Page 24 of Zayrik

The marks on my arm pulsed. Low and steady, like a drumbeat I couldn’t shut out.

Two days.

Two days, and I’d have my answers.

I’d find out why a female who moved like a trained operative was running with nothing but a tattered jacket, a snippy AI, and a protective winged creature.

I’d discover why she looked at me with equal parts wariness and something else. Something that felt like recognition. Like she saw something in me that even I hadn’t faced yet.

The question was—

Wouldshestill be here when I did?

And why did the thought of her leaving bother me more than it should?

8

Nyla

ZAYRIKwatched me.

Not obviously. Not directly.

But I felt it.

Every time I moved through the ship, or checked our course. Every time I didanythingin his vicinity.

He noticed.

And that was a problem.

I stretched out on the small bunk in the crew quarters I’d claimed,forcingmyself to look relaxed. My body was still sore, my ribs still aching, but it wasn’t the pain keeping me from sleeping.

It was him.

I’d noticed the way his gaze lingereda little too long.And the way his shoulders tensed when I tried todeflect.

The wayhe was already figuring me out.

And worse. How my pulse jumped every time he stepped too close, like my body hadn’t gotten the message that he was dangerous.

Zayrik wasn’t stupid. He waspatient.

And patience?

That wasway more dangerous than brute force.

I let out a slow breath, staring at the metal ceiling, my thoughts tangled.

Zep stirred from his perch, wings fluttering softly as he sensed my unease. He trilled a soft question.

“I know, buddy,” I whispered. “I’m thinking.”

Two days. I just had to hold it together until then.

Once we hit that outpost, I’d be gone.

This wasn’t his fight.

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