He smiled. "I did not realize how funny you are, Kira. May I call you Kira?"
"I'm not funny. You're funny. And yes—you may."
"Do you now understand why we are not pirates?"
"Fine," I muttered. "You're not pirates."
"I must return to the bridge," he said—and then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me.
His embrace was warm and solid, like being wrapped in a heavy, muscular blanket that smelled incredibly good. I closed my eyes and leaned into him.
"You are special, Kira," he murmured. "Vaelix believes you may one day complete our tether. You may—but not yet."
I looked up. "Why not?"
"You still have questions," he said softly. "About us. About the tether. About whether you can trust any of this." His thumb brushed my shoulder. "And doubts I cannot erase. You must answer them yourself."
I buried my face against his chest. He was right.
He released me but kept his hands on my shoulders. "Get some rest. I've asked the crew to place a bottle of Solaris Nectar in your quarters."
My eyes widened. "The same one from dinner?"
He nodded.
"Are you sure you can't read my mind?"
He smiled. "Perhaps I can—just not in the way you think."
Torvyn turned and walked away.
Kaedren stepped forward, silent as ever, and offered me his arm. When I took it, he covered my hand with his—just for a moment—before releasing it.
I smiled at him. He smiled back.
And for the first time since I'd woken on this ship, I didn't feel like cargo.
Chapter8
Seven days since Torvyn's tour of the ship. Seven days since he'd explained the Knight bond—though "explained" was generous. I still didn't fully understand it, but the Knights didn't seem to care. In fact, all of them were being very, very nice. Too nice. They were treating me with kid gloves.
Even Vaelix, whom I was still mad at.
He'd left a few notifications for me, inviting me back to the astrolabe, but it would take more than an apology and some nice words to get back in my good graces. I wasn't a "flowers" type of girl, but the effort would be appreciated and wasn't really too much to ask for, right?
I couldn't spend another day pacing my quarters or wandering the Starbreaker's corridors like a ghost. The medical bay at least gave me purpose. My doctorate might have been in xenobiology rather than medicine, but I'd completed clinical rotations on Luna Prime. How hard could basic patient care be?
"How is our patient doing today?" Lyrin asked, leaning over the small child I was tending to.
I was checking the regeneration progress on Alicia's burn when Lyrin appeared at my shoulder, his expression carefully neutral as he adjusted my bandage work.
"Close," he said diplomatically.
The seven-year-old giggled.
"I study alien cellular structures, not pediatric wound care," I muttered.
"You are running a little warm," Lyrin said, looking at the digital readout next to her bed. His hand brushed mine as he reached for the scanner, and I pretended not to notice the way my pulse jumped. "Don't worry, I'll get one of the nurses to take care of that."
