“You’re good at this,” Kallum said.
“I’ve had practice.”
“On what?”
“Turnip. When he was young. He got into everything. Cuts, scrapes, one time he fell in the irrigation ditch and nearly drowned.” I secured the last bandage. “I learned to fix things because there was nobody else to do it.”
His hand found my wrist. His grip was weak, but it was there.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re still bleeding.”
“Less than before.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring.”
His mouth twitched again. That almost-smile I was learning to recognize. “You sound like me.”
“God forbid.”
He laughed, even though it made him wince. His fingers tightened on my wrist.
“Stay,” he said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I mean it. Stay close.”
I shifted. Sat against the bulkhead beside him. Let him rest his head against my shoulder. His blood soaked into my shirt, warm and spreading, but I didn’t move.
Outside the cockpit window, hyperspace swirled in colors I’d never seen. Blue and violet and something darker. The stars were gone. The moon was gone. Everything I’d known was gone.
But Kallum was warm against my side. And Turnip was breathing in the cargo bay. And somewhere in Kallum’s jacket, pressed against his wounded ribs, the case held everything Torek had died to protect.
I wasn’t alone.
He faded in and out.
His body was doing what he’d promised. I could see it in the way the bleeding slowed, the way his breathing steadied. Vinduthi healing. But he was still too pale. Still too cold. Slower than it should have been.
“Tell me something,” I said.
His eyes flickered open. “What?”
“Anything. Tell me about your team. The people we’re going to meet.”
He gathered himself. Summoning the energy to speak.
“Rylos,” he said finally. “He’s our leader. Violet sigils. Cold until you know him. Fair.”
“Is he the one we talked to? When you called for extraction?”
“Yes. He’ll have questions. Answer them honestly. He respects that.”
“Who else?”
“Talon. He’s... the heart of it, in some ways. Has a mate named Tamsin. Human. Navigator. Brilliant.” His breathing stuttered. Steadied. “She’s quiet. You’ll like her.”
