“A word?” Zapharos clapped me on the shoulder.
Both Dravok's and Zapahros' minds were wide open for me to read what they wanted. More information on Naeris.
“What she just told all of us is all I know,” I said out loud. “Had she told me more, I would fill you in, only as far as it didn’t break her confidence in me.”
Dravok studied me for a beat, then nodded. Zapharos did the same, respect flickered in his amber eyes.
“We’ll be on board our ship, waiting,” Zapharos announced after his quick scrutiny. “Hurry up.”
He didn't need to tell me twice. I turned and went after her, knowing she would have gone to where her crewmates' quarters were. I found her in the hallway. Rylan was there—too close—gripping her arm. His voice was low and urgent.
“Stay with us, Commander. Whatever those golden bastards want, we’ll protect you. You don’t have to go with them.”
Naeris laughed in his face. The sound was sharp and dismissive, edged with the same fearless defiance that had undone me from the moment I met her. It should have been like music to my ears. I should have taken satisfaction in her rejection.
Instead, I saw red.
One instant, he was standing there, bold enough to imagine he could shield her from me. The next, his eyes were bulging in shock while his boots kicked uselessly through the air. Without conscious thought, I’d crossed the distance between us in two strides, closed my fist around his throat, and lifted him off the deck as though he weighed nothing.
I slammed him into the nearest wall. Metal groaned, and bone cracked beneath my grip with a deeply satisfying sound. His scream echoed through the corridor.
It wasn't enough. Not remotely enough.
A savage fury surged through me, hot and absolute. I wanted to tear his arms from his body for daring to touch her. Forpresuming he had any right to stand between us. For speaking to her as though she required his protection. As though she was not bound to me by the will of the cosmos itself. As though she were not mine.
The thought hit with the force of a supernova.
Mine.
Not as property.
Not as a conquest.
But as the female written into the very fabric of my soul.
The one being in all creation who could steady the darkness inside me. The one I would burn galaxies to protect. My fingers tightened. His face darkened to a dangerous shade of purple.
A fractured wheeze escaped him as his hands clawed at my wrist.
I leaned in until my face was inches from his, allowing him to see exactly what he had awakened.
“If you touch her again,” I warned in a low and lethal voice, “I will scatter what remains of you across the stars.”
Every instinct I possessed urged me to finish it. To crush his throat. To erase him. Only the faint touch of Naeris’ hand against my arm kept me tethered to reason.
“Thyros!” Her voice cut through the haze.
Dravok and Zapharos were suddenly there, grabbing my arms, pulling me back.
“Easy, brother,” Dravok growled.
I snarled, still straining toward the human who was now slumped on the floor, clutching his broken arm and gasping. Naeris stepped between us, her hand pressed firmly against my chest. The contact grounded me instantly. The golden thread flared hot between us, pulling me back from the edge.
“He’s not worth it,” she said softly, eyes locked on mine. There was no fear in them, no judgment, only understanding, and something warmer that made my chest ache.
I forced my fingers to unclench. The rage ebbed, but it didn’t disappear. It settled into a low, protective burn in my veins. She was mine to protect now. And I would burn worlds to keep her safe.
Our ship hummed softly around me as it cut through the void, heading deeper towards the darkness I called home. Most of the crew had retired for the night. I should have done the same. But restlessness made me get up and go in search ofher. I walked through the dimly lit corridors until I reached the common observation lounge. Naeris was already there.
