The word cracked through the room like a whip.
“That’s enough.” Cass’s voice was steel. “Get out, Dr. Reece. Now.”
“This doesn’t concern you, Dr. Winters.”
“Everything concerning my friends concerns me. And right now, you’re concerning me a great deal.” Cass’s hand dropped to her belt, where a small utility knife hung. “I said get out.”
Martin’s eyes flicked between them, calculating. For a moment, Alina thought he might push the issue and force a confrontation that would end badly for everyone. But then something shifted in his expression, and he stepped back, raising his hands in mock surrender.
“Of course. My apologies for the intrusion.” His smile never wavered, never reached his eyes. “We’ll continue this conversation later, Alina. I look forward to it.”
He turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing down the corridor.
Roland scampered in, chirping apologetically before Cass slammed the door shut and engaged the lock. “That man is a menace.”
“I know.” Her legs gave out, and she sank back onto the bunk. Her hands were shaking. “He knows something, Cass. Or suspects something. If he starts digging?—”
“He won’t find anything. We’ll make sure of it.” Cass crouched in front of her, gripping her shoulders. “Listen to me. We’re going to handle this. You’re going to go back to the lab, file your boring report about your boring cave, and then we’re going to figure out how to get your alien boyfriend somewhere safe. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“And if Martin tries anything—anything—you come straight to me. Or to Zach. Between the two of us, we can handle one creepy scientist.”
She nodded, though the cold knot of fear in her chest refused to ease. Martin had always been persistent, but she’d never seen so focused and intense, his usual condescension stripped away to reveal something darker underneath.
He’s obsessed,she realized.Not just with the discovery, but with me. With being the one to uncover whatever I’ve found.
And obsessed people didn’t give up easily.
“Three days,” she murmured.
“What?”
“I promised Rhyx I’d be back within three days. If I’m not?—”
“You will be.” Cass’s grip tightened reassuringly. “Whatever it takes, Alina. We’ll get you back to him.”
She closed her eyes and thought of golden scales and blue eyes and a voice that called her mate like it was the most precious word in any language.
Three days. She could survive three days.
She had to.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The silence gnawed at him like a living thing.
Rhyx crouched at the entrance to the lava tube, his claws digging furrows into the ancient stone as he watched the last traces of dust settle across the Martian landscape. Alina’s scent still lingered in the air—faint now, fading with every passing moment—and some primal part of him howled at the wrongness of letting her go.
Three days.
He had promised. He had given his word, and his word meant something, even if the reasons behind the promise felt increasingly hollow with each breath she moved farther away.
The rover had disappeared over the ridge hours ago. He’d tracked its engine noise until even his enhanced hearing could no longer detect it, until the only sounds were the whisper of settling dust and the slow, geological heartbeat of the mountain beneath him. Now there was nothing. Just emptiness and the weight of his own thoughts.
She is safe, he told himself. She is returning to her people. She will come back.
But the words felt like ash in his mouth.
