Movement at the corner of her eye made her break eye contact.
Ishraam crouched, trying to sneak in from the back.
The Suhlik followed her gaze and spotted the child. It grinned, terrible and beautiful.
Meridan moved before she could think. She darted forward, pushing Ishraam to the ground. She covered his body with hers just as the first blow struck her back. The claws easily tore through her flimsy gown. She needed to scream, to crawl away from the vicious strikes but her arms wrapped around the child tightly, not letting go. He whimpered. She could not give words of comfort. If she opened her mouth, it would be to cry in agony. She had enough presence of mind to press the alert on her wrist comm. A warrior would come to her location. They would protect the child.
Another searing slash of pain blinded her. She curled tighter. If the monster wanted the child, he'd have to go through her first.
That was her last coherent thought before the darkness took her.
***
Strong arms lifted her. "She's lost a lot of blood."
She was beyond the pain, floating in an out of consciousness. She struggled for breath, air rasping in her throat.
"Shit, I think her lung is punctured."
Meridan wanted to ask about Ishraam. Her lips moved but no sound escaped her lips. A breathing mask was pressed against her face. Fresh oxygen flooded her lungs. Or lung.
"Take her to the med bay now. She needs a regen tank."
"No," she struggled to say. "I don't want..." It was very important to communicate something but the thought escaped her and blackness took her again.
***
The harsh white lights stung her eyes. Meridan turned her head and struggled to lift her arm to cover her eyes. Oddly, her limb was just too heavy to lift. Or she was too weak.
Part of her registered that she floated in the cool gel of a regeneration tank. The same part of her could feel every tube inserted into her. The rest of her didn’t care. The low hum of machinery created a soft lullaby and she drifted back into the blackness.
Kalen
The warrior Vox burst into the medical bay, clutching a small, bloody form to his chest. He roared at the medic. “I need help!”
When the klaxons sounded, Kalen reluctantly parted from Meridan and reported to medical and began preparations for when the wounded arrived. He understood emergency field medicine. He understood how to deal with warriors high on battle lust and blinded by pain, or blind to the pain. He was useful here.
Kalen waved the warrior to an exam table. The human female was badly injured, covered in lacerations. Blood bubbled at her lips, signs of a lung injury. “What happened?”
Then he recognized the gown. Soaked in blood, little remained of the original night-sky color.
Meridan.
His heart thumped in his chest. This was unacceptable. Everything about this situation was unacceptable.
“Suhlik attacked her.”
Kalen moved fast. The preliminary scan indicated that she’d lost too much blood. Her lung was punctured. The mask helped her breath but it was not an acceptable solution. Fractured ribs. Fractured collarbone. Too many of her precious bones were broken and the list of destruction kept mounting. It was too much. Her simple, fragile human body was too injured. She would die if he could not repair her soon.
Calm descended on Kalen. He breathed in, counted to five. There was a solution. There was always a solution. He was just too panicked to see it.
He breathed out.
“The regen tank,” he said.
“Sir,” a nurse said, alarm on her face. “That’s not cleared for human treatment.”
Kalen growled in frustration. Terrans and their rules. “She will die without it.”
He scooped her limp form off the table and carried her to a waiting tank. She sank into the gel interior. With skilled hands he attached the necessary components. Blood was replaced. Medication was administered to cease internal bleeding. Intubation was completed. Finally, she submerged completely in the gel. He closed the chamber. There was nothing left to do but wait.
***
Kalen paced the length of the medical bay. The first hours after the attack were filled with activity: warriors to repair and their mates to mend. Some Terrans were injured in the missile strikes but the majority had been protected in the shelters. The Suhlik breached the dome in the civilian school. The missiles had been a distraction. The Suhlik wanted to capture Mahdfel children. They failed.
Kalen took pride in knowing that Meridan had sacrificed her own safety and wellbeing to protect a Mahdfel child. She was good and kind in that way. He was endlessly frustrated by her same actions. How could she be so thoughtless for her own well being?
Kalen found it harder to occupy himself in the days following the attack. After the initial wave of injuries, his services were no longer needed. Leaving the SCLB seemed premature. He went back to the perinatal and pediatric clinic and waited, finding it oppressively empty without Nurse Vargas.
He worried about her. Kalen frowned, rubbing at his chest. He had no reason to worry. She was exempt. She was not his mate, or any warrior’s mate. He would return to the Judgment soon and that would be the end of their relationship.
Still, he roamed the medical bay and his journey always took him back to Meridan’s regen tank.
The other Nurse Vargas, the one with blonde hair, approached, a tablet clutched to her chest. “Can’t stay away? Me neither.”
Kalen huffed but said nothing.
“It’s her birthday today.”
Perhaps that is why he waited. Her birthday was a chance to be tested, to discover if she was his mate after all.
“How long do you think she’ll sleep?”
“As long as necessary.” He gave the nurse a cursory glance. Daisy was much like her sister, more fair in complexion, perhaps, but the same height and build. Their relation was obvious. He did not find her attractive at all. Curious.
His eyes drifted back to the tank. The gel was a cool, pale green. Her dark hair fanned out, suspended. Completely naked, he could see the physical progress of the repairs. Her skin was smooth. Only pale marks from the claw laceration remained. It would be wrong to appreciate the pleasing plumpness of her breasts or the curve of her hips, or marvel at the patch of hair at the apex of her thighs. Especially in front of her sister. He was a professional, after all. His concern was purely clinical, even if his eyes kept drifting to the way her chest rose and fell with each breath.
“I guess you got what you wanted,” Daisy said.
“This is not what I wanted.” Not like this. Not at such great risk to her.
“I know you authorized the test.”
“On my honor, I did not.” He did not have to explain himself to this Terran female, even if she was Meridan’s sister.
“Will she be all right?”
“I would move every star in the sky to make it so.”
Chapter Nine
Meridan
She swam slowly toward consciousness. Voices drifted in. I guess you got what you wanted. This is not what I wanted. And she drifted away again.
***
Her first thought was that she was cold. The second was that she was covered in goo. Head to toe, goo. The goo evaporated quickly in the air, making her colder. Meridan struggled to open her eyes but they felt too darn heavy. Staying asleep seemed like such a better idea.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” a familiar voice said.
“Daisy,” Meridan started to say, voice dry and raspy. Her mouth was beyond dry. Parched. Cracked and shriveled from a lack of moisture, her lips ached and her tongue laid thick and useless in her mouth.
A cold, wet ice chip was pushed between her lips. Meridan accepted it gratefully. The chip melted almost immediately. She opened her mouth for another chip.
“You work on that and I’ll get you clean.” A chemical smelling cloth was applied to her neck and shoulders. The cloth dissolved away the goo, leaving a clean but ar
tificial feeling film on her skin. What she needed was a proper shower with hot water and soap.
Meridan was able to open her eyes finally, observing her sister’s work. Daisy did not look well. Drawn and with heavy circles under her eyes, she looked like she’d gotten zero rest while Meridan was… well, while she suffered from whatever had happened to her. Images came back. The Suhlik attack. Meridan shielding a child with her own body.
Daisy pressed a straw to Meridan’s lips. “Drink, just a little. Can you hold the cup?”
Meridan nodded. Reclined in the bed, the bottom of the cup rested on top of her chest. She tilted it up. Cool water flooded her mouth, which was amazing, but swallowing felt like knives going down her throat.
“It’s not fun, I know. Take another sip.”
The second swallow was less painful but still not fun. No part of this was fun. Meridan took careful sips while her sister cleaned her of the goo. Finally satisfied, Daisy covered her with a fresh sheet.
“What happened?”
“You had to be a hero, that’s what happened,” Daisy said. “You were pretty badly off, so Medic Kalen put you in a regen tank. He wasn’t sure it would work on a human. Lucky for you it did.”
“How long?” She knew of the regen tanks but had never had any practical experience with them. The tanks were tech reserved for the Mahdfel warriors and only the most seriously injured ones.
“Two weeks.”
Meridan leaned back into the bed. Two weeks. The idea seemed incomprehensible. Floating in a vat of green goo for two weeks. “That explains the goo,” she said.
Daisy smiled, relief on her face. “So it worked. Like, really, really well.”
“What are you talking about?”
Daisy glanced at the door. “You had a birthday while you were in the tank.”
“So did you.”
“They tested you.”
Weird. There was no reason to test her. She had a medical exemption that would never change.
“I didn’t authorize it,” Daisy said. “I’m your family and I said no but those bastards did it anyway. No one will fess up on who gave the authorization.”
Daisy glanced at the door again. “I have news.”
If it was the news Meridan suspected, Daisy did not look happy, which was odd. Meridan expected Daisy to be over the moon if she was matched.
A large figure darkened the door. The light in the room seemed to dim, to be absorbed by his bulky form. A warrior approached the bed. Meridan blinked; sure her eyes were screwing with her. The warrior was dark, too dark, like the light avoided him. His horns curled aggressively from his forehead. He was a demon, pure and simple.
The demon strode across the room and rested a possessive hand on Daisy’s shoulder. She flinched away from his touch and looked down at the floor. “I was matched,” she said. “To Mylomon.”
“Oh my stars, that’s—” Everything Daisy ever wanted but her sister did not seem radiantly happy. “Are you okay?”
Daisy picked up Meridan’s hand and squeezed. “Yes. It just takes some getting used to.”
“Now that your sister is awake, we will return to my ship,” he said, his voice a sinister rumble.
“Not yet,” Daisy snapped. “She just woke up. I haven’t even told her the biggest news.”
Daisy appeared unhappy with her match but she was still her feisty self. Good. The thought pleased Meridan.
“Bigger news than your match?”
“You’re matched,” Daisy said. She gave her hand a little squeeze.
“Your match what?”
“You’re matched,” she repeated.
Meridan stared at her sister, expecting an explanation.
Daisy sighed. “The regen tank fixed everything wrong with you,” she said like she was explaining it to a child. “You had some broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and your liver was about to give up the ghost. It worked really well.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Really, really well.”
Meridan shook her head slightly. Daisy made no sense.
“The tank fixed everything that was wrong, including the little stuff and the old stuff.” She removed the sheet, exposing Meridan’s shoulder.
She looked down at the smooth, unblemished skin. Her scar was gone. Her hands fluttered to her chest, searching for the familiar scar, for the pucker of flesh. Nothing.
Oh no.
If old injuries like the scar were repaired, then everything in her body was repaired.
Daisy nodded, as if sensing Meridan’s panicked thoughts. “You’re not infertile anymore. You were matched.”
Oh no. Just, no.
“But I can’t be. I’m too old.”
“Thirty-two is not too old.”
“But…” Her lovely little loophole was closed.
Daisy gave a fragile smile. “It even took away your freckles.”
“My freckles,” Meridan said, unbelieving. “I liked my freckles.” A ragged laugh tore its way from Meridan’s throat but it turned into a sob.
“Who?” she finally asked.
Daisy glanced at the door, biting her lower lip.
“Who!”
A figure entered. Meridan recognized his profile immediately, from the silhouette of his horns against the light, the shape of his shoulders and the crisp white coat.
Kalen Halse.
No. Absolutely no way.
“You’re wrong,” Meridan said.
“The results were conclusive, Nurse Vargas. We are a ninety-nine point eight percent match,” Kalen said.
“Well the results were wrong,” she shot back.
“We are matched,” he said, voice firm. “You are my mate. When I am convinced you have recovered, we will return to my clan.”
His words washed over her but she didn’t really take them in. She was matched. Her loophole was closed and now she could have children. The alien tech had fixed all her little flaws, down to the freckles.
Then a terrible thought struck her. “My calluses!” She bent down to tear off the hospital issued slipper sock.
The sole of her foot was smooth and pink, without a single blemish or callus. The skin at her heels were smooth. The normally thick pad of skin under the big toe was absent.
“The tank repaired your skin,” Kalen said blandly, oblivious to her concern.
“Oh no you didn’t,” Daisy murmured, stepping back from the bed.
Well, this was complete garbage.
“I earned those!” Rage bubbled inside of her. Hours spent on her feet, hundreds of miles of hospital corridors walked, so many shoes worn out and now she had to start over.
She could tolerate losing the freckles and her scar. She didn’t like it but she could tolerate it. Those were lingering effects of damage. Even repairing her little loophole was understandable, even if it meant she was matched. She refused to consider being matched to the alien doctor but it was there in her mind and she didn’t hate it completely. But her calluses… Countless hours of her hard work created those. The regeneration tank removed that part of her identity, her profession, and now that she was matched she would be expected to pump out little alien spawn and not continue to work, and for him.
Kalen.
He did this to her. He closed her loophole. He erased her scars and blemishes and now he would erase her career.
Oh hell no.
“Put them back,” Meridan demanded, jabbing a finger into Kalen’s chest. He felt like steel, his flesh didn’t budge.
“Put what back?”
“My calluses! Haven’t you been paying attention, husband?” She laced the word with as much venom as possible.
“Are your feet defective? The skin is repaired and scans show no internal injury.”
“I want my calluses back. I need them. They make my job easier, you know, because I'm on my feet all day?”
Kalen gave a helpless look to Mylomon, who only shook his head.
Daisy spoke up. “Do you not know what a callus i
s?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Maybe your heal factor repairs the skin every day so the skin never hardens and thickens?” Daisy mused.
Baloney. Kalen just wanted his human female to be flawless, like some sort of pet or object, and Meridan wanted no part of it. “Show me your feet,” she said.
“What?” Kalen looked at her mystified. “Is this part of the Terran mating ritual?”
“No!” Daisy and Meridan exclaimed at the same time.
“I’m angry and irrational and just woke up to a hell of a shock. So entertain my whims and show me your baby smooth feet, husband,” Meridan said.
Kalen grumbled about Terrans but bent to removed his boots and socks. With a huff he sat on the edge the bed and lifted a foot for her inspection.
The skin was pale lavender but perfectly soft. She ran a finger along the underside of the arch, causing him to shiver. With a snort, she pushed the foot away.
“Satisfied?” he asked, shoving his foot back into the boot.
“Yes, you have amazingly flawless feet,” she said bitterly. “Humans don’t. That machine of yours took away my flaws. I liked my flaws.”
“I appreciated your freckles, also, but the benefits from the tank outweigh the imprecise nature of its restorative powers.”
“It saved your life,” Daisy added.
Meridan tried to focus on what her sister said, the machine saved her life, and not on how she thrilled when Kalen said he appreciated her freckles. “This is unbelievable,” she muttered.
Daisy nodded. “There’s a lot to take in.”
“No, I mean it’s unbelievable. I do not believe it. Or him.” She pointed again to the alien medic. “You expect me to just swallow this story that I was asleep for two weeks and matched… to him. No. No way. Test me again.”
“There was no error in the test,” Kalen huffed.
“Test. Me. Again.”
Kalen: Warlord Brides (Warriors of Sangrin Book 2) Page 6
