Page 10 of Zayrik

Tension made me roll my shoulders. That stunt could’ve killed us both. But my gut had been right, turning her over would have meant her death. Whatever she’d done, whoever she was, station security hadn’t been interested in justice.

I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling quickly. “You better be worth all this trouble, thief.”

A weak murmur broke the silence. Then... her eyes flickered open, disoriented.

Time to get some answers.

4

Nyla

THE FIRST THING I REGISTEREDwas pain. Not jarring. Not new.

Dull, anchored deep, like someone had dug into my ribs and sealed it shut with fire.

I shifted, a hiss slipping between my teeth as the ache bloomed through my side. My arm tugged slightly, and I blinked down to find astabilizer linefeeding into thewrist port just beneath my skin.

Protectorate tech. Old. But still working.

Someone had used it. Cleaned the wound. Closed it.

Kept me alive.

That was the first real thought that landed.

I was alive.

And that mattered more than anything else.

The second thing? The air. Cooler than Katar Station. Cleaner. Circulating.

I cracked my eyes open, squinting against the dim lights overhead. The ceiling wasn’t familiar. Sleek metal panels, softly glowing interface strips. Not the station.

A ship.

My pulse kicked up. Nav’s voice crackled through my wrist device, tone as dry as ever. “Well. That was spectacularly reckless. Statistically speaking, you should be dead.”

I groaned, pressing a hand to my side. “Not helping, Nav.”

“Neither is bleeding out, but here we are.”

I tried to move, but my body protested hard. A searing burn in my side, the distant throb of my ribs reminding me exactly what happened before I blacked out.

The escape. The ship. The... Alaran.

The low rumble of a voice pulled my focus. “Finally awake, thief?”

I turned my head, vision still blurry, but not enough to miss the broad-shouldered figure leaning casually against the console, arms crossed.

Tall. Built like a fighter. And definitely not happy to see me.

Shit.

Memory hit like a jolt. The docking bay. The blaster. The new ship I’d tried to steal.

Hisship.

I swallowed, testing my limbs. Sore, stiff, but functional.

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