“You don’t wanting to tell me?”
“I’d hate for you to lose respect for me,” he winked at her. “I am no better a person than anyone else on this ship, you know. Let a male keep his secrets.”
With that, he vanished in a flash of sparks that trailed down to the floor like rain before popping out of existence. All of it was just a light show. Haven looked from the sparks over to Vytln as he stepped closer and put an arm around her waist.
“Is what he was doing so bad?”
“I don’t think so,” Vytln said, obviously uninterested. “He’s probably a more righteous male than any of the rest of us. At least, I respect what he did. But if he doesn’t want you or the other females to know, that’s his choice.”
“You all are never telling us anything.”
“Because it’s better for you not to know. You know I’ve killed people. That’s enough. You don’t need to be exposed to the details,” he said, directing her forward and out of the room.
“I can handling it.”
“I wasn’t questioning that. I just don’t want to make you do so. If we have our way, none of you will ever be exposed to the things we were.”
Chapter 29
Vytln
To this point, Vytln had respected that Tanin and Sway both wanted to keep their females from hearing the details of their past. He hadn’t really understood. After all, his only experience with females were those from his own family or ones who were similar, like Yl’ln. Yl’ln loved to hear about the details of his cruelties and was excited by watching him perform them.
But Haven didn’t become excited by violence. She always looked a little uncomfortable whenever the topic was brought up. Not outright uneasy like Grace or Goldie, but it was clear that she wasn’t particularly happy about the topic.
Vytln hadn’t cared about discussing their pasts in front of the three females of his crew, and only didn’t because first, he didn’t actually like talking to them, and second because Tanin clearly did not approve of telling them.
But now, he understood why.
He genuinely, legitimately, did not want Haven to know the details of his past. He never wanted that bright smile of hers to dim. That curiosity to blunt. Her fearlessness to fade. She washappy not knowing what he had done, had even come to terms with the broad strokes of it.
That would be enough.
Before they could escape the room, Goldie intercepted them. Garnet’s twin was identical to her, but much softer. Garnet was strong enough to stand beside their captain, but Goldie was not the same type. She was strong in her own way, but she was probably the weakest of his crew. And, at the same time, the most valuable.
Before Goldie learned their medscanner, they relied on Sway’s rather crude methods of healing. All of which were purely physically based, like literally sewing up their skin.
Vytln was grateful that Goldie had learned how to heal them properly. And she was the least naggy of their females. So, he was a bit more tolerant of her.
But he still wished she would move and let him return with Haven to their nest.
She did not, however. Instead, she asked-
“Haven, do you have tomorrow free to start your knowledge imprints?” She asked, smiling at them, pushing back the auburn hair she had left down. “And I think it’s about time I get a proper scan of you. Now that Vytln’s instincts have calmed down a bit.”
He grunted. Not at all apologetic about his desire to keep her in his trap, in her nest. A desire he still had, just one that was a bit better controlled now.
“Yes, I can doing that,” Have beamed, excited. “What is the imprinting like?”
“It’s pretty simple. Ish,” Goldie chuckled. “Basically, I’m just zapping the pattern of knowledge into your head, and you’re going to do just a bit of work to make sure it’s retained. There’s, like, a super small chance of seizures, and a large chance that you’ll pass out during the imprinting process, but it’s a very safe process overall.”
“Yes, yes. But how does the imprinting working?” Haven pressed, beaming.
Goldie looked confused but answered, “Well, neurocognitive mapping is used to create a universal pattern of knowledge and the way it’s stored through electrical patterns in the brain-”
“Huh?” Haven cut her off, and the two just looked at each other. Both confused by the other.
“She’s asking about the technology,” Vytln grunted. “She wants to know about the machine, not the biology.”
