I quirked an eyebrow at the alien chivalry. “Thank you,” I mumbled, accepting my clothing, making quick work of sliding first the shirt and then the pants over my delicate skin. I sighed in relief now that I had a barrier between myself and the elements—both the alien planet and the alien at our feet, who could awake at any time.
While I’d dressed, Cair looked away, posture rigid, like he was guarding me from his own attention as much as from Xelthar. This increased my sense of safety, but also left me unmoored, unsure what kind of protection this was.
As if reading my thoughts, Cair produced one of those annoyingly clever all-purpose metal discs from his belt. He knelt beside Xelthar, the ground crunching softly under his weight. The alien metal glinted with that eerie, luminescent glow as it flowed over Xelthar’s wrists like liquid before solidifying with a soft click. Secure.
“Now what?” I asked, my voice steadier, though my hands still trembled slightly. “Who do you think will arrive first, the Syndicate ship or Xelthar’s people? If the former, will they take me back to Earth? If the latter, do we convince Xelthar’s people to take us with them? Or do we overpower them and take their ship? Or, maybe?—”
“The Syndicate will arrive first,” Cair interrupted my frenzied stream-of-consciousness questions.
The alienness of it all, and what almost happened with Xelthar, slammed into me. I nodded like a bobblehead, reassured by Cair’s certainty. Adrenaline still coursed through my body, heightening all my senses. The planet’s now-familiar sounds flooded me and my nostrils flared as I drank in the floral scent of Novaelus tinged with a faint, acrid note of sweat and fear. I leaned against the purple trunk of a towering plant, my skin prickling where bare skin touched alien bark. I wobbled on my feet.
“I believe you are going into shock.”
“I’m fine.” I tried to make it sound like a fact. But my legs buckled and my throat tightened, and the edges of the world went fuzzy. I kept swallowing, like I could force the moment down and keep it there if I didn’t give it air.
Cair scooped me up and held me against the hard planes of his broad chest. “You can rest now. The danger has passed.” One hand reached up, his fingers brushing a lock of my short hair behind my ear, the touch gentle but electric against my scalp. “When the Syndicate ship arrives, they will fix my ship and take Xelthar to Vadhea in theirs.”
My mind raced—What about me?—but exhaustion overwhelmed me, my eyelids growing heavy. The safety of Cair’s arms, the steady rhythm of his breathing, lulled me into a haze. The alien world faded, and I let myself sink into the darkness, trusting, for now, that I was safe.
Chapter Ten
I wokeup in a state of panic. My body tightened in anticipation of a fight. My fingers clutched the silky soft sheet covering me.
“Relax, Emily Nichols. You are unhurt.”
Cair’s melodic voice rolled over me, calming my galloping heart. I opened my eyes and found his. “Where am I?”
“We are on my ship.”
I craned my head around, but the unadorned gray walls revealed nothing. “This isn’t the brig,” I pointed out, while literally pointing at one of those walls.
Cair laughed and captured my hand with his. He rested them intertwined on the sheet. On the bed. Where I was again naked. My face flushed with the realization. I had no idea how this had happened—or what it meant—but a strange warmth stirred inside me.
“You are in my room,” Cair said in a low voice.
Was that uncertainty I heard? Could I recognize that in an alien speech pattern? I thought so.
“Your clothing was no longer usable. I can replicate whatever you want,” he assured me.
“How did we get here?”
“What is the last thing that you remember?”
My throat seized at the immediate memory of Xelthar’s fingers wrapped around it, cutting off my windpipe. Reflexively, I removed my hand from Cair’s, then cradled my bruised neck. A flash of being knocked over by Xelthar’s tackle. Finally, a fight between him and Cair. Then … nothing.
Cair waited while my brain processed everything that had happened.
“You picked me up and told me that the Syndicate ship would arrive before Xelthar’s friends’ ship did. I’m guessing that happened?”
Cair nodded. “Correct. You missed all the excitement.”
“Was that a joke?”
“Did you find it funny?” His deadpan voice and impassive expression added to what I’d come to realize was his bone-dry sense of humor.
“A little bit,” I acknowledged, and we shared a small smile. Such a human moment.
Cair sobered. “The Syndicate ship arrived as expected. Their technicians repaired my vessel as much as they could, moved Xelthar into their holding cell, and dispatched his friends when they arrived.”
