Rythar barks one word over my head. Drenz steps in, wand already lit. Rythar’s arms cage me while Drenz sweeps the beam from head to toe. I shut my eyes while they check every way that Xytheos might have already broken me. The wand chirps, and Drenz says something short. I open my eyes, and Drenz has backed away. It’s clear that I don’t need any treatment.
"I could have told you," I mutter. "It's just adrenaline. I’m fine." I try to duck between the arms caging me, but Rythar’s arms quickly tighten.
Rythar gathers me in, closer than before, one hand cupping the back of my head, and rests his mouth against my hair. I breathe, fighting everything that’s going on inside me, but my body realizes the danger is over. That’s when the shaking takes over. It’s the crash. I know the mechanics—adrenaline dumps, and once the shakes start, they have to play out.
He murmurs something in Xythean, the words rumbling through his chest into mine. I can't understand any of it, but the tone needs no translator. My body, shaking traitor that it is, goes looking for shelter. My face finds the curve of his neck. My fingers curl against him. Slowly, the shaking fades, one muscle at a time. Once it stops, Rythar stands with me in his arms.
“Are we going to Sophia?” I demand.
“No,” Rythar grunts.
“Then where?” I ask. My voice cracks. I can’t help Sophia. I’m stuck in the arms of my newmate.
Rythar’s burning eyes flash down at me as he strides forward. “Home,” he says.
Whatever he means by “home,” it isn’t mine.
The vines slide aside before we reach them. He isn’t pretending to follow a path any longer. The thick branches and thorns should make the jungle impassable, but the world bends out of his way.
I try to keep my head up, but I’m dizzy. The adrenaline that burned through me is replaced with a deep exhaustion. I become aware of the points where our bodies touch. The press of his hand over my ribs, the crook of my knees over his forearm, and the raw heat radiating from him.
I’m being carried by an alien who controls the very jungle we walk through. To a home he expects me to share with him. As bad as I have it, I’m afraid Sophia has it worse.
She told me to play weak. Right now, I don’t have to play. My body has already surrendered.
The rest of me hasn’t.
CHAPTER 11
INSUBORDINATION
ELENA – THE GREEN REACH
After what feelslike a couple of miles, the light changes as the trees thin. We break through the last wall of foliage and the world opens into a large clearing.
At the far end, Rythar’s fortress rises from the jungle. It’s built into the side of a mountain. High stone walls, covered in green vines. I’ve seen what Rythar can do with those. The gates are wide. The guards see us coming and bow their heads, avoiding my eyes.
It’s only when we pass through the gates that I feel the shield, an invisible wall that runs static across my skin.
Beyond the gate, a figure stands in the threshold of the fortress. He’s a technician, I think, armored in white polymer and carrying a shiny case.
Without a word, he approaches us. He doesn’t flinch at the sight of me in Rythar’s arms. Instead, he holds up the case and bows his head.
Rythar sets me down, finally. My legs almost give, but his hand steadies me.
He speaks to the technician in his language. The technician frowns, grabs a device from the case, then runs it over Rythar’s right ear.
I look up at Rythar, who is watching me, not the technician. Rythar doesn’t take his eyes off me. The technician finishes, clicking his device back into his case. He steps away, bowing his head again.
Rythar speaks to me. "You are mine now. You will live in the Green Reach with me. You will live."
The technician fixed his translator. I almost miss the broken words. He says the last part like he’s giving an order, but it’s directed at something beyond me. At the universe that sent me to him. At death itself, maybe.
Rythar steps closer again, and my body tenses for another confrontation. Instead, he lowers his head to mine.
“You do not know this place,” he murmurs. “But it will know you.”
Rythar gestures for me to walk first.
