Issa’s gaze softened. ‘You’re doing important work, Sheba. I sense it.’
Sheba welcomed her friend’s acknowledgment with a smile. ‘You both are too. Get some rest when you can.’
Ki’Remi’s lips curved again. ‘Indeed, and you keep being the Queen you are, even in the wilds of Lattaya.’
The feed dissolved, leaving the tent quiet again.
Sheba exhaled and opened a private channel.
Selene’s official Prime of Dunia symbol bloomed on the screen, gold-threaded and intricate as befitting her position as leader of an influential planet.
Sheba hit the record button.
‘Hi Sis,’ she said, keeping her tone light but honest. ‘Just a quick hello to let you know I’m doing well. The clinic is thriving, the team’s solid, but the work is busy and sneaks up on you. How are you?’
She paused, then smiled, her voice softening.
‘How’s Kainan? Tell him I said not to forget to sleep, even if he pretends he doesn’t need it. And kiss the girls for me. I yearn for my nieces and nephews. I miss you all.’
She took an inhale, tamping down her homesickness.
‘I’ve stumbled on some intriguing data on Tansinia. This planet is almost as healing as Dunia, with unexplained restoration and impacts on the physiology that deserve major attention. I’ll explain when I have time. Speak soon, my love.’
She terminated the connection and stared at the glowing symbol for a long moment.
Minutes later, she was back in the ward, surrendering to a surge of urgent cases, technical inquiries, and logistics demands that mounted with relentless momentum.
Yet, beneath the professional resolve, the memory of a pair of silver-gold eyes from the previous night persisted, a vivid haunting that held on with a stubborn grip.
Later that afternoon, she claimed a quiet moment for herself.
She perched on a cargo crate on the inside of her tent, its flap half open for some privacy.
Her fingers wrapped around a mug of sweet, hotkahawa.
Hershoes were kicked off, long gone, her bare feet dangling as she sought to ease the pressure of eight hours upright.
Steam from her cup rose in lazy curls, and the ceramic heat seeped into her palms, grounding her.
Behind her, the facility pulsed with activity.
In the shade of the canvas awnings, patients shared a rare laugh as they played cards.
Children darted among the supply stacks, their giggles punctuating the air while medics steered wheelchairs over the gravel paths between wards.
Above it all, the sun began to sink, casting pinked shards across a stunning sky, where wild-hued birds circled in effortless arcs.
Her focus drifted back toIdanand the spectacle he caused at the bar.
She pictured the unruly spill of his dark hair and the lethal elegance in his every movement.
Danger didn’t just follow him; it seemed to emanate from his frame, given the sheer power she detected vibrating beneath his skin.
He embodied a raw savagery, a savage instinct held in check by a terrifying level of control.
She’d spent enough time around shifters to recognize the markers.
From the unnatural stillness before motion, to phenomenal speed that blurred the eye, and the glow in their irises as their potency and focus sharpened.
