I went through first, dragging my pack behind me, then reached back for the female. I pulled her through as gently asI could manage. She didn't wake, didn't protest. Just let me maneuver her like a doll.
We crawled through the darkness, the culvert's walls pressing close. Ten meters. Fifteen. The air grew fresher, the smell of open space replacing the compound’s artificial gardens and the culvert’s stench.
Then we were out, emerging into the scrubland beyond. The twin moons were rising, casting pale light across the rocky terrain. I could see the compound behind us, the lights bright against the darkness, but we were outside. Free.
For now.
I gathered her back into my arms and started moving, putting distance between us and the compound. One kilometer. Two. The lights faded behind us, swallowed by the darkness. Outside the estate, the landscape was more varied, less swampy. I found a natural shelter—a stand of boulders with a crevice leading to a small cave sheltered by the rock.
I laid her down and checked her pulse. Still steady. Still breathing. Her skin was hot to the touch now, definitely a fever. Whatever was in her system was getting worse.
Her eyes snapped open.
I barely had time to register the movement before she was rising, her arms wrapping around my neck with surprising strength. Then her mouth was on mine, desperate and hungry, her lips parting with a soft sound that went straight through me.
Shock froze me for half a second. Then instinct took over, and I kissed her back.
Goddess, forgive me. I kissed her back. My hand came up to cup the back of her head, fingers threading through that golden hair, silky to the touch. She tasted like whatever they'd given her—something sweet and chemical—but underneath was just her, warm and alive and pressing against me like I was the only solid thing in the universe.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders, her body arching into mine. The fever made her skin burn where we touched, made her movements frantic and uncoordinated. She made another sound, something between a whimper and a moan, and I felt it in my chest, in my blood.
Wrong. This was wrong. She was drugged, didn't know what she was doing, didn't even know who I was.
I pulled back, breaking the kiss even as every instinct screamed at me to keep going. Her eyes were unfocused, pupils blown wide, her lips swollen and parted. She tried to follow me, tried to pull me back down, but I caught her wrists gently.
"Easy," I said, my voice rough. "Easy. You're safe. You're okay."
She blinked at me, confusion flickering across her face. "Fuck me, please."
Then her eyes rolled back, and she went limp in my arms, unconscious again.
I sat there for a moment, heart pounding, trying to get my breathing under control. My lips still tingled and my hands were shaking.
Fuck!
I pulled out my comm unit and powered it on, waiting for it to sync with the satellite network, praying the compound's surveillance didn't reach this far.
The unit beeped denoting the signal was acquired.
I keyed in Tarrick's emergency frequency and waited.
Five seconds. Ten. Then his voice crackled through. "Cristox?"
"I need extraction," I said, keeping my tone low. "I've got a human female, drugged, needs medical attention. How fast can you get here?"
"Drugged?" Tarrick sounded like he'd been asleep. "With what?"
"No clue." I glanced at her. "But it's powerful. She just kissed me and asked me to fuck her."
For several seconds, only static crackled over the line.
"Is she feverish?" Tarrick asked slowly.
"Yes."
"And she goes in and out of consciousness?"
"Yes." Dread prickled over my pelt. "What?"
