“Sarkarnii need to shift to heal, or at least we used to. Sometimes it wasn’t practical in a space battle,” I explain. “We needed a med bay.”
Rosalie swings her legs over the edge of the pod. “So, you shift in here?”
“The pods can mimic our shift, as well as perform other healing functions.” I pat the side of the one she is still sitting inside. “And they make you feel good too.”
“Feeling good is pretty important to you, isn’t it?” Rosalie says, peering around at the rest of the med bay. “The drugs, that is.”
“We need them,” I say.
“You all need something, Dante.” She looks directly at me, her blue eyes with their hypnotic round pupils boring into me. “What I saw back at the dining hall…it was mayhem. If that’s what you’re like when you’re medicated, then I’m not sure I want to see you when you’re not.”
Something about her eyes makes me want to confess everything, if only I knew what everything was.
“Our healing isn’t the only mutation we got from the wormhole.”
“Dante and the crew have been compromised,” Dailiah interrupts.
Rosalie jumps and looks around wildly. “Who is that?”
“The med bay computer. Her voice comes from our original healer, Dailiah,” I explain.
“You were asking about Dante and the crew,” Dailiah says. “I can explain. They have been experimenting with various ways to manage their mutation, but so far, they can only control it.”
“What mutation?” Rosalie looks at me.
“The one in our heads,” I say. “The one which will never leave us alone.”
“And they need to find a cure, as they have precious cargo which must be protected at all costs,” Dailiah says.
“What cargo?” Rosalie asks.
“Let me show you.” I hold out my hand. “If you will trust me, just this once.”
Rosalie makes a small growling noise at the back of her throat which sets the mating mix flowing through my veins. For a moment, I think she might not take what is offered to her.
But then she does put her warm hand in mine.
“Just this once,” she says.
And my heart soars.
ROSALIE
I’m baffled on so many levels. Firstly waking up in the med bay. I know Kerra was in one, so was Lydia, but I’ve not seen one myself and certainly wasn’t expecting to end up in one on Dante’s ship…at least so soon.
Secondly, and I don’t want to admit it to Dante, but I feel like a brand new person. Not achy, not injured, but like I could take on the world.
And finally, it would appear Dante is hiding a whole load of trouble behind his chaos. More mutations than he has apparently let on to anyone and also some sort of cargo his computer called precious.
I let him help me out of the pod, the spicy scent of his scales invading my senses and making my head spin a little, which means I fall against him, my hand touching his chest. Dante is surprisingly soft and warm under my fingers. His hand covers mine, an enormous clawed paw entirely covering where I am touching him.
“Steady, little flame,” he says in his deep, rasping voice. “I don’t want to have to destroy the pod because it hurt you.”
“I would hope you wouldn’t destroy anything for that reason.” I raise my head, and there is a flash of something in his eyes. “Such as your crew.”
“They know when not to challenge me,” Dante rasps. “Although it’s been a long time since they saw a female.”
“And the chances are none of them have any idea what a rut is,” the computer, Dailiah says in a voice rather like Helen Mirren. “Rather like you, Dante.”
