Page 77 of Infala: Claimed By Rivals
“He has lost a significant amount of blood, but yes, he should be fine.”
She noted her lover was bleeding as well. “You’re hurt!”
“Minor cuts is all. Do not worry for me, I will take care of them as we fly,” he replied, waving the cautery device in front of her. “Now, go. The woman needs the presence of another female. Comfort her. She has been through a lot.”
Olivia’s nasal filters had finally given out, but with the stress of everything happening her body had actually eased off and let her focus on the task at hand. But now those feelings flared up. She grabbed his face and kissed him hard.
“I’ll see you back home.”
“You will. Now go.”
She hopped out of his ship and into Rykker’s, watching as Arkness lifted off, her own craft departing right behind him. She sat beside the trembling woman, better assessing her condition now that they were safe.
She was a bit shorter than Olivia, with a grayish-purple coloring to her skin. Her eyes were like something out of a cartoon, large and wide-spaced. Her hair, dirty and matted as it was, appeared to be more akin to very fine feathers than actual strands of hair, but Olivia wasn’t about to get into the details of her morphology right now.
“You’re safe,” she said in a soothing tone. “These are good people. Maldonians, if you know of them. We’re going to their city. The Raxxians aren’t able to get you there. You’re free.”
Tears trickled from the woman’s eyes, her shoulders trembling as the slightest hint of tension left them, her emotions finally leaking out, at least a little, after so much time bottled up. Olivia handed her a hydration pack and rested her hand gently on her arm. She didn’t say another word the rest of the flight, simply sitting beside her, a comforting presence for the traumatized woman.
Arkness was standing by with the medical team that was waiting for them when they landed and quickly carted the survivor off for a full medical workup, but with the utmost care not to stress their new guest. Rykker had made sure in his communications with them that they would be fully cognizant of her delicate condition and act accordingly.
Rykker stepped out of his ship and rolled his shoulders, breathing in the safe air of his city. He shared a respectful nod with Arkness, then glanced at Olivia. He sighed, then turned toward his home.
“Where do you think you’re going, Mister?”
“I—You deserve your space. I was too?—”
“Oh, shut up. You’re coming with me.” She turned to his rival. “You too. Both of you. My place. Now.”
“But—” Arkness started to say.
Her glare shut him right up.
“Uh, yes, ma’am. Coming.”
The two men followed respectfully behind her, filthy and bloody from their adventure, drawing the stares of everyone they passed. Olivia didn’t care. She had one thing on her mind, and that was settling this mess once and for all.
“Inside, both of you,” she commanded as her door opened.
The men obeyed, trudging inside, her AI working overtime to clean where they stepped. Olivia followed and closed the door, then grabbed three cool bottles of a mildly alcoholic beverage her AI had introduced her to. Apparently, it was a local favorite. She popped the tops and handed them out. She had the AI generate three seats.
“Sit. Drink up. You earned it.”
The men looked at one another, confused.
Arkness did as he was told. Rykker hesitated. “I?—”
“Drink first. Then we talk,” she demanded, shutting him right up.
He did as she asked, and the cool liquid seemed to immediately take the edge off, his tense shoulders loosening at least a bit. They sat and drank in silence for a few minutes, the tension between them tangible. Finally, Olivia took their empty bottles and tossed them in the waste recycling unit, along with the dead filtration units she had in her nose.
They had lost power, but apparently they still filtered some of the air even without a charge. But now her sinuses were unobstructed, and she got a full whiff of them both. Her Infala twinged hard in her chest, her belly knotting up unexpectedly. She looked at the pair of them, the men sitting quietly, as she’d instructed them.
“Jesus, you two are a mess,” she finally said with a chuckle, breaking the tense silence.
They shared a look, amusement on both of their faces.
“To be fair, you’re something of a mess yourself,” Arkness noted.
