I ran my hands through my hair and attempted to shake off the hyperawareness that seemed to come with being around Cleo. I couldn’t shake the memory of how her eyes had clouded with conflict when she’d asked if I had a mate. Or the relief that had flashed across her face when I’d said no.
Prophecies and sacred marks and sky people returning after a thousand cycles of isolation.
My life had been so much simpler yesterday.
CHAPTER 5
Cleo
Twenty-four hours.
According to the glowing display on my wrist comm, we’d been in D’tran custody for just over one full day. Not that the device was good for much else. Short-range only, designed for crew communication within a few kilometers. Useless for reaching anyone beyond the village walls, assuming anyone was even out there to reach.
I stared at the now-dark screen, willing it to show me something. A ping from Zara. A signal from the ship. Anything.
Nothing.
Our spare, but comfortable surroundings, felt too small. Too confined. A soft sound from the third bed drew my attention. My gaze fell on Mierva, as it had more times than I could count. Her freshly splinted arm rested carefully on a pillow. The healer, Erith, had done an impressive job resettingthe break. She’d been efficient and surprisingly gentle, explaining each step even though we could barely understand her at the time.
The pain had been bad though. Bad enough that Erith had given Mierva some kind of sedative drink that knocked her out within minutes. She’d slept a lot since then, waking to eat and use the bathroom, and she slept now. I was grateful to the D’tran for helping her, but listening to her deep and even breathing reminded me of how vulnerable we were. That sedative could have just as easily been poison.
“She’ll be fine,” Baleck said, following my gaze. “The healer knew what she was doing.”
“Yeah.” I rubbed my eyes, exhaustion pulling at me despite the fact that I’d slept reasonably well. Or maybe because of it. My body was finally catching up with everything we’d been through. “I just wish we knew more about their medical capabilities. What if the bone doesn’t set right? What if it gets infected?”
“Then we deal with it. Same as we’d deal with any medical situation.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “Stayhere, Cleo. Don’t go wandering off into ‘what if’ land.”
But I was already in “what if” land. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall, trying not to let worry consume me. Front of my mind was Zara. My friend was smart and resourceful, but I never thought of her as the survival type. She was more of aninsideperson, happiest with data screens and warm beverages brewed by someone that wasn’t her. Or a machine. Come to think of it, Zara preferred machines over most people. She was one ofmyfavorite people, along with Maya. The three of us had arrived at the moon the Destranshad chosen as their new home and survived an unhinged Sola, and an attack by our own employer. And now, I was trying to survive crashing and becoming stranded on a planet with killer weather.
I rubbed my chin and winced. Now that I thought about it, Zara had the right idea. Data screens and hot tea sounded really good right about now.
I bet Zara was thinking the same thing. I could only hope that the captain of our ship was with her. Captain Torven Korvath would keep her safe. He might be a rigid ass, but he was competent. And I suspected he liked Zara more than he indicated, which was to say, not at all.
They were fine. Theyhadto be fine.
“Stop torturing yourself,” Baleck said from across the room. He was stretched out on one of the beds, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. His skin had finally settled into calmer blues and greens. “Whatever happened to the others, we can’t help them while we’re locked in here.”
“We’re not locked in,” I pointed out. “Just heavily supervised.”
“Semantics.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “Also,stopreading my mind. It’s annoying.”
“It’s truly not a gift,” he said with a grunt.
“I know, I know.” I rubbed my face and scraped back my hair. “It’s a curse.”
“Your words,” he said, then threw an arm over his eyes and seemed to doze.
The past day had been surprisingly comfortable, all things considered. We’d been given fresh clothing that actually fit,soft tunics and pants in muted earth tones that were practical and well-made. We’d been shown to a bathing room with hot water and soap that smelled like pine and something floral I couldn’t identify. And the food…
I looked at the empty plates stacked on the low table near the window. Dinner had been mostly vegetables, but prepared in ways that made my mouth water just remembering it. Roasted root vegetables with herbs I’d never tasted before, some kind of grain dish with nuts and dried fruit, greens sautéed in oil and garlic. Simple food, but fresh and filling in a way that made me realize how much I’d been living on processed rations and the stuff that came from a food replicator. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d hadhomemade food.
“The food was good,” I said, more to fill the silence than anything.
“Very good,” Baleck agreed. “Better than anything on the ship. Though I’d trade it all for a working long-range comm system and coordinates to the nearest way station.”
“Agreed.”
