For a long moment, the captain said nothing. When he finally spoke, his voice was flat. Empty of the warmth that had been there moments before.
“Neraxisis not your concern.”
“Katan—” Maelic started.
“I said it is not your concern.” The words came out sharp. Final. Katan’s gaze shifted away, staring at something only he could see. “Take your mate. Rest. Heal. That is an order.”
The walls had gone up so fast Delaney barely understood what happened. WhateverNeraxismeant, it had hit a nerve. A deep one.
Maelic glanced at her, then back at Katan. “If you need—”
“I do not.” Katan’s voice softened, just barely. “You have earned your peace, Maelic. Let me handle the shadows for a while.”
There was something in those words. Something that spoke of old pain and older debts.
Maelic nodded slowly. “Understood, Captain.”
Katan turned to leave, but Delaney caught the look in his eyes before he did.
WhateverNeraxiswas, he was going to hunt it down.
And when he found it, there would be blood.
After Katan left, Delaney looked up at Maelic. “What was that about?”
“I do not know.” He pulled her closer. “But whatever it is, it belongs to Katan now.”
She studied his face. Saw the concern there, but also the relief. His war was over.
Someone else would carry the weight for a while.
“Will he be okay?” she asked quietly.
Maelic’s expression softened. “Katan is the strongest male I know. If anyone can face whatever darkness Barvarti left behind, it is him.”
She nodded, curling into his chest. The universe was so much bigger—and darker—than she’d ever imagined. But at least there were people like Katan fighting against it.
If anyone could save her people, it would be that guy.
After a lot of fussing from Maelic in the ship’s medbay, she was finally released. She stood in the corridor outside the medical bay, Maelic’s hand warm in hers, and just… looked.
The walls were smooth metal that seemed to glow from within. The floor had some kind of cushioning she couldn’t name. Through a viewport, stars streaked past in patterns that hurt her brain to track.
She was on a spaceship.
She’d left Earth.
The farm. The cabin. Grandpa’s chair. Russell’s stupid offers. The Christmas tree lot she’d never set up this year. All of it—gone. Behind her. Literally light-years away by now, probably.
Her chest tightened.
“Del?” Maelic’s thumb stroked across her knuckles. “Are you well?”
Was she? She’d signed away her entire life in a fit of grief-fueled clarity, run through the snow to a man—alien—she’d known for less than a week, gotten shot, and woken up in space.
She should be terrified. She should be having a breakdown.
But when she looked at Maelic—at his worried eyes and the way his wings shifted protectively behind him—all she felt was relief.
