"We caught her trying to free the enemy," the guard closest to me reported.
These people needed to get a fucking clue. "He's not my enemy! Do you think I was able to cross half this damned planet on foot alone?" I said it to Runa. I could ignore the guard for now. He wasn't going to shoot without her permission.
At least, I didn't think so.
"What are they saying?" Nyx asked me. His voice was rough, still damaged from screaming himself hoarse in that cell.
With my communicator, I was the only one who could understand and speak to him. The little device behind my earthat Kira had cobbled together in those first desperate weeks. Now it was the only bridge between my mate and these people who wanted to lock him up.
Drakarn didn't sound particularly scary if you didn't understand it, but Karima flinched when Nyx spoke. Her hand went to her chest, fingers pressing against her sternum.
"They're not happy I let you out of your cell," I muttered.
"You speak its language?" Houston sneered.
It.
The word hit me like a slap. My hands curled into fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms. They were talking about Nyx like he was athing, something less than sentient. Like the warrior who'd flown me across hostile territory, who'd offered me everything on bended knee, who'd made me a weapon and pledged himself to me, was nothing more than a dangerous animal.
Rage surged through me, hot and violent. I wanted to grab Houston by his collar and shake him until he understood exactly how wrong he was.
But that would only confirm what they already believed. That I'd been broken by my captivity.
"I have a translator," I gestured behind my ear. At least they hadn't bound our hands; that was a relief. "Kira rigged them up after we first landed. It allows us to understand the Drakarn language."
"I'm telling them how I can understand you," I added for Nyx's benefit. His tail twitched against my leg, acknowledgment that he'd heard.
"Don't speak to it," Houston demanded.
"Don't call himit." The words came out low and dangerous. My hand moved to the knife at my hip, fingers brushing the hilt Nyx had made for me. The contact steadied me.
Houston's eyes tracked the movement. His expression hardened. He exchanged a look with Karima, something passing between them that I couldn't read.
The tension in the room ratcheted higher. The guards shifted, adjusting their grips on their weapons. Nyx's growl deepened, his wings rustling in threat.
Karima shifted in her seat, fingers twisted together in her lap. She was looking at me pityingly. Like I was something damaged that needed to be handled gently. "Lexa, I know you must have done what you needed to do to survive, but you don't owe this …" she swallowed, "ahem,mananything."
"It's not about owing him."
It's because I love him.
Oh shit. The thought hit me hard, stealing the breath from my lungs. My heart stuttered, then kicked into overdrive.
Now was not the time to think about that. Not here, not surrounded by people who would use that confession as proof I'd been compromised. Not when we were trapped in a room with weapons pointed at Nyx's chest.
But the truth of it settled into my bones anyway, undeniable and terrifying and absolutely certain. I loved him. Loved the way he moved, the controlled violence and the gentle touches. Loved his honor and his protectiveness and the way he'd looked at me when he offered me that blade.
I wasn't ready to examine that feeling. Wasn't ready to unpack what it meant or what I was willing to sacrifice for it. But I knew, with absolute certainty, that I would fight anyone who tried to take him from me.
Beside me, Nyx was brimming with barely caged frustration. His whole body vibrated with tension, muscles coiled and ready to spring.
I reached out and took his hand. His scales were warm against my palm. His claws flexed against my fingers, carefulas always, and his tail brushed against my ankle in possessive reassurance.
That earned me a disgusted sound from Houston and one of the guards behind me, but I didn't give a singular fuck. Let them think what they wanted. I knew the truth. Knew what Nyx was to me, what we were to each other.
"We just want to go back to Scalvaris," I said, staring straight at Runa. She was the deciding vote; she had to be. She was the captain, and the captain ruled. "This doesn't need to be violent. Scalvaris has sheltered us, and there are humans there who may want to come back here."
"We've seen the shelter that these things offer," said Houston.
