“I highly doubt I was the only one,” Warden Tenn rumbled. “Anyone could have made such a mistake!”
“You wouldn’t have made that mistake if you’d read the document before my arrival,” Tasha reminded him archly.
“Well, I have read it now. Several times over! I consider myself rather an expert at this point.”
“The expert,” I cut in, my voice booming through the room, “is the doctor standing by the screen, whom we are extremely lucky to have with us.” Lualhati’s eyes went wide at my words, her cheeks darkening.
“Please continue,” I said. “There will be no further interruptions.”
She smiled at me then, and it was smaller, somehow a little shyer, than usual. Maybe even vulnerable. It made me feel suddenly savage with the need to…
To what?
Protect her.
“Thank you, Warden Hallum,” she murmured. “I will.”
11
LUALHATI
Aweek after my arrival on Zabria Prinar One, Warden Hallum’s ambulance upgrade kit for the slicer was delivered.
“This is great,” I said once all the parts had been deposited in Warden Hallum’s garage. “I want to go see Darcy. This will be our chance to give it a test run!”
“I agree,” Warden Hallum said. “I do not want the first time we use the equipment to be during an emergency situation.”
“Definitely. I’ll let her know. How long do you think it’ll take? Just a general estimate.”
“A few days at least,” he said.
That made sense to me. Not only would he have to attach the big patient compartment to the slicer, but he’d also be making some major upgrades to the engine. As well as closing in the driver’s compartment.
“And you’re sure you can do it all on your own?”
“Yes. While Xennet and Dorn have their strengths, neither of them have experience in this sort of work.”
“But you do?”
“I do,” he confirmed. “I had extensive training on ship maintenance and engineering in the military.”
“Field medic, engineer, commander…” I grinned, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against his work bench. “Any other titles to add to that list?”
“Hugs warden.”
I burst out laughing, not expecting that particular call-back.
“And jokester!” I teased, adding to the running list.
Warden Hallum didn’t laugh. And he didn’t really smile, either. But as I watched him open the engine compartment of the slicer and bend over it, there was a new, peculiar sort of quirk tugging at the sides of his mouth. That tiny shift in expression sent my stomach fluttering madly.
And sent my mouth into the stupidest tailspin of all time.
“Anyway, I’m not sure you can qualify as the hugs warden if you’ve only ever hugged one human.”
He bent over the slicer’s engine and began deftly working the wires inside.
“I have no interest in doing a hug to any other human.” His hands flexed and clenched, the muscles of his forearms bunching. “If I must practice to maintain the title, then I will practice with you.” His gaze flicked to mine then. Icy. Intense. “If you are amenable to such a thing.”
