she's sacrificing herself for, but she's determined. I shake my head, not needingto hear anymore. Seth stiffens as I force our minds to disconnect. As I blink my eyes, I see the same determination on his face as I feel on my own.

"I'll contact the pirates. You need to figure out what we need to do to go with her," Seth tells me.

We're more on the same page about this than we've been about anything in a long time. The great part about it is that once we both decide something's going to happen, it'll happen. It's how we escaped, how we've stayed hidden, and how we've been together for so long. We're stubborn in that way, and nothing will stop us from making sure Essa doesn't marry whoever this guy is who's trying to force her sister.

"We do anything to help her," Seth tells me, his gaze locking onto mine, needing to hear from my lips that we're doing this.

"Anything," I confirm, not giving myself time to think about why I already feel so strongly about Essa.

Seth runs down the hall toward our room, where our comm is stashed. He'll contact the males who were going to get us our new identities and transport us to a new planet. They're set to come pick us up tomorrow, a fact we might've neglected to mention to the rest of the crew.

Seth hasn't said anything because he's been getting friendly with them and didn't want it to impact how they treat him. We don't have many friends since we're always on the run, and having this group so inviting has been hard for him since he knows it'll end. I haven't said anything for reasons. Ones I don't want to think about because if I do, I might have to admit to myself that I'm feeling things I don't want to for someone I don't want to feel them for.

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