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Hunter drew himself toward the hatch, planted a small explosive, and clung to the clamps as it detonated, blasting through the control panel and allowing him to lever open the hatch.

He pulled himself into the ship, detached the magnetic clamps, and took a few seconds to get his bearings. Other than the whir of the ship’s engine, there was nothing to be heard.

Hunter pulled off his helmet and marched toward the cockpit. As he drew near, he tensed as the sounds of a fight reached him.

He slung the helmet to the side and pulled off his gloves as he raced toward the cockpit. He threw himself through the door and terror ripped through him. Cleo’s face was bloody, and she was pinned against the ship’s console as a huge Siblet raised his weapon over her head.

He charged, grabbed the Siblet by the neck, and twisted it until it broke.

Cleo let out a shaky sob and dropped to her knees.

Hunter slung the Siblet to the side, caught Cleo in his arms, and held her against his chest.

***

Cleo clung to Hunter, her head pounding and her vision blurry from where the Siblet had punched her. Her gaze cut to the body on the floor. If Hunter hadn’t gotten to her, she’d be dead.

“Sit down,” Hunter said. “I need to treat your injuries.”

She staggered to a seat and slumped into it. “How did you get here? Where’s the other ship?”

“The other ship is fine. It’s on autopilot, heading back to the Apocalypse.” Hunter’s voice was growly with anger. He gestured at the space suit. “And I flew here.”

“You... flew?” Cleo winced as he examined her damaged hand.

“Yep. It looks like you got in a few good shots. This knuckle is broken.”

She nodded. “I wasn’t going down without a fight. I... I still can’t believe you did a ship-to-ship space hop. That was risky.”

“It was the quickest way to get to you.” Hunter touched her face, and the look in his eyes made her heart stutter. “If anything happened to you...”

“I’m okay. And this was my fault. I didn’t check the ship properly once I got on board. I just wanted to get away as quickly as possible. And it seemed empty. He took me by surprise.”

“This isn’t your fault. I should have been looking out for you better. I should never have agreed to this.”

“Hunter! I knew what I was doing. And I ordered you to distract the Siblet. I messed up.”

He shook his head. “Never. You did the right thing. You always do.”

Cleo wrapped an arm around her bruised ribs. “It doesn’t feel like it now.”

“You’ll be fine. Take some of my energy to speed up your healing.”

She pursed her lips, reluctant to get any closer to Hunter. She’d only ever had an energy transfer from him once when she’d broken her arm after getting kicked by a wild Celak mule. The transfer had changed things between them. It had made her desire him even more than she already did. If she got another hit of his energy, she’d only end up crawling all over him and begging for sex, and she wasn’t going through that humiliation again.

“I’ll let Angel take care of me when we’re back on the Apocalypse. None of my injuries are life threatening.”

“No, that’s not the deal. You have me around for several important reasons. One of those reasons is to make sure you heal quickly from injuries.” Hunter’s intense gaze pinned her to the seat. “Just take a small amount. It won’t overwhelm you. I know you don’t like the way it makes you feel about me.”

She nodded slightly, and sank back in the seat, too tired to protest now the adrenaline was leaving her system, leaving her a shaking, sweaty mess.

Hunter made a small cut on their palms before joining their hands. The energy exchange was instantaneous, flooding Cleo with a warm pulse that licked through her stomach and down to her core.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as Hunter’s healing energy filled her. The headache eased and the bruising around her ribs stopped throbbing. Apexian energy was magic.

“How do you feel?” Hunter’s voice held less anger as he continued to grip her hand.

“Physically, better. But I’m such an idiot. I should never have done that. I should have listened to you. This was an observation mission. I knew that, but... I thought I had something to prove.”