Page 18 of Alien Devil's Wrath
Instead, it felt inevitable.
BRONWEN
The alcove provided relief from the tunnel’s oppressive atmosphere. A natural widening in the passage where we could rest without worrying about spore concentrations or structural collapses. Water trickled from a crack in the wall, and mineral formations created natural shelves where we could sit.
I was reaching for samples of the rock formations when the sharp edge bit deep into my palm.
“Well, that’s inconvenient,” I said, examining the cut as blood welled dark against my pale skin. “Going to make grip strength problematic for the next few kilometers.”
Zarek was beside me before I’d finished speaking, those massive hands surprisingly gentle as he caught my wrist.
“Let me see.”
His fingers were careful as he examined the wound, tilting my palm to catch the dim light. This close, I could see the way his iron-grey traceries stood out against his skin. The dim light made everything seem more intimate, more charged.
“It’s manageable,” I said, transfixed watching him work. “Just needs proper cleaning to prevent infection.”
“Deep enough to be a problem in this environment.” He was already pulling supplies from his pack, his movementseconomical and sure. “These caves are breeding grounds for bacteria.”
He cleaned the wound thoroughly, his touch feather-light despite hands that I’d seen snap necks without effort. There was something mesmerizing about watching him focus that careful attention on me. The way he handled my injured hand like something precious.
“You’re very gentle for someone who dismantled six armed convicts,” I said softly, studying his face as he worked.
His eyes flicked up to meet mine. “You’re very small.”
“I’m tougher than I appear.”
“I know.” His thumb traced carefully along the edge of the cut, checking for debris. “But you’re still human.”
The way he said it, not like a weakness but like something valuable, made my pulse quicken. When was the last time anyone had treated me like something worth protecting instead of something to be used?
He bound the wound carefully, his fingers gentle around the delicate bones of my wrist. The makeshift bandage was neat, professional, clearly the work of someone who’d done field medicine before.
“There. That should keep it clean until we’re out of here.”
But he didn’t release my hand immediately. Instead, he sat back against the stone wall, still cradling my bandaged palm in both of his much larger ones. His thumbs traced idle patterns across my knuckles.
“How did you end up here?” he asked finally, his voice rougher than usual. “Five years ago, what brought you to this place?”
The question was more personal than any he’d asked before. I could deflect, make light of it, keep my past buried where it belonged. But something about the gentle way he’d tended my wound made deflection feel wrong.
Besides, he’d trusted me enough to follow me blind through toxic spores. The least I could do was return some of that trust.
“I tried to kill someone,” I said matter-of-factly. “My dosage calculations were insufficient.”
His grip on my hand tightened slightly. Not in surprise. More like encouragement.
“What kind of someone?”
“The kind who collected beautiful things so he could break them systematically.” I settled more comfortably against the stone, appreciating the way his attention focused on me. “I was indentured to him. A caretaker for his private menagerie.”
“What kind of creatures?”
“Everything rare and wonderful. Not just sentients. A young Selenthian whose fingertips would dim when he was frightened. A pair of Nexian mathematicians who could calculate probability patterns but couldn’t understand why their equations didn’t protect them from pain. But also predators from a dozen worlds. Shade Crawlers from the northern wastes, juvenile Stalkers he was trying to domesticate, even a Glimmer Moth colony.”
My voice went soft with memory. “The Poraki elder taught me the clicking languages that work on most pack hunters. The Stalkers showed me their dominance patterns. Even the Moths had their own form of communication through light pulses. I learned from all of them.”
I could see him processing this, recognition flickering across his features.
