Page 92 of Zayrik

Demanding action.

Promising retribution.

I was done waiting.

Done playing by rules that let monsters like Vask exist.

The hunt was on.

And Vask?

He didn’t just make a mistake.

Didn’t just take someone I wanted.

He declared war on the wrongflutzingmale.

Took the one thing I couldn’t live without.

My mate.

MyK’sha.

THE DOOR TO HER QUARTERSslid open with a soft hiss.

I stepped inside.

Everything was still.

Like the room hadn’t caught up yet. Like it didn’t realize she was gone.

Like it was holding its breath, waiting for her return.

Her sweater still slung over the chair.

A ration wrapper crumpled on the console.

Zep’s little harness, empty now, rested on the edge of the bed.

Every detail a reminder of what was taken.

Ofwhowas taken.

I stood in the center of the room.

Just stood.

I let the silence settle like dust across my shoulders.

Letting her absence cut deep enough to fuel what came next.

It didn’t matter how long she’d been here. Her presence was everywhere.

In the data pad still showing ship diagnostics she’d been reviewing.

In the simple, ordinary signs of someone who’d started to trust. To stay.

And now?

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