I shook my head as my world shifted from under my feet. “They’re mating marks. Wrexxon’s mating marks.”
”Jas," Kaya said slowly. "You need to tell us everything."
"From the beginning," Brielle added. "How you went from being picked in the lottery to…” She waved a hand absently over her head. "To being married to the warlord and getting his mating marks and looking at him like?—"
"Like you love him," Kaya finished softly.
I opened my mouth to deny it, a reflexive instinct. The words were right there, but I couldn’t lie.
"Yeah," I whispered instead. "Like I love him."
My sisters exchanged glances then Kaya took my hand. “You need to tell us everything that happened. Every single detail."
"It's a long story," I warned, pressing my fingers to my new mating marks. “But I promise I’ll tell you after you come with me to the med bay.”
“Let’s go make sure your guy is okay,” Brielle said. “Then you’re spilling it all.”
I resumed my trek through the warbird with my sister by my side. “It’s a deal.”
Chapter 42
Wrexxon
Iwoke to pain, sharp and insistent pain that radiated from my middle with every breath. For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was or what had happened. All I knew was the pain and the familiar ceiling of my quarters above me and the heavy fog of whatever medication they'd given me.
I pushed myself up slowly on my elbows, every muscle protesting. My hand went instinctively to my side, finding thick bandages wrapped around my torso. The wound underneath throbbed with each heartbeat, reminding me that I'd been shot.
Then memories flooded back in fragments. There’d been the battle with Imperial soldiers, Jasmine on the ramp, crying over her sister, the relief when the woman sat up alive, and finally seeing the hole burned into my own stomach.
After that, there was nothing but vague impressions that were more feeling than memory—Jasmine's voice calling my name, the thunder of boots on metal, sharp pricks of needles in my arms, darkness pulling me under again and again.
I was alive. It was clear the healers had put me back together, but I was alone. I’d been well enough to be returned to my own quarters, but as I glanced around the space, my heart sank. There was no Jasmine, no discarded clothing, no sound of her in the bathing chamber, no evidence that she’d been sleeping next to me in the bed.
My mind reeled, even though my thoughts were still slow. Had she negotiated quarters of her own? Had she left with her sisters, deciding that being bound to a wounded warlord wasn't worth the risk? Mymajakwouldn't have allowed that, would he?
I touched a hand to my throbbing head, trying to organize my scattered thoughts. How long had I been unconscious? How much had happened without my knowledge or consent while I'd been too weak to have any say in it?
I almost laughed at the irony. It was rich that I was upset about things happening without my input when I'd taken Jasmine without giving her any choice at all. Maybe this was just karma. Maybe this was the universe showing me how it felt to be powerless.
Before I could spiral further into dark thoughts, the door slid open and Jasmine hurried inside carrying a tray laden with a bowl, sponges, and what looked like fresh bandages. She was looking down at the tray, her brow furrowed, when she glanced up and saw me propped up in bed.
“Tvekkinghell!” She almost dropped the entire tray, bobbling it and then regaining her balance before rushing to set it down on the table. Then she was crossing the room toward me, her expression cycling through shock and relief and joy so quickly I couldn't track all the emotions.
She stopped a few feet from the bed, her hand half-extended like she wanted to touch me but wasn't sure if she should. "I should summon the healer.” She pivoted back to the door. “You shouldn't be sitting up. You need to?—"
"No." My voice came out rougher than I'd intended, still gravelly from disuse. "I don't need any more patching up. I just need you."
Then my eyes drifted to the skin below her collarbone and the dark swirls peeking from under the neckline of her gauzy top. “Are those…?” I couldn’t finish the sentence because my throat became choked with emotion.
With rapidly blinking eyes that looked on a glassy side, she nodded. “I got them right after we came back onto the warbird, and you were rushed to the med bay.”
“Show me,” I commanded tenderly.
She tugged the neckline farther down to reveal marks identical to mine. In the rush of the bonding ceremony and the frenzy of the mission to Lexxona, I’d almost forgotten about the marks. I glanced down at my own chest, noticing for the first time that my marks had extended, curling now to my shoulders. I must have been sedated and missed the burning sensation I’d heard so much about.
“Vaes,” I husked, needing to touch her, needing to feel her next to me, needing to know with all certainty that she was all mine.
She climbed onto the bed beside me, moving carefully like I might shatter if she jostled me too much.
