“A few weeks. Do you have an answer or not, healer?”
“I might, but I’ll need you to lift her for me.”
He complied with a dip of his eyestalks. “This had better not injure her.” His arm spikes lay flat against his fur as he propped his mate up from the nest of blankets.
“It will not, but unfortunately, the consequences will be long lasting. I assume none of you are vaccinated against this pathogen.” Eleri thumbed through the coarse fur at the back of the female’s neck until she found what she was looking for. Under ideal circumstances, she’d be wearing gloves, but she had received her vaccination against ulem bites, so it posed little risk. The creature was bloated and grotesque with blood as she yanked it free of Leeqa’s neck.
“This is your culprit.” She presented the creature Niis, trying to avoid looking straight at the grotesque bloodsucker. “Unfortunately, the effects are irreversible. The ulem bite causes people to develop an allergy to ultraviolet radiation.”
“So, there is nothing to be done?”
“I didn’t say that.” Eleri lifted her boot and squashed the horrible creature underfoot. “She needs to go somewhere dark. I’m not an astronomer, but I imagine the IA knows of habitable planets with a long dark cycle.”
“Why would the IA help us?”
Eleri swallowed hard. She had no idea if the IA would help them or not, but they would technically qualify as medical refugees under the IA Merciful Relocation Act, something she’d learned about while studying for her exams. “If I speak to them, we can perhaps gain you and your mate medical refugee status. You would have to adhere to IA regulations and protocols, but they might be willing to relocate the two of you.”
“We do not negotiate with the IA.”
“Then there’s nothing else I can do to help you. Your mate will live, but even removing the parasiteisn’t enough to restore her to full functioning.” Eleri glanced at the dark splotch that had been the ulem on the ground beside a pile of torn cleaning rags. “As long as she’s somewhere with sunlight, she will never lead a normal life.”
“This is not the answer I wanted.” Niis stood and started kicking at things around the small, dark space, nearly sideswiping Eleri’s shoulder with a flying basket of molted pichari feathers.
She rose to her feet, not about to be intimidated. “I answered your questions. I offered a medical solution. These were the terms you set out.” Her voice was firm, unwavering. Niis paused in his deranged hurling and muttering.
“But you did not cure her.”
“I never promised that I could. But I helped you. Now you have answers you didn’t have before. I am not an expert on your customs, but it seems like you would be dishonoring your Multitude if you don’t hold up your end of our bargain.” Her chin jutted out. It was perhaps foolish to be so brash when dealing with a ravik, but she had nothing to lose. If S’samph was coming for her, she saw no sign of him. More likely everyone assumed her dead.
Niis stopped his aberrant destruction and crouched down to bore his pupilless eyes into hers. “For now, you will stay here and care for my mate. I will decide what to do with you later.”
“No. If you’re going to kill me, you had better go ahead and do it now.” Eleri was finished being bullied around by people who thought they could cow her into submission. “I’m not here to take care of your mate. I already told you how to take care of your mate, but you didn’t like my recommendation. There isn’t anything I can do beyond offering drugs to make her sleep.”
“Your recommendation is infeasible.”
“My recommendation will allow your mate to live a mostly normal life. If you want to keep her here, I can’t make that choice for you.”
Niis’ eyestalks swiveled away from her, landing back on his prone mate. “The kyrot female who told us where to find you said you were docile. I did not anticipate such a heated conversation.”
The admission made Eleri’s skin crawl when she realized the implications. Myla had come to the clinic to ensure she was there alone without S’samph to protect her from an abduction while she went on her morning patient visitation rounds. Which also meant that she must have been behind the comm that sent K’kaen away. There was no hard evidence, but she felt certain this was the case. It chilled her to know Myla hated her enough to sell her out to the raviks, but Eleri knew herown mother had done worse when trying to protect her precious Rhys from his own stupidity.
“Are you going to let me go or not?”
Niis’ mate stirred slightly, her hand reaching out to touch his. It was a good sign that she could make a full recovery if Niis was able to choose the selfless thing and allow her to claim medical refugee status with the IA. Eleri couldn’t make the choice for them, but perhaps seeing his mate gain a bit of alertness would sway his decision-making.
As the two raviks touched eyestalks, Eleri averted her gaze not sure what to do in this uncomfortably intimate moment but not daring to leave in case it caused Niis to redirect his anger toward her. Finally, the ravik made a sound demanding her attention.
“That is the most alertness I’ve seen from my mate in nearly seven lunar cycles.”
“Removing the parasite helps, but it’s not a cure.” Eleri had seen people wither and die more quickly from an ulem attachment, but it seemed like Leeqa had a strong will to live.
Niis regarded her with a single eyestalk while the other maintained attention on his mate. “You have earned my tribute, human. Tell me what you would accept as fair repayment.”
The answer was easy enough, but Eleri stilled her tongue before she could spit out the simple answer. No, this was the only chance she’d have for any type of vindication. Her freedom came first, but if she could get answers about why Myla had sold her out it would be foolish to pass up the opportunity. “I want you to let me return to Laurus unharmed. I also want more information about the kyrot female who told you how to find me. What did you give her in exchange? Did she say anything else of interest?”
Niis regarded her with both eyestalks now. “Yes, this is an acceptable tribute. You will have to remain here until I tell you what you want to know. Then I will release you back to your community.”
“Just like that?” she asked.
