by Presley Hall
“Hi, Willow. It’s nice to meet you. This is Kaide, Ochar, Orin, and Bohrir.” I gesture to the massive Voxeran last, wondering if she’ll be most frightened of him since he was the one who carried her in his arms like a sack of potatoes—even if he did it to rescue her. “I live with these men, along with some other human women who crashed here several months ago. If you come with us, I promise you’ll be safe. No one will hurt you. I give you my word on that.”
She doesn’t respond, just keeps watching me with a wary expression.
I lean a little closer, keeping my movements slow so that I won’t startle her. “I’m going to untie you, okay? I want you to be able to move around freely. If you try to run, we won’t stop you, but I really hope you’ll stay with us. We can protect you. You can come back to the village with us, and it’ll be safe for you there.” I grimace. “I know that probably doesn’t sound as good as going back to wherever you came from on Earth, but it’s really not so bad. It’s grown on me a lot.”
I can’t help shooting a glance at Kaide as I say the last part, and the grin that spreads across his face warms me from the inside out. It’s half the cocky smile I’m used to from him, and half something else—something warm and tender and possessive. It’s clear how much he loves hearing me say that I’ve found a place here with him and the other Voxerans and humans.
Unfortunately, my words seem to have the opposite effect on the girl sitting in front of me. She shrinks back into herself even more, a look of deep pain crossing her face.
Is it because she misses her home that much? Or was her life on Earth somehow even worse than what she’s endured since being captured by the pirates?
Shit. I really am bad at this whole “comforting” thing.
I’m about to lean back to give Willow a little more time before I try to touch her, but then she catches my gaze and nods hesitantly.
“I won’t run,” she whispers.
Relief floods me, and I use my small blade to cut through the binds wrapped around her wrists and ankles. The second the ropes fall away, her gaze darts back and forth, and I can practically see the thought bubbles floating over her head as she debates whether to break her word and try to run.
I bite the inside of my lip, my shoulders tensing as I wait to see what she’ll decide to do. I meant it when I said we wouldn’t chase her if she runs, but I didn’t exactly consult with any of the Voxerans on that. And if she does run, can we really let her go, knowing what dangers lurk out there—both in the city and in the wilderness?
Maybe she decides that out of the several bad options in front of her, we’re the least horrible one, because she clambers to her feet a bit unsteadily but doesn’t try to slip away into the forest.
I let out a soft breath as I stand too, and the men glance around at each other, returning to the other pressing issue at hand.
“Did you find anything else, besides the Terran woman?” Ochar asks Bohrir hopefully.
The towering Voxeran shakes his head, his shoulders slumping a little. “No. The pirates were my last good lead, and once I realized they didn’t have the diamantum, I snatched up the… Willow and ran.”
“It’s all right. We found it,” Kaide says proudly, slipping his pack off his back and setting it on the ground before rummaging inside it. “Not just the diamantum. We tracked down K’Mek, and he’d already finished the communicator. So we got what we came for.”
Ochar, Orin, and Bohrir all perk up immediately as Kaide withdraws the black cube from his pack. But the pride in my own chest pops like a bubble when I get a good look at the thing for the first time since he snatched it up in Hyron’s tower.
“Fuck,” I mutter, turning toward Kaide and running my fingers over one side of the box. “It’s dented. That must’ve happened when K’Mek and I were fighting over it. Do you think it’s broken? That it won’t work?”
He turns the device over in his hands, examining the spot I noticed. His eyes shine as he looks up to catch my gaze. “I’m sure it’s all right. If it’s been damaged, someone in the village will be able to fix it. K’Mek did the hard work for us in creating it, so if it needs a little repair, that should be manageable. And besides, if you hadn’t fought so hard with K’Mek to keep him from running off with it, we wouldn’t have it at all.”
Kaide places his hand over mine where I’m still resting my fingers on the black box, and the suffocating worry in my chest eases a little.
He’s right. We’ve got the communicator, and hopefully, any repairs that might be needed will be small enough for the Voxerans to handle them.
Because the truth is, we can’t go back into Pascia to ask for help. Hyron saw us escaping from his tower, and he doesn’t seem like the type of man who lets things go easily. We may have evaded his guards in all the chaos, but if we re-enter the city, I’m sure he’ll have people waiting for us.
I’m sure he’d like to put our heads on pikes.
Speaking of which…
“We should move out,” Kaide says as if he’s plucked the thoughts directly from my mind. He glances from Ochar to Orin to Bohrir. “I’ll tell you more as we walk, but we had to infiltrate Hyron’s territory to retrieve the communicator, and he wasn’t happy about it. The more distance we put between ourselves and his men, the better.”
The three other Voxerans all nod. Bohrir looks curious and impressed, and Ochar and Orin both look slightly amused, as if they’d expect nothing less from their daring friend.
After putting the cube back into his pack, Kaide hefts it onto his shoulders again, and we set out. The girl Bohrir rescued walks beside us, her flimsy dress clinging to her legs.
Although she seemed a bit wobbly when she first stood up, she’s able to walk just fine, which is a relief. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and although Bohrir can obviously carry her with almost no effort, I’m not sure that would do much to help win her trust.
Even as she walks alongside us, she’s careful to keep space between herself and anyone else, hovering at the edge of our little group. It’s clear as day that she doesn’t really trust any of us—not even me.
Honestly, I can’t blame her.
I have no idea what she’s been through in her life, what kinds of horrors she’s survived, but I’m guessing it’s made her look at everyone and everything with suspicion. I’d be willing to bet that the only person she trusts right now is herself.
I know that feeling well.
A sudden and unexpected rush of emotion floods my chest, and I step closer to Kaide as we walk, reaching out to thread my fingers through his. Our hands fit together perfectly, and he glances down at me as the heat of his palm warms my own, a smile spreading across his face.
It’s such a simple thing, holding the hand of this strong, handsome alien warrior. After everything we’ve been through together, all the danger and passion we’ve shared, it should probably feel like nothing.
But it doesn’t.
It feels like everything.
I spent so much of my life alone and proud to be that way, determined not to rely on anyone but myself. I understand what Willow feels right now because I spent so many years feeling the same way.
But I’m not alone now.
I have a partner.
A friend.
A lover.
A home.
And with Kaide by my side, I always will.
26
Kaide
Our trek back to the village is slower than I would like, but I don’t push my team too hard. We’re all exhausted and still recovering from the minor injuries we received while carrying out our mission in Pascia. Although neither Ochar nor Orin managed to track down the communication device or rescue a stray Terran woman, they each faced plenty of danger as they searched. We’re extraordinarily lucky to have all made it out of the city alive.
Willow, the newest addition to our group, keeps pace with us better than I would’ve expected for such a small, delicate looking thing—although I can’t help but wonder if sh
e pushes herself so hard to keep up because she’s worried Bohrir will pick her up and carry her again if she falls behind.
I notice him shooting worried glances at her from time to time, and I understand his concern. Although she’s made no attempt to flee, even when we’ve stopped to camp in the evenings, she also hasn’t spoken more than a word or two to any of us since Raina got her to tell us her name. She seems lost in her own thoughts much of the time, as if she prefers to disappear into her own mind than to deal with the reality of the world around her.
Anger boils inside me when I think about what she’s likely been through to make her behave this way, but it warms my heart to see Raina treat her with such patience and kindness, doing little things to help her feel protected and safe. My mate told me once that she wasn’t good at this kind of thing—at taking care of others—but even then, I knew she was wrong.
She has so much love inside her, and a warrior’s heart to match.
On the evening before we’re set to reach the village, I sit on the soft grass in our small makeshift camp as the sun goes down. Orin and Ochar are bantering with Bohrir nearby, trading stories of the strange prisoners they encountered in Pascia, and Willow is silently eating the last few bites of her meal, her gaze darting in their direction from time to time. Raina is beside me, her arm softly brushing against mine as she shifts her weight, finding a more comfortable spot on the ground.
Reaching out with one hand, I drag my pack a little closer and dig around inside before pulling out the communication device. The last few rays of sunlight glint off the black metal, highlighting the uneven edges where it was dented on one side.
I haven’t made any attempt to find out whether it’s badly damaged or if it can be fixed. There are other Voxerans in the settlement who are much more skilled than I am in this arena. Although I have a basic understanding of tech, as all Voxerans do, I excelled much more in other subjects during my education.
But just because repairing any damage to the device is beyond my abilities, that doesn’t mean it will be impossible. We’ll find a way.
Raina leans her head on my shoulder as she joins me in gazing down at the small box. Her soft hair tickles my skin, and the easy gesture of intimacy makes warmth bloom in my chest. It hasn’t even been that long, but it’s already difficult to remember what things were like between us before the mate bond settled and solidified—before we both gave ourselves over to it entirely.
I’ll never stop being grateful that she accepted me.
That she chose me.
“Sorry it got banged up,” she murmurs, running her fingertips over the dent in the communicator.
I make a noise in my throat, turning toward her a little to kiss the top of her head. “Never apologize for fighting with every bit of your strength, my kira. I meant what I said before. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have the communicator at all, damaged or no.”
She chuckles softly. “I think maybe you’re giving me a little too much credit. It was a team effort.” She nudges me a little with her arm, her voice warming. “And I’d say we make a pretty good team.”
When she says things like that, I can’t help but kiss her again. Setting the communicator aside, I tilt her chin up with my fingertips so that I can brush my lips against hers. She tastes just as sweet as she did the first time we kissed, and the little sigh that escapes her lips makes my cock twitch, desire burning through me.
She’s so perfect.
So courageous.
So mine.
It rains in the morning on our last day of travel, but even that isn’t enough to slow us down.
Thankfully, it’s nowhere near as bad of a storm as the downpour that forced us to divert our route when we brought the Terran women back to the village from the crash site where their ship went down. The skies clear before midday, and by the time the walls of the settlement come into view, the sun has dried our clothes and hair.
Raina lets out a happy noise beside me, and when I glance around at our small group, Orin and Ochar are grinning widely. Bohrir, like he so often does, has his gaze fixed on Willow, who’s regarding the entrance to the village with an unreadable expression on her face. I hope that being around others of her kind will reassure her and help her emerge from the prison of her own mind a bit, but I know it might take a while.
Strome is the first to catch sight of us as we make our way through the gates, and a broad smile spreads across his face.
“Kaide!” he calls, striding toward me as I step forward to greet him. He claps me on my good shoulder when we meet, his eyes glinting with relief and good humor. “I told Droth that if you didn’t make it back soon, I’d have to go to Pascia myself and save your hide from whatever trouble you’d gotten yourself into.”
I chuckle. “We got ourselves into plenty of trouble, that’s true. But we managed to get out of it all in one piece, thank the gods.”
Raina steps up beside me as we talk, and even though we hardly even touch, something about her posture or mine must tell Strome everything he needs to know. His eyebrows rise a little as his smile widens.
“I see that the two of you have managed to work out your… ah, differences,” he says, smirking. He tilts his head a little as he turns to Raina. “I’m sorry the mate bond couldn’t find you a better match than this bum. Such a terrible fighter. So lazy. So unattractive. And he’s no fun at all.”
She bursts out laughing, and the sound makes everything seem right in the universe. Glancing up at me, she bumps her shoulder against mine, her forest-colored eyes shining. “Yeah, it really is too bad. Still, I think I’ll keep him. He’s kinda grown on me.”
“Ah, yes. He has a way of doing that.” Strome grins, and I can hear in his voice that my friend is happy for me.
Ochar, Orin, Bohrir, and Willow step up to join our little group, and Strome glances at them, his gaze darting to the new Terran woman curiously.
“I can tell you’ll have a lot of stories to share,” he says, shifting his gaze back to me. He falls into step with us as we begin to make our way deeper into the village. “Was your trip successful? Were you able to find someone to build the inter-planetary communication device?”
“Yes.” I nod, thinking of the dented cube in my pack. “Although it may be—”
Before I can finish, several people round the corner up ahead of us. Droth is leading the small group, and the relief on his face when he sees us is almost identical to the expression Strome wore. Charlotte is beside him as usual, and the growing roundness of her belly seems even more pronounced now than it was when we left, even though we weren’t away all that long. Axen, one of Droth’s closest friends and advisors, is on his other side, and his mate Elizabeth strides next to him. Her pregnancy is even more obvious than Charlotte’s—she’s farther along than her friend, and even though the baby isn’t Axen’s, I know he’s looking forward to welcoming it into the world and will love the child with every fiber of his being.
A few other Terrans and Voxerans trail behind the four of them, clearly drawn by the news that the trading party has returned.
“Welcome back,” Droth says, his gaze scanning each of us even as he nods in greeting. I know he’s cataloguing all of our injuries, even though the worst of them have faded by now. My arm is healing well, the dark scar across my skin beginning to fade a little and blend with the other scars I wear from previous battles.
“Thank you, my prince,” I tell him solemnly.
He often reminds us that we don’t need to use that honorific here, but in this moment, it feels important to acknowledge who he is.
We’re closer than we’ve ever been to finding a way off Nuthora and returning to Vox. If we can communicate with our allies back on our home world, perhaps they can send a ship for us. And if fate allows us to step foot on Vox again, we will finally finish what we started.
The man before me will take his rightful place as king.
Before he can ask the question I know everyone is waiting to hear answer
ed, I save him the trouble by slipping my pack off my shoulders and reaching inside it. When I present the small communication device to him, he tilts his chin up as he reaches out to take the cube from me.
“Is that it?” Charlotte murmurs excitedly, leaning a little closer.
“Yes.” Droth nods, gazing at the device with a solemn expression.
“It may be slightly damaged,” I say quickly, wanting to get the bad news out before anyone can let their hopes rise too high. “Retrieving it was… more difficult than we expected. And it would’ve been impossible to return to Pascia to try to find someone to repair it for us. In fact, it may not be wise for anyone from our village to go to Pascia again. Hyron sent his men after us as we fled the city.”
Droth’s gaze jerks up to meet mine, surprise on his face. I quickly tell him the story of what happened to us and the events that led to our flight from Pascia.
He nods, taking in this new information with the practicality I’ve come to expect from him. “I see. If need be, we can send the next trading party to Lumira instead. It’s farther away, but it would be worth it to avoid the danger. And, gods willing, we may never have to trade in another city on Nuthora again.”
“That’s my hope,” I say with a grin.
“We’ll see what can be done to repair the communicator,” he adds, handing the device over to Axen. “Perhaps Rhesk or Vael will be able to do it. I’ll have them both look at it right away.”
“Rhesk will be delighted. He loves tinkering,” Axen puts in dryly, and I chuckle.
He’s not wrong. Although Rhesk is a warrior through and through just like the rest of us, he could happily spend his days hunched over a piece of equipment or technology, taking it apart and putting it back together just to figure out how it works. He’s had fewer opportunities to do that since we arrived on Nuthora, so I’m sure he’ll leap at the challenge of repairing the communicator.
With that piece of business taken care of, Droth turns his gaze toward Willow, curiosity and a bit of concern glinting in his eyes. “And who is this?”
