“I know, and I love you too.” I turn and kiss his cheek. “Tell Arc I love him, when you see him.”
“Before or after he tries to kill me.”
“Both.”
“We won’t stay any longer than we have to.”
“Good, I want you back as soon as I can have you.”
They both look down at me and I know they feel my nerves through the bond.
Shock takes my hand, and I flinch at the brief image that flashes in my mind.
“I think I’d prefer prophetic dreams, after all.”
He winces as he lets me go. “Sorry.”
“I’m not.” If this is the price of having them, I’ll take it.
We have to let this happen.
“Stay warm.” He looks at Kissu who’s back and sitting beside us with his twitching tail wrapped around his paws. “You know what to do.”
He kisses me, hands squeezing my arms like he’d rather hug me, and then Risk takes his place. When he kisses me, his hand briefly rests on my stomach, fingers spreading wide, and then he hurries out the door, leaving me with anxious prickles racing over my skin.
Kissu stands immediately and moves behind me, nudging me with his head.
“Is this what you’re supposed to do?”
He doesn’t answer me, of course, just steers me deeper into the outpost. “You don’t have to push, I’ll follow.”
The lower levels are a maze of freezing cold rooms, but I don’t have the opportunity to get lost. Kissu makes sure of that.
He leads me directly into the room full of medical equipment that I am far too familiar with.
Oh,Risk’s hand…
I’m providing the bait.
Kissu pushes me toward a stall-like compartment, steering me to the screen beside it.
I might not be able to speak Sianese yet, but I can read a lot of it… the circular letters have always felt more like pictographic code, but more than that, Iknowwhat sequence I need to push to switch it to English.
It’s an eerie feeling.
The machine is already primed for me. I was the last one in it, after all.
That thought turns my stomach, but I step into the same space I stood.
Kissu sits outside, purring.
Swirling lights, cool puffs of air, and a gentle hum tell me it’s working.
Kissu paws at the floor when it’s done.
Come, wiffan. It’s a whisper, but I’m certain it’s real.
He clamps his mouth loosely around my wrist and pulls me back to the screen.
