Sabrina
Tata followsme off the ship. “You can’t be serious.”
She tries to keep the hatch door closed, except I fight her into opening it, threatening to mess up her brand-new ship if she doesn’t. I may be smaller than her, and weak because of my recent predicament, but I can still do a lot of damage.
I’m done being kept in places I don’t want to be in.
“He’s not even human! Think of the diseases, Sabs.”
“Trust me, it’s far too late for that.” If I’d caught an alien disease, it’s already inside me. I shove the hatch door open and step outside, lurching forward when Tata grabs the handle of the bag to try hauling me back. “You’re crazy!”
Tugging my arms out of the bag’s straps, I turn on her and grab it, yanking on it. “You can’t stop me! I’m going! It’s not like you have enough food for me anyway!”
She tugs and I tug back, growling at each other and jerking the bag back and forth. “It’s my choice!”
“I just lost two more crewmates—I’m not losing another!”
“You’re not losing me. I’m just going to be staying with someone else.”
“An alien!? A naga? Sweetheart, look at him!” She gasps just as I feel Darolus’s presence behind me. His deep hissing fills my ears as I fall against him. Tata releases my bag and backs up several steps into the ship. “Oh, dear god.”
“Are you okay?” Darolus asks as I slowly spin in his arms and gaze up at him. He bears his fangs at Tata before dropping his eyes to me.
“I’m fine. And don’t frighten her, she’s only trying to protect me,” I chastise him, already feeling lighter being back in his embrace.
“Protect you? I think it’s too late for that,” Tata huffs, and my eyes flick to her. Hers are wide, her face now ashen as she stares at Darolus, an expression of horror and shock across her face. She grips the walls on either side of her, her knuckles straining on the metal. “I think you left him out of your story.” She turns on me with a growl.
Looking back up at Darolus, I smile at him though he does not smile back, his features tight. “I made a promise.”
“Sabs, I really think you should come back inside,” Tata pleads.
I ignore her as I lean into Darolus’s chest and his arms slide around to embrace me tighter. His hissing fills my ears as the vibration of it hums through his body and into mine in comforting waves. Inhaling deeply, his smell floods me, making me shudder all over. Home. He smells and feels likehome.
It’s only been hours since I last saw him, but it seems like much longer. For a time, I was certain I was never going to see him again.
“I shouldn’t have run,” I murmur, hoping he forgives me while, at the same time, some of my anger returns. “It’s not what I wanted to do.”
“I do not want my female to be afraid of me,” he rumbles, his body stiff against mine.
I frown up at him. “I’m not afraid of you. Why do you think I’m afraid of you?”
He tilts his head at me, confusion flashing across his eyes.
“Sabs!” Tata hisses in the background.
“You came searching for me,” I add, surveilling Darolus’s features, seeing worry gleaming for me in his eyes. It fills my chest and warms me, and I stop myself from pressing my face into his chest and nuzzling it. Noticing his fresh bandages and the little bit of blood still on them, I draw back instead.
“I will always look for you.”
I cup his cheeks and pull his face down to mine. “Thank you for coming for me,” I whisper, not realizing how badly I needed to see him while also knowing I was going to leaveThe Wreckto return to him.
“I am ssssorry.”
My brows furrow. “You are? You should be.” They unfurrow. “But I’m the one who should be sorry. I ran without waiting… I got you hurt.” I tilt my chin toward his bandages.
He hisses, stopping me with a thump of his tail. “Enough.” He hauls me against him and peers up at the sky. “It is unsafe for you out here. It issss time we head back toour nesssst. I do not like the look of the sky. I am done with this distance between ussss.”
My eyes flick to the sky, noticing how much darker the clouds have gotten, especially in the few minutes since I last studied it from inside the ship. A breeze lashes us from the right, sending gusts of dust and little pebbles scattering. But as I take in the darkness, my anger only grows and I push away from him. He thumps his tail again in reaction and grabs my arm.
