“You really won’t try to save Commander Ryzen?” Tori murmured gently. “You aren’t curious to even see him? There has to be a reason the Stars led us to you.”
“They have a sick sense of humor, Tori.” I looked over my shoulder, eyeing the female embracing Celyze with envy. While she could seek comfort from someone she loved, I had been torn away from mine. “Instead ofaskingme to come here, he kidnapped me after accusing me of working with your enemies and getting mad when I didn’t know what he was talking about. Over the years, I was taught that I was nothing but property to my masters and as long as I behaved, I was rewarded. Just when I thought things were finally going right for me, my freedom was stolen and I was thrust back into the same nightmare. Tori, he just threatened my children’s wellbeing and my mates’ lives. If this isn’t some cosmic joke at my expense, then I don’t know what it is.”
“He’s not such a bad guy—”
“My children, Tori,” I snapped. “What did my children do to deserve losing their parents?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but no words emerged.
Reaching for my ear, I checked to see if my communicator was still missing—it was. Its spot was completely healed, with no scar remaining.
Glancing at the crimson male, I studied Zyxel’s face and was relieved to recognize the differences between him and Kaede. I would never mistake him for my faithful guard again. They shared the same profile, which meant that Kaede’s DNA had been spliced with genetic material from this alien species. If I ever saw Kaede again, I would finally be able to give him the answer he had been seeking all this time.
“I take it you are some sort of healer to this crew.”
Scanning his body, I couldn’t find any markings that would signify his rank—although I wouldn’t be able to understand what they meant if I did. His species had to be like the Circuli, unaccustomed to wearing clothing or jewelry.
“Yes, I am the lead doctor on this base.” He nodded, then tilted his head to the side. “Is something wrong?”
“Where is my communicator?”
“It was damaged beyond repair and removed for research purposes.” He shifted closer. “I can scan the spot on your skin, if it’s bothering you, and give you something for the pain.”
“That’s not why I asked,” I explained, stepping backward over his coil wall and away from the crimson male. “Why would you go through the trouble to remove my communicator, considering how difficult they are to install and how dangerous removal can be for the wearer?”
“The commander requested I do so while we had you in a drugged slumber,” Zyxel replied, a flash of hurt crossing his face as I backed farther away from him. “He wanted to attempt to recover any uncorrupted data left found and upload all the stored languages into our system. I meant to replace yours with one of ours, but the commander wanted to wake you first so you could work on his brother as soon as possible. He assured me he and Celyze would be able to communicate with you telepathically if necessary, but he must have forgotten how strong human minds are. In fact, I am surprised that you can communicate with us now since you weren’t able to when we first met.”
“About that—who sleeps with their patient while they’re unconscious?” I demanded, purposely dismissing his curiosity about my sudden ability to communicate with him. “I woke up thinking I’d had a nightmare and sought comfort from my nestmates only to find some stranger had wrapped himself around me in some coil nest. Do you know how terrifying that was? Especially after everything your commander has put me through.”
A fit of coughs filled the room, making me remember that we had an audience. Tori was covering her mouth, failing to hide the laughter that escaped her. Celyze looked down at her in horror, his wings unusually still.
“Our lead doctor has terrible bedside manner,” she chuckled, elbowing the sapphire male. “If I woke up surrounded by a strange male with the tail of a snake, I would be screaming until my voice gave out. You’re lucky she didn’t attack you, Zyxel.”
“Why were you sleeping with her?” the Cosmic Soul asked. “Never mind that that’s not normal for a doctor to do to their patient; you have never shown interest toward anyone in all the one hundred and twenty years that I’ve known you.”
“I was protecting our honored guest from the inhabitants of the asteroid. It was in our best interest to make sure she healed and regained her strength for the sake of our commander’s life.”
Zyxel’s amber eyes bored into mine, hiding something in their depths. He slithered closer, studying me, and I retreated until my back hit the wall. Looking down, I found our bodies almost touched. “You never told me how you can communicate with us now even though you didn’t understand me when we were alone.”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Perhaps the aftereffects of all the drugs everyone loves to pump into me were muddling my mind. I needed to get them out of my system or something.”
I wasn’t going to tell him about Vowels. They didn’t need to know my secret, especially since I couldn’t trust any of them. As long as he stayed hidden in my body, we would be fine. This crew liked to act first and ask questions later, so I refused to grant them any more advantages over me.
“Perhaps,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes. “It’s something I’ve never seen before.”
“You’ve never met me.”
