Page 83 of Zayrik

Still breathing soft against my skin.

Still here.

And I wasn’t letting go.

Not for Vask.

Not for anything in this galaxy or the next.

SOMETHING WOKE ME.

Not a sound.

Not movement.

Just... off. Subtle. But undeniable.

The bond hummed with warning. Making everything in me shift from peace to alert in a heartbeat.

Nyla stirred in my arms, her warrior’s instincts as sharp as mine. Her eyes opened, immediately alert, immediately reading the tension in my body.

Then....

A knock.

27

Nyla

I OPENED THE DOOR.Cal stood there. Jaw tight. Eyes piercing.

I knew that look.

Had seen it before, when things went sideways.

When survival meant running.

Trouble.

My stomach dropped. The last trace of Zayrik’s warmth vanished under the chill of reality.

“Don’t tell me it’s—”

“It is,” he said grimly. The words carrying history, and the knowledge of exactly who was coming.

Behind me, Zayrik was already moving. Shirtless, half-dressed, but deadly alert. Ready. The warrior replacing the lover in smooth, practiced motions. But through our growing bond, I felt his fear. Not for himself.

For me.

Cal’s gaze flicked to him, then back to me. Something knowing in his expression, something that said he saw too much. “I’ll cover your backs,” he muttered. “But you need to get out. Now.”

My pulse spiked.

The peace of moments ago shattered like glass.

I turned toward Zayrik. He was watching me, quiet and deadly. Waiting for my call. Trusting me even now, even as everything fell apart.

“How much time?” I asked, as my body moved on autopilot, reaching for weapons, for armor, for everything I’d hoped I wouldn’t need so soon.

---