I’d never had the chance to thank him for saving me. If there was anything positive about this scenario, it was that I might be able to return the favor.
He moved in sync with me, his amber eyes never leaving mine. When I was close enough, I lifted my hand slowly and placed it on the glass. As he mirrored my movements, laying his hand on the glass against mine, there was a subtle shift in his gaze, something close to recognition and interest.
He leaned in closer, his movement generating ripples on the surface of the water, until our faces were close enough that we could almost kiss, if it weren’t for the glass barrier between us.
“I won’t hurt you,” I whispered, feeling absurd speaking to a creature who probably didn’t understand a word I was saying. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he could sense my intentions, understand what I was trying to communicate.
I slid the knife onto the palm of my other hand and pressed it against the glass, pointing the handle toward him. I hoped my message was clear—this was an offering, a peace gesture.
He looked at the knife, then back at me. His gaze softened, and I could swear there was a hint of understanding in his eyes. He copied my gesture, pressing his other palm against the glass over the handle, as if accepting my offering.
I let the knife fall onto the ledge, my gaze never leaving his. “I promise you,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. He leaned closer, his gaze focused on my lips as I spoke. “We’re going to get through this. Together.”
CHAPTERFIVE
KY’RN
How had it come to this?
As I stared at the human female I’d saved, I wondered what she was thinking. As she sat there eating her meal, I saw her long hair was like a curtain of multicolored seaweed—shifting from purple to blue to green, rather than the dark brown it was when I last saw her—as it fell about her shoulders. She kept observing me with concern behind her wall of hair, as if she was attempting to hide her interest in me.
I, too, was facing the consequences of my own curiosity.
The Interstellar Protections Agency had classified humans as an adolescent species, still learning to explore their own sol system. But their first foray into interstellar travel had led them straight into the territory of another race.
The results had been devastating.
Humans now knew they weren’t alone in the universe, and not all were accepting of this revelation.
I had been caught in the midst of it all, my insatiable curiosity leading me to investigate the presence of a vessel within the vicinity of the IPA’s secret base during a hurricane.It was there that I’d found the helpless human female, on the verge of her doom. I couldn’t stand by and watch her perish, so I had rescued her, unaware of the chain of events that would follow.
And, in a moment of weakness, I—a high-ranking IPA commander—swam dangerously close to a hydrothermal vent—and got burned.
I trembled at the thought of the experiments my former captors had performed on me. The pain and the indignity still lingered, a constant reminder of the cruelty I had endured.
And now, somehow, by the Stars’ Will, I found myself in the hands of the very human female I had saved.
And in her eyes, I saw a mix of confusion, compassion, and concern that distinguished her apart from the rest. Refreshingly, she lacked the cruel apathy of the other humans I had encountered.
She was different.
A glimmer of hope for me to grab onto.
She had seen the fear and desperation in my eyes, and instead of exploiting it, she had offered me salvation.
At least, that’s what I hoped from her earlier display with her weapon.
A strange sense of irritation coursed through me as I swam laps around my glass prison, unable to divert my attention from the female who strode back and forth across the laboratory, her delicate fingers tracing the edge of the knife that she had presented to me moments before.
My eyes tracked her every feature, taking in the tense line of her shoulders, the furrow between her brows, the way her lips moved as she muttered words I could not hear.
I wished I could reach out to her, to bridge the gap between us.
But without the touch of her skin, I couldn’t communicate with her…
A plan began to form in my mind. It was risky, and I had no guarantee that she would understand. But it was the only option I had. I swam closer to the glass, my hearts pounding in my chest.
I pressed my hand against the cool surface, then dragged it downward, tracing a simple pattern over and over again—a series of dots and lines, an ancient symbol of my people.
