by Layla Nash
Frrar scowled at her for a long moment, clearly ready to drag her off to their quarters for a repeat of the previous day’s sweaty workout session, then heaved an irritated sigh and went to stand over his brother. “So you’re dying.”
Maisy smacked her forehead because she was too far away to smack him. Insensitive jerk. The least he could do was pretend to care.
But Faros grunted. “Apparently. You win.”
The silence stretched until Maisy shouldered her way into the conversation, exasperated beyond measure. “Okay. Since you two have the emotional sense of a couple of... of... haugmawt, I’ll do this for you. Frrar, Faros didn’t know that Saeva shouldn’t get pregnant. He didn’t mean for it to happen and she didn’t tell him even when she got pregnant. She knew the risks; she could have told him and she could have done something to save her own life, but she didn’t. Maybe she wanted that child enough to risk herself.”
Frrar growled just a touch as she started talking, though it faded by the time she finished. But still they said nothing. Maisy squeezed Frrar’s hand and barreled on, reaching for Faros’s hand as well. “And Faros. Tell him what you need him to know. What you’d want to know if you were in his shoes.”
The injured Xaravian groaned as he held his side, and for a moment Maisy feared he might expire right then. But instead Faros took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. “She came to me in tears because she’d ended your relationship, but she didn’t tell me why. We had…a night together. When she fell pregnant, I offered to step aside. I told her you would shine brighter than the suns to have that life with her, but she said…she said that it would be my son and that a son needed to know his father.”
Frrar’s hand tightened on hers until her bones ached, but Maisy didn’t dare move or speak.
Faros gritted his teeth and forced the words out. “I would have been proud to see my son raised as yours, Frrar.”
Maisy couldn’t help it; the tears broke free and she gnawed on her lower lip to keep from bawling.
Frrar still remained silent.
His brother took a pained breath and his heels dug into the bed as his back arched and he struggled to lie flat. Sweat broke out on his scales, making them shine, and their color faded to a dull imitation of blue and green. “Every youngling is precious. When I—when whatever happens, happens—look after my boy as if he were your own, Frrar. I want him to know an honorable, proud warrior as a father.”
“He’s already got one, you sandsnake,” Frrar growled. “Get your shit together and stop faking this dying nonsense. You could have told me this years ago.”
“You already hated me,” Faros said. “I didn’t want you to hate Saeva or tarnish her memories with how you would view her choices. It was my choice to take the blame. Swear to me, on the suns of Xarav, that you’ll care for my boy.”
Maisy leaned against Frrar’s side, willing him to do the right thing, to give his brother comfort in what might be his last moments. He finally cleared his throat and reached for his brother’s hand with his free one, though Frrar didn’t ease his grip on her for a moment. “If you give up, then yes. My mate and I will raise your boy into a strong warrior, a good man.”
It wasn’t the time to get into semantics, though Maisy’s heart jumped to hear Frrar call her his mate.
Faros nodded and closed his eyes, still gripping his brother’s hand. The pirate captain clenched his jaw until the muscles stood out in his neck and forehead. Maisy wiped her cheeks and untangled herself from Frrar’s embrace so she could get more healing support packs. He would be fine. He had to be fine.
Frrar reached for her and gently tried to pull her away as she struggled to place more equipment around his brother. “Maisy, it’s—”
“I’m not just going to let him die,” she snapped, and fixed him with her fiercest, though tearstained, glare. “So get out of my way.”
He hesitated, like he would try to stop her, then stepped aside so Maisy could put every possible device she could find on the dying Xaravian. After all they’d been through, she needed Faros to live. His son needed him to live. He wasn’t a bad guy, he’d just gone a little crazy with the need to save his child. She couldn’t entirely understand, but someday she knew she might, just like he’d told her. She wiped away more tears and turned the settings on the packs up past every recommended dosage and power level. He had to survive.
Chapter 36
Frrar
Frrar’s hearts ached as he watched Maisy struggle to save Faros even when it became clear his brother had made his peace with the universe and prepared to meet his end with some kind of dignity. He wanted to take her away so she wouldn’t witness it, but he didn’t want to miss his brother’s last breath—and not for all the reasons he once thought he would.
He wished they had more time and that it hadn’t taken dying to get his brother to confess the truth of what happened so many years earlier. It didn’t make Frrar regret the choices Saeva made, though he might not have understood at the time. He still loved her—he’d always love her. But that didn’t mean he had to hate his brother. He’d still kick Faros’s ass for lying and having a fling with his girlfriend only a few days after she broke up with Frrar, but that could wait until Faros was back to full strength.
If he got back to full strength.
Frrar reached for Maisy as she got more packs from the storage closet, her movements frantic, and pulled her against his chest so he could murmur in her hair. “I’ll watch him. Go check on Faryl and make sure he’s still doing well.”
She leaned into him and Frrar closed his eyes. He was the luckiest warrior in the entire universe that she sought shelter in his arms. She relied on him for strength and he wanted nothing more than to give her that strength, to provide her a safe place to rest and recover. He’d make her the finest tent and nest and bed, the most comfortable robes, anything and everything she wanted. He would give her the world, the suns, and stars.
Maisy abruptly pulled away and hurried over to Faryl, pasting a fake smile on her face and using a chipper, cheerful voice that the boy couldn’t understand anyway. “Hi there, peanut. How are you doing? Are you feeling better?”
The little boy looked at where his father lay, so Frrar moved carefully to block his view. He didn’t want the young one to witness his father’s death. It would be difficult enough to explain later that Frrar shot him and was responsible for him dying. Faryl didn’t need the memory of Faros expiring. Frrar watched his brother so he would know when Faros left; he would offer the appropriate prayers and begin the ceremony to witness another warrior’s passing. He folded his arms over his chest after retrieving the dagger from Faros’s side. “If you are ready, brother, I am ready.”
Faros nodded and slowly relaxed.
Maisy started crying, her hiccups audible, and her voice broke as she tried to keep up the saccharine sweet murmurs to Faryl.
The ship bumped and jolted, then stopped. Frrar steadied himself on the bed and waited for the inevitable.
When it came, he wasn’t prepared. The doors to the sick bay were forced open once more and a horde of rebel security officers filled the room. They didn’t hesitate to push him out of the way so they could seize the bed where Faros lay. Maisy launched at the security officers. “You can’t…stop that! He’s ill, you shouldn’t move him anywhere. How dare…stop that.”
Frrar grabbed her around the middle to drag her out of harm’s way, as the security officers wouldn’t hesitate to arrest her, too. She fought like a haugmawt, clawing at his arms and shrieking at the security officers until even the impassive aliens looked back with some concern. At least Frrar wasn’t the only one impressed with the Earther’s fierceness and commitment to her patients.
But he couldn’t risk another male putting his hands on her, nor having her end up in a rebel prison where he couldn’t protect her. He held her against his chest until her feet dangled above the floor, and murmured in her ear, “You’ve done what you could. If this is his fate, then
let him meet it with dignity. We need to look after his son now.”
She shook her head, sobs breaking free, and tried to kick a passing security officer. “They’re beasts. They can’t just take him away. They can’t just—”
Frrar turned away so she wouldn’t see as the security officers dumped Faros unceremoniously on a hover stretcher and dragged him away. She cried harder and his hearts broke for her. He held her tighter and tried to get her to focus on Faryl as the little guy’s eyes widened with fear and concern as his father was taken. Frrar walked her closer to the stretcher where Faryl waited. “Let’s make sure Faryl is still doing well. Focus on him, Maisy. We’ll work out the rest of what’s going on in a moment. We can’t deal with the rebels just yet.”
If she asked him, he would have charged after the security officers and tried to free his brother. If she’d asked. But he knew she wouldn’t. Maisy started to go limp, but the moment Faryl held his arms out to her, wanting to be picked up, she snapped into a protective doctor role. Or a protective mother role—he didn’t let himself hope that she already felt that maternal, but it was a thing of beauty either way. Maisy wiped her cheeks and picked up the child, cuddling him to her shoulder. “There we go, baby. Are you feeling better?”
Frrar translated for them, keeping his voice calm and steady, and eventually guided Maisy to a comfortable chair so she could sit and hold Faryl in her lap. She still cried every now and then, the tears dropping steadily down her cheeks, until Faryl carefully touched the moisture with the tips of his fingers. Maisy smiled at him and murmured something else that Frrar missed.
He finally started to relax as Maisy did, all of her focus on Faryl, and he began to consider whether to recall the crew so he could figure out what to do with them and how much he could protect them from being detained by the rebels. Before he could decide, more figures filled the corridor outside sick bay and voices intruded in the quiet peace they’d managed to establish around Faryl.
Frrar tensed, ready to do battle to protect Maisy and the youngling, but relaxed when he saw Isla, Griggs, and Jess shove their way through the broken doors. He was less excited to see Vaant and Vrix as they started to follow, but they stopped when they heard his growl and saw Maisy and the child seated next to him. The Xaravians retreated, calling that they would deal with the crew, and left the Earthers to rush in to check on Maisy.
She looked too exhausted to deal with more bullshit pestering from her friends, but Maisy surprised him once more. Without moving from her chair, she started issuing orders. “Isla, get me the blue pack from the bag on the floor next to the stretcher.”
“Honey, we need to get back to the Galaxos before—”
“I’m not moving Faryl,” Maisy said firmly. “And this sick bay is more advanced than the Galaxos. The crew here is fine, they won’t bother us.”
Griggs shook her head. “The rebel security officers are going to seize the ship, they have to—”
“Nonsense,” Maisy said. She didn’t blink or even hesitate. “They can offload the cargo, but this isn’t Faros’s ship anymore. Frrar took command and it’s his ship. The crew were following orders. The rebels already have Faros in custody; he’s the one they wanted. Make sure they know that.”
Griggs blinked, sharing a look with the other two Earthers, then reached for Maisy’s arm. “They’re not interested in hearing that, Maisy. We have to—”
Maisy’s voice sharpened enough that Frrar didn’t even consider siding with her friends; he didn’t want to end up on the doctor’s bad side. “We have to save this child’s life. You’re the security officer, Cici. Go talk to them and explain the situation. We brought them the weapons at great peril to ourselves, and the crew assisted in that mission. We prevented Faros from giving those weapons to the Alliance, so the rebels should damn well thank us for what we did. They’re not seizing this ship and I’m not leaving this sick bay. Understood?”
He had to cough and look away, covering his mouth with his hand to keep from laughing out loud at the Earthers’ expressions. Jess grinned and folded her arms over her chest as she watched Isla and Griggs stare at Maisy and search for words.
Isla tried again. “Maisy, you’ve been through a lot in the past week, and you really need to—”
“If you’re not going to be helpful, you should go back to the Galaxos.” Maisy frowned at her friend, then glanced at Frrar. “Can you get the blue pack out of my bag?”
He nodded, still too amused at his Earther’s change of tone and attitude to resist being an errand boy, and retrieved the whole bag for Maisy before digging around for the blue pack. She smiled her thanks and carefully settled the blue pack on Faryl’s back as the boy burrowed his face into her neck and grumbled in his sleep. Frrar’s hearts swelled and he gazed at them both with a kind of bemused joy. He’d never expected to feel so... complete.
He didn’t even mind that Jess grinned and punched his shoulder. “You old softie. Look at you, turnin’ all purple.”
Frrar eyed her sideways and tilted his head at the door. “Maybe you should get these troublemakers out of here before they get Maisy riled up.”
Which just made Maisy watch him through narrowed eyes, as if she expected him to side with the other Earthers. Jess folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter as Griggs and Isla spluttered and searched for a response. The relaxed Earther just shrugged and watched the chaos unfold with an unrestrained amusement. “Nah. I’m just here to help Maisy with whatever she needs.”
“Where’s your mate?” Frrar asked. “Get Vaant and Vrix back in here to keep their mates out of trouble.”
Which just earned him glares from all three of the other Earthers. Frrar couldn’t hide his smile and squeezed Maisy’s shoulder. “We’re not leaving the Sraibur. If you want to help, then stay. If you’re trying to convince Maisy to do something she doesn’t want to do, you should leave. Immediately.”
“You’re not going to tell me what to do,” Isla snapped. “You don’t know what Maisy should do. You don’t—”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore,” Maisy said. She managed to remain calm and keep her voice low, no doubt so she wouldn’t disturb Faryl. “I’m done with taking orders. I’m the doctor on the Sraibur, and—my mate is the captain. So we’re just fine staying here until we sort out where this ship is going with the rebels.”
Jess grinned even more. “Congratulations, Maisy. You want me to watch the kiddo while you guys go—take care of business?”
Frrar was really starting to like Trazzak’s mate. But Maisy wasn’t nearly as amused. “You’re killing me, Jess. Can you please get serious and find some kind of food? I’m starving and I’m obviously not getting up anytime soon. And this guy,” she jerked her thumb in Frrar’s direction, “won’t be letting me go anywhere, anyway.”
Jess pulled a protein supplement from her pocket and tossed it to Maisy, who managed to catch it out of the air with her free hand. “There you go, babe. You’d better get your mate in line before he starts believing he’s in charge.”
Maisy sighed, then ripped the package open with her teeth. “I know.”
Frrar’s eyes narrowed as he looked between the two women. What the hell did they mean, start believing he was in charge? Of course he was in charge.
“This is nuts,” Griggs said. She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. “Maisy, we need to get out of here. The Alliance might be tracking us, and the rebels are definitely pissed at the entire Sraibur crew and everyone who violated the neutrality agreement at the hospital. It is dangerous for us to stay here. Bring the kid with you.”
Frrar tensed at the Earther’s tone. Vrix’s mate generally made demands instead of asking questions, and her brazen, pushy attitude didn’t sit well with Frrar when it was directed at Maisy. He wasn’t going to let her push Maisy around.
Jess glanced at him and cleared her throat. “Okay, you two. Enough. Let’s get moving. We can fetch Mrax and see if he knows more about Xaravi
an kiddos and fixing them up. And we can dig up better grub for Maisy, too.”
When the two Earthers began to object, Jess not-so-gently gripped their shoulders and hauled them toward the door with a few muttered words. Frrar finally exhaled when the Earthers disappeared into the corridor, and sank to sit next to Maisy once more. She squeezed her eyes shut and held Faryl tighter, and as he watched, a few tears collected on her eyelashes. Frrar leaned over so he could kiss her forehead. “Rest. I’ll keep watch. Just sleep. Everything will be okay.”
She reached for his hand and twined her fingers through his. A moment later, her face relaxed and she slept. Frrar leaned back and kept half of his attention on the door and the rest on Maisy and Faryl. He’d never been so happy in his entire life, even with the distant ache of losing his brother just as he wanted to know him again.
Chapter 37
Maisy
Maisy woke later as Frrar lifted Faryl and handed him over to Mrax so the Xaravian doctor could care for the little boy. Then Frrar gathered her up in his arms and carried her through the ship to the larger quarters he’d found for them on the ship. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. She’d never imagined the emotional rollercoaster of the previous few days—discovering how much she could love Faryl, thinking Frrar was dead and planning to take revenge against his brother, fighting to save both their lives…
She definitely wanted a nice, quiet tour next time. Even with Frrar by her side to protect her, she still didn’t want to go searching for adventure.
Frrar put her on the bed and then leaned over her to kiss her deeply, his knee indenting the mattress between hers as he growled a touch and nuzzled against her throat. “You look beautiful.”
“I look terrible,” she said, laughing. “I’m a mess.”
“You’re perfect,” he said. His hand slid up her side, inside her uniform, and Maisy jumped. His scales warmed and turned violet-blue as he tugged on her hair. “But I will clean you.”
