Cypher led her through a side door filled with medical equipment. There was a medical pod in the middle, and behind it and between privacy glass, several beds. There was another opening farther back, but she couldn’t see through it.
Cypher set her down on a table beside the pod.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled again when he loaded up a screen beside her. Swabs and bottles appeared from the wall like magic.
He grumbled in response and ignored her.
She sighed and gave up. It was the least she could do—listening to him—since he saved her, she realized.
He gently pulled out her arms and cleaned up her scratches, applying an ointment on them that took away the sting.
She flinched and leaned back. He was taking care of her.Again.His fingers caressed a bruise on her forearm that was beginning to bloom. A low growl sounded from his throat.
This surly half-man was taking care of her.
In the short time they’d known each other, he’d done more for her than anyone else she’d ever met. Vee reached up and swiped away tears. He caught her wrist and licked the tears from her knuckles.
It was such a strange thing to do, but when it came to Cypher, it didn’t seem odd at all.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you,” she said, shivering as his tongue delicately slid over the back of her fingers.
Cypher lifted his head. “I don’t need payment.”
“But you’ve done so much for me, more than you ever had to, or should have, considering the circumstances.” She lowered her voice. “I…I should probably quit.” But as soon as those words left her mouth, she felt sick. They felt wrong. She didn’t quit things. She didn’t give up. She never gave up.
“Are you afraid of me?” Cypher asked.
Her brow furrowed. “What?”
“Are you afraid…of me?”
“No.”
“Not even after what you saw outside the space port?”
Vee stared at him, confused, before it occurred to her what he meant. He’d transformed, partially, into a beast. Maybe it was because she’d already known what he was underneath that it hadn’t bothered her. Maybe she was desensitized due to her lifestyle.
Maybe it was because those bastards were trying to abduct me.
“No,” she told him again. “You don’t scare me. Everything else scares me right now. I don’t like it. I don’t like being scared. Anxious, sure. Excited, nervous, overwhelmed, fine. But scared? I’ve never felt like this. But despite all that, you’re not the cause of it.” Vee sagged.
“I’m going to make them pay.”
“Who?”
“The people who destroyed your home, those who tried to take you away from me today,” he growled.
“Don’t,” she quickly said. “Please.”
“You don’t want them to go away?”
“I want them to go away, but it’s not your problem to deal with. It’s mine. I’ll call the authorities. If the funds are still in my account, I can afford an android for security. At least until things calm down.”
Cypher laughed, startling her. “Iamthe authority, and androids can’t do shit. They can’t investigate—at least not the government-issued ones—and they can’t immediately differentiate friend from foe. Every second counts.”
He reached up and tugged a strand of her hair, his face softening. “I told you you’re under my protection now. Let me do what I’m good at.” He stepped back and helped her off the table. “I’m good at this. And besides, I’m feeling particularly violent right now.”
Vee inhaled sharply. “I already can’t repay you for what you’ve done so far. Are you after my first and second born child?” She let out a soft, self-deprecatory chuckle.
