Page 86 of Zayrik

Zayrik planted himself by the hatch. Solid. Unmoving. Through our bond, I felt his absolute certainty. He would die before he let them take me.

This was what he was built for—

What he was trained for—

But this wasn’t a fight we could win.

Not like this.

Not without losing everything.

The comms sparked again.

Vask’s voice slithered through the silence, poisoning everything it touched.

“Come on, Nyla. Don’t make this messy.”

I curled my fingers into fists, hiding the tremor that wanted to betray me. Through our bond, I felt Zayrik’s rage surge.

Feeling how badly he wanted to tear Vask apart just for speaking to me.

Zayrik looked at me. Just looked. Not pleading. Not panicked.

Waiting.

Trusting me even now.

I could see it in his eyes, feel it through our bond. He was going to fight. Die, if it came to it.

And that?

That was the problem.

The reason I had to act.

Because if he fought, he wouldn’t make it out.

And I couldn’t let him die for me.

Not when I could stop it.

Not when I finally had something... someone... worth protecting.

I exhaled slowly.

Steady.

Trying to block my intentions from flowing through our bond.

Trying not to let him feel what I was about to do.

And before he could stop me—

Before he could read my decision in our connection—

I stepped forward.

And set my blaster down.

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