Page 86 of Lorran
“So we get out of this because that guy is like a cockroach.”
“I do not know that insect, but it sounds vile. Yes.” Lorran pressed his fingers to Saavi’s neck, as if checking her pulse. In a quiet voice, he said, “I dislike this. The journey to the nearest med station will take too long.”
“What can we do?” she asked, keeping her voice low so Mikah could not overhear. He probably could, what with Mahdfel super-hearing.
“Caldar,” Lorran said, rising to his feet. “This one needs use of your stasis chamber.”
“Not now,” Caldar growled, eyes fixed on the screen. “You may not have noticed, but I am busy saving us.”
Lorran sauntered to the front and leaned on the back of the pilot’s seat. “Truly? Because I had noticed how you signaled the Suhlik to create a distraction to slip away.”
The ship banked heavily to the right. Wyn and Saavi slid across the floor. Loose items tumbled to the ground. Mikah clutched his harness but made no noise.
“Saavi needs the stasis chamber. She will not last long,” Lorran said.
“I don’t have one. Those are illegal for a private individual to possess,” Caldar replied.
Mylomon laughed, a hoarse, grating noise.
“Saavi does not have time for your games,” Lorran said.
“Saavi and Ulrik knew the risks.”
“Indeed. How does it feel knowing that one accomplice is deceased and the other a breath away?” Lorran’s tone was cold. Beyond cold. Frigid.
Wyn couldn’t see Caldar’s reaction, but even she felt the impact of Lorran’s words.
“Check under the floor panel,” Caldar said. “It isnotmine, and I do not know how it got there.”
With some maneuvering, Lorran and Wyn lowered Saavi inside the stasis chamber. She had no idea how the machine operated. Fortunately, it seemed to be an automated process.
Left uncovered, blue and purple lights glowed from inside the stasis chamber. Saavi floated in a blue goo, as if asleep.
Caldar announced they were clear of the atmosphere and would jump into drive. That was all the warning they had before the floor dropped out of the world. Wyn’s stomach felt like it turned inside out, and her eyes hurt. How was that a thing?
Lorran caught her—apparently, she slumped forward—and stroked her back. “Breathe. It is only a moment’s discomfort.”
The scents of filthy smoke and coppery blood clung to his clothes. Wyn was sure she was no prize herself at the moment, but she closed her eyes and counted his heartbeats. She thought she knew what she wanted, a strong alien to protect and worship her, but she was wrong.
She wanted quiet moments to count heartbeats, just the two of them. She wanted his shameless flirting, cocky grins, and unswerving confidence. She wanted to go on all the disaster dates with him: ghost ships, haunted amusement parks, murder motels, or whatever terrible idea they cooked up.
He made her forget this wasn’t a honeymoon or a holiday. They were on a mission with real adversaries who had killed and would kill again. Okay, in all fairness, Lorran did not make her forget the danger of their situation. He constantly reminded her to wear her armor and forbade her from venturing out of their room alone. The walks on the beach and the dancing under the disco lights lulled her into a false sense of security. She was so caught up in the excitement of falling for a Mahdfel that she ignored the realities of falling for a Mahdfel.
Their lives were dangerous. Always. The fight with the Suhlik never stopped, not for a honeymoon or a walk on the beach.
She wanted years and years with Lorran, and that could have ended that day.
Because he was anidiot.
“A knife, Lorran?” Wyn batted at his shoulder, then pulled away. “You ran right at that Suhlik with aknife.”
“My favorite knife.” He grinned, white fangs against lavender.
So help her, she had never wanted to punch anyone so badly in her life.
“You can’t do that,” she said, her voice thin and choked with emotion. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. “You can’t take risks like that. I need you. I just found you, and I can’t lose you.”
She pressed her fingers to her eyes, trying to stop the tears.
