The Sands of Argurumal (Argurma Salvager Book 3)

by S. J. Sanders

  22

  A dull, sick feeling rose from Terri’s stomach as Veral ran at a breakneck speed through the dark halls. She wanted to beg him to stop before she either passed out from the pain or puked all over him. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the speed at which she was being carried, the horrible pain in her leg, or the cramps stabbing deep into her abdomen, but any possibility was far too close for comfort.

  Truth be told, she half-hoped for the former. Each step sent currents of pain ripping through her but also waves of some lightheaded feeling. Being unconscious would have been a mercy, but as much as she hurt, she was also afraid that she wouldn’t wake again.

  It scared her in ways that she hadn’t experienced since the days she was forced to sleep in the old crumbling buildings of Phoenix.

  She was thankful that they seemed to make it to the medical quarters in record time. Tarik looked up as they burst through the entrance, barely clearing the doors that hadn’t yet opened all the way for them. Veral twisted at an angle to get her safely through, although he grunted at the solid thunk of his shoulder, or perhaps its large spine, colliding with the door in passing. Teri winced, knowing that he was banged up too, but it didn’t slow him.

  The medic snapped to his feet, hands immediately going for his scanner as Veral swept in, heading directly for the med bed. Tears sprung to her eyes at the way he almost reverently set her on it, his expression soft as he met her eyes. He lightly dragged his fingers over her cheek, his claws only then receding. That alone told her of his panic, that he hadn’t even thought to retract them while hauling ass to the medic. He leaned down and nuzzled her before pulling back, his expression hardening once more as he looked over at Tarik.

  “My mate has been injured. Fix her.”

  The medic nodded but did not otherwise react to her mate’s hard growl as he swept by him with the scanner. Veral stepped back, his eyes never leaving the male, but Terri wanted to cry with relief as the medic’s face dropped close to her to look at her eyes before glancing away to skim the rest of her face with concern. She knew that she had to look terrible with the beating she took if the way she felt was anything to go by.

  Fuck, please let him have good meds.

  A wash of blue light flickered over her and he looked down at the scans taken by the med-bed. His mouth tightened.

  That wasn’t a good sign. Obvious concern from an Argurma was rarely nothing.

  He met her eyes again and leaned in closer, his hand lightly touching her arm in a gesture of comfort.

  “Your leg is broken. That is easy to repair. The trauma to your body, despite taking no observable blows to your abdomen, has hastened delivery.”

  She choked back a watery sob. “My baby… is she going to be okay?”

  His expression smoothed, lips tilting up in an expression that looked kindly for an Argurma, his mandibles held tight against his jaws, projecting calm.

  “She is fine. She is fully developed and has sustained no injury. Unfortunately, due to your own injuries and the progression of your labor, there is little I can give you to ease the pain. This will not be pleasant,” he said honestly.

  A new pain rippled over the surface of her belly, and she recognized it for what it was… Contractions. Her little Argurma-human baby was coming whether they were ready or not.

  Tarik pressed something, his eyes flashing as he linked to the bed, and instantly several metallic extensions came out to raise and support her legs. Her broken leg was encased, and an excruciating pain seared through it, drowning out the pain of the contraction as Tarik worked at repairing it. At least the encasing was solid and concealed whatever it did from her eyes. As painful as it was, she certainly didn’t want to see what exactly it was doing.

  Whatever it did, it was thankfully over fast enough, and her leg was lowered beside the other propped-up limb, the casing slipping back to form an identical support for that foot. A soft band wrapped around her chest, and she squeaked in surprise when the bed tilted, setting her body at sixty-degree angle. Her fingers wrapped around the sides as she gave a wild look at Tarik.

  “What the fuck…?”

  Veral growled and moved closer, his vibrissae writhing aggressively in response to her alarm. Tarik’s gaze darted over to the male without concern before focusing on Terri, holding her gaze as he brushed back her hair with one gentle hand. She could hear Veral’s coils rattling and hissing as he moved threateningly to Terri’s other side, his gaze locked on the medic and his hand.

  “The medical supports are now in delivery function,” Tarik informed her, his voice mellow and soothing. “This angle will ease your infant’s progress, allowing gravity to work in our favor. It appears that your symbiont’s communication with your infant is increasing to ease it during birthing. This is good.” His eyes raised to Veral. “Calm yourself, Ahanvala. You need to project calm to your mate and assist her, not threaten me.”

  Veral’s growl cut off so suddenly that Terri’s eyes shot up to her mate. His lips twisted with self-disgust, but when he met her eyes, his expression relaxed and warmed as his right hand skimmed over her cheek lovingly. This was the male she had mated and spent the last many months with. Her lips quivered with emotion as she leaned her cheek into his touch.

  She had missed him so much.

  The tiny cybernetic sparks within his glowing eyes multiplied, his eyes brightening with emotion and the adoration that she glimpsed in their most private, most tender moments.

  “Please tell me you aren’t recording this,” she joked with a ragged whisper, gritting her teeth as another wave of pain washed over her.

  His smile widened slightly. “I am merely making record, anastha.”

  “Great, and with me looking like a high-speed collision,” she muttered.

  His leaned forward, lips brushing her brow.

  “You are beautiful, anastha. Always.”

  “Veral…” she whispered, her eyes meeting his.

  It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him why he had been so distant with her. Where he had been. She opened her mouth, but a scream tore from her as her belly and back tightened with a deep, clenching, unending spasm. A four-pulse chime went off on her bed that had the medic taking his position.

  Tarik moved in between her parted thighs, his hands covered in some sort of membranous material as he crouched down low. He glanced up at her reassuringly.

  “She is coming.”

  Of all the pain Terri had ever felt, those experiences had nothing on childbirth. She literally felt like her pelvis was going to explode from the pressure. Her loud curses at the medic and at her mate’s civix filled the room in between her screams when she had enough breath to spare despite the mild pain inhibitor that Tarik gave her. She was even briefly reduced to begging tearfully to be knocked out. Veral even tried to threaten the medic if he didn’t ease her suffering, but there was little Tarik could do but give her a booster of the inhibitor during the worst of it.

  It was worth it, however, when her body gave one final push and she felt the relief of her daughter’s head push through, her warm little goopy body slipping free into the medic’s hands. For one amazing moment, she saw a true smile light the Argurma’s face as he cleared her mouth and nose and gently placed the baby on her chest. Immediately, her arms wrapped around her daughter, love filling her.

  Something warm slipped over her pelvis and belly that sent flashes of heat into her. It was soothing, taking away any lingering pain. She felt a mild pressure as something else slipped from her body, but she was too caught up in her baby to pay much attention as Tarik worked around her legs.

  Veral leaned over her shoulder, his mandibles humming with a soft purr as he leaned in close, his expression a mixture of love and wonder. His full lips parted, showing the barest glimpse of his sharp teeth and his eyes widened briefly before relaxing, the corners shifting slightly to tilt with absolute infatuation.

  Her mate was clearly in love with their daughter… and who could blame him?

/>   Terri smiled at the squirming infant in her arms. The baby’s body was pearly gray with scales scattered in strategic clusters rather than the dark silvery scales that covered her father. She was beautiful, and very Argurma in appearance, just as the scans had predicted.

  Running her fingers lightly over the baby’s face, Terri’s smile widened as she took in her perfect tiny features. The little spine buds were visible, as were the double black tongues that peeked out from her mouth. Her brow sloped a bit more like Terri’s, giving her features a more delicate, compact look, but she had the perfect horned plating of the Argurma, with little mandibles resting against her cheeks and curling vibrissae that plucked curiously at Terri’s clothes and hands. The lack of plating on her chin and her little human nose made her look all the more precious. Terri laughed in wonder at the glowing blue gaze that stared back at her with equal fascination. A tiny right arm curled up against her chest, the small green jewel-like symbiont winking in the lighting of the medical unit.

  Veral nuzzled Terri’s hair with his broad nose and mandibles, his breath stirring the blond strands even as it warmed her skin.

  “She is as beautiful as her mother,” he murmured.

  Terri laughed and leaned into her mate’s strength. “I don’t know about all that. She looks a lot like her father, I think.”

  He fell silent, a soft rumble rising in his throat.

  “She… looks like my mother. I do not remember her… not truly, just glimpses that rise through my processors as times. She has fewer scales, and her coloring is unusual for our species, but she does look like her.”

  Terri sucked in her bottom lip thoughtfully as she watched his hand cup their daughter’s tiny head and she shifted her face up to her father to give him the same curious, unblinking stare.

  “What if we name her after your mother?”

  He paused, his eyes turning toward her.

  “You would do that? It is the mother’s right to name their offspring,” he stated, his voice hesitant and yet carrying an undeniable longing.

  Terri turned her head up and smiled at her mate. “I would be happy to name her after her. You obviously loved her very much.”

  He swallowed, his eyes flickering with intense emotion, and leaned in close, brushing his nose against that of their daughter.

  “Welcome, my daughter, Harahna’monushava’terri.”

  She cocked her head at him. “Was that my name in there?”

  He inclined his head. “I loved my mother—I am certain of this—but I love my mate with all of my being. I would be pleased if all our young were honored with your name to distinguish your line. If you were Argurma, they would carry the name of your line. I wish for them to carry you with them in any way they can.”

  Terri swallowed back a lump of emotion, her smile turning watery as she cuddled Harahna close.

  “It’s a perfect name,” Terri sighed.

  23

  Terri stretched, enjoying the pull of her tired muscles. Harahna was asleep in the small, padded sleeping structure, just the right size for her, that was tucked beside their bed. The sight tugged at Terri’s heart, a fond smile on her lips. Harahna’s tiny fist was wedged against her mouth as she absently suckled at her knuckles in slumber. Veral stood just to one side of the tiny bed, eyes fastened on their daughter as if he couldn’t get enough of looking at her. Terri understood the feeling. Part of her just couldn’t believe that they had created such a perfect, tiny being.

  Veral glanced up at her, eyes warming to a summer-sky blue.

  “I thank you for this gift, anastha.” He paused, seeming to consider his words carefully. “Among my people, we give many symbolic gifts. In our histories, they represent the first life that came from the Great Mother Kalithan, she who births and devours all life, to represent each gift offered by her mate Monshar, the lord who shapes life and innovations, from their coupling. All of the gods that were born into the great being of the cosmos are born from their mating to give our world their numerous gifts which sustain us.”

  “That’s beautiful,” she said quietly as she drew closer to him. “You’ve never mentioned your gods before. I didn’t know that you believed in anything.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched.

  “Relics of our past. Most Argurma have forgotten the gods. I am not even certain as to my own views. It is difficult to see the gods acting in the world, and I refused to think much on it, but it is hard to dismiss them when we see the gifts they give. You and Harahna are evidence of them, as much as the presence of the sand dragnar that came to be tamed by the hands of my ancestors were to them.”

  Tilting his head, he regarded her as he expelled a soft sigh.

  “Our species forgets such things. We see ourselves as advanced, with all our superior technology, and separate from their gifts, though we still hold onto this ritual. The minor households who live deeper in the Great Dunes at the edges of the territories still keep to the old ways. The land there is dangerous, and so it is rare that they leave their households, and rarer still that the council is able to determine anything that pertains to them. It is to their benefit to keep the council from stealing their offspring for processing—something we cannot prevent on our own, not without risking war with the council.”

  Terri drew back at his words, heart hammering anxiously.

  “I am not allowing your council to process our daughter!”

  He shook his head, amusement flickering in his gaze but behind it a hard, deadly resolve.

  “They will not. Just as I will not allow them to experiment on and eventually process you. As soon as it is safe to leave Argurumal’s gravity with Harahna, we will depart. Her inheritance will be secured for her, but we will not remain any longer than necessary.”

  It was as if something snapped into place, and she felt the cold brush a dread skitter over her skin as her heart raced with real fear. Her symbiont pulsed, but Terri locked down her control on it. It didn’t stop it from pulsing hotly on her arm, nor the tiny metal tendrils shifting below her skin, but she managed to keep it under control this time.

  “You’re worried. That’s why you’ve been acting strange. You don’t want them to suspect that I’m here and come for me.”

  Reluctantly, he inclined his head in a nod, sending another spike of fear through her.

  “Yes.” He sighed again. “My mother-kin will protect us as much as they can, and this household is a safe zone where not many can penetrate, so few will even dare without good reason. Our presence here is not known to the council, but if they learn you are here, then it would give them legal reason to tear this household apart looking for you.”

  He paused, his eyes narrowing as she sucked in a ragged breath.

  “Calm yourself, anastha. I will not allow it to happen. This was why I did not wish you to know. I do not want you to fear. It was especially concerning when you were carrying our offspring, but even now, I do not like the way your vitals are jumping.”

  “Well, obviously keeping it from me didn’t help at all,” she snapped, her anger causing her words to hiss out, though she kept the volume down so not to wake Harahna. “Not only did I not know just how much danger I was in while under your family’s so-called protection, I also had to go through all the bullshit with your secrecy. Do you have any idea how the fuck that made me feel? Pretty shitty. Like I was being shunned for some reason that I couldn’t even guess at—and all in front of your family.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. “Did they know? Did everyone know but me?”

  He shook his head, a flash of remorse crossing his face. “No. Although the entire household knew to keep our presence a secret, only those who went with me to meet with the minor houses knew and were sworn to silence. It was brought to my attention that if I distanced myself, the knowledge of an alien female present who is mated with an Argurma male—something that has never happened in our history—would stand a better chance of containment.”

  Terri drew in a sharp breath, her eyes wi
dening.

  “Malraha knew then, and that’s what provoked her offer.”

  “Yes, she thought it would make it more convincing if I hid you deeper within the compound and publicly took her as my mate,” he agreed, his eyes flashing as he looked up at her. “It was beyond considering. I would do anything to protect you, but I would never consider that. I did not wish to cause you pain or fear with this secret. I did not wish you feel any harm from it,” he admitted, his composed mask slipping for the first time as his lips pulled back from his teeth in a sorrowful grimace, his eyes squeezing shut.

  Something about the broken rawness touched her wounded heart.

  “I don’t like secrets—ever. I’ve spent too much of my life knowing that survival is dependent on being aware of the dangers around me.”

  “I did not wish that life for you now that you are my mate,” he said quietly. “I would do anything to protect you.”

  “Well, that’s great, but what you have done is prove that I can’t trust you, that I have to watch your actions like everything else around me,” she said bitterly. “You hurt me. I hope you understand just how much.”

  His head dipped low, eyes squeezing tighter, making hard lines in the fine scales around them.

  “I will take any punishment you offer for the offense,” he rasped. “I knew that I wounded myself with my deceit, but I feel it even greater now. Never have I regretted anything so much as causing this pain and breaking something important within our mating bond.”

  “I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around all of this. I need time,” she huffed, her fingers rubbing at her temples. “I do want to know one thing… Did you ever, even for a second, regret our mating and wish that you could have taken an Argurma female as Malraha suggested?”

  “Never!” he snarled passionately.

  She swallowed back a surge of emotion and stepped closer to him, her hands brushing the side of his face. His nuzzled her hand even as it stroked back to brush against his vibrissae. They promptly wrapped around her hand and fingers devotedly.