"Cael, we have to go! Now!" Midori urged.
Jessa held out his hand. "Give me a blaster. I'll help Midori get on the gronklin and cover you."
Cael handed over a blaster and continued returning fire at the guards who were closing in.
Midori put her foot out, and the gronklin assisted her with its split two-trunk, pushing her onto its back. Jessa jumped upbehind her. Midori was about to call Cael to hurry and join them when one of Jessa's black-and-white striped arms reached around her chest and pulled her back against him while he pressed the blaster to her temple.
Midori froze, her eyes widening in shock. What was he doing?
"Just stay still, Midori," he warned. "This will all be over soon."
Cael turned to mount the gronklin and stopped in his tracks.
"Jessa? What are you?—?"
The Zebran male shook his head sharply. "I'm sorry, but I cannot let you leave with the human female. The guards know who we are. They know where we live. Ananika will never be safe. All they wanted was the human female. If I give her to them, they'll leave us alone. I'm sure they'll also be interested in the Zyranthian male who has been with her every step of the way and didn't bother to turn her in."
Midori's breath caught in her throat as the realization hit her like a sledgehammer. After everything they'd just been through, Jessa intended to trade her to regain his tribe's enslaved women. Midori's heart plummeted. She wouldn't be rescued after all. She was still just a bargaining chip to be traded away.
Cael aimed his blaster at Jessa, his expression thunderous. "I won't let you?—"
Jessa pressed the barrel of the blaster against her head. "I wouldn't. Not unless you want the girl's blood on your hands. I know it's only set to stun, but from this proximity the blast might still be lethal."
Jessa whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry about this, but I have to make sure Ananika is safe. This was the only way."
Midori's heart pounded in her ears as Jessa's words sank in like a lead weight.
Cael's eyes burned with fury as he glared at Jessa, his body tense and ready to spring into action. "You can't do this, Jessa. Think about it."
"I'm doing what I must to protect my mate," Jessa replied, his voice hard. He jabbed the blaster against Midori's temple again in warning. "If our roles were reversed, you'd do the same."
Midori trembled, her throat tight with panic. She wanted to plead with Jessa, reason with him somehow, but her voice seemed to have deserted her. All her hopes of escape, of a future with Cael, were crumbling to dust.
The sounds of approaching footsteps reached her ears. She turned her head slightly to see a group of guards advancing across the far side of the compound toward them, their weapons drawn and aimed. Jessa straightened, keeping Midori pinned against him.
"You!" a guard shouted. "Stop right there!"
"I have the escaped human slave you've been searching for!" Jessa called back. "And also the traitor guard who helped her flee in the escape pod which landed in the mountains!"
Midori's gaze flew to Cael, her heart sinking at the implication of Jessa's words. If they took him too . . .
Cael met her terrified look, his expression softening almost imperceptibly. He gave a small shake of his head, a silent reassurance.
The guards approached more cautiously, their weapons still leveled. "Is that so? And what do you intend to do with them?"
Jessa's hand fisted in Midori's hair, making her wince. "I'll leave the human right outside the compound gates. She's all yours. Consider her a fair exchange for the females you took from my tribe. As for the guard . . . " He jerked his head toward Cael. "He's your own, and he betrayed you. You can deal with him how you see fit."
The lead guard narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why should we trust you?"
"You shouldn't. But if you want the human female alive, what choice do you have?"
The guard considered this for a moment, then gave a curt nod. "Very well." He turned and barked orders to two of his men, who trained their blasters on Cael.
Defeat imminent, Cael finally lowered his weapon. His silver eyes filled with desperation as Jessa steered the gronklin toward the hole in the wall.
Midori's heart pounded against her ribs as the massive creature lumbered to the breach. Terror clawed at her insides with each step, taking her farther from Cael, and for a moment she worried she might pass out from fear. She strained to keep Cael in her sights, her gaze desperately drinking in his tall blue form. The anguish etched on his face mirrored the ache squeezing her chest.
And then the gronklin exited through the hole, and Cael was gone.
