by A. G. Wilde
Akur’s gaze studied him, and Ajos bit back another snarl.
Akur was keeping him from seeing Keh-reh-nah.
He needed to be there.
He needed to make sure she was all right.
Akur’s eyes widened slowly, his golden irises becoming larger.
“Your nefre.”
Ajos swallowed hard.
He hadn’t covered his head when he’d returned. He’d forgotten, too concerned about Keh-reh-nah to think about anything else.
His nefre was still red with the mating heat, only now that he’d sated himself in his mate, he could control himself more.
“What about it?”
“That’s impossible…” Akur murmured, horror in his eyes.
Ajos released a breath, his shoulders slumping a little. “Aker thinks it's the energy fallout from the explosion. He thinks it triggered the mating heat because it mimicked the warm period of Tonvuhiri.”
Akur’s eyes widened some more and he leaned off the door.
“The human…”
Ajos’ throat moved as he turned away.
He didn’t need his brother to see his shame.
This was too much like when Nama died, when he’d had to return home without her.
Akur already had that over him, and he couldn’t look in his brother’s eyes to see the accusation of yet another female’s life being lost because of his own actions.
“You mated with her?”
When he didn’t answer, Akur let out a sound of disbelief.
“Are you qeffing insane?!”
Ajos’ shoulders stiffened as his brother continued.
“Metcer cells. Metcer, qeffing, cells, Ajos. Didn’t you use any?! How could you be so reckless?”
“Of course, I used them!” Ajos bit back the urge to punch something else. “It didn’t work,” he uttered. “The metcer cells didn’t work.”
“What?” Akur moved to grasp his arm and Ajos had no option but to look at his brother. “The only way that could happen is if the heat is too strong. Only if there is a Shum’ai bond…and there is no way…”
Akur stopped, horror in his eyes. “Impossible,” he uttered.
“I thought so too,” Ajos said, pulling his arm from his brother’s as he headed toward the door.
This time, he exited without Akur trying to interfere.
His brother understood now.
No one stood between a Shum’ai and his mate.
By the time he exited the room, Keh-reh-nah was surrounded by more humans and Aker seemed busy trying his best to do what he could to save her.
“Can you save her?”
His voice made some of the humans by the gurney scatter as he came close.
He gripped Keh-reh-nah’s small hand in his as Aker ran tests.
“There is an infection in her life blood. It is increasing rapidly and if I don’t administer the medication now, her organs will begin to fail.” Aker moved quickly, mixing potions together as he spoke.
“Septic shock, maybe…” one of the humans said.
“Was she introduced to anything that could have caused the infection?” Aker asked.
Ajos swallowed, his gaze moving back to his female.
“Like a wound, per say?” Aker continued. “The faster I can identify what caused the infection, the higher the likelihood of saving her.”
“She was cut in the forest,” Ajos murmured as he moved some of Keh-reh-nah’s filaments from her face. Her face was flushed and even a little swollen. Still, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on.
“Hmm,” Aker said. “Possibly contamination with some form of bacteria.” He motioned to one of his interns. “Make capsules to fight infections from every known bacteria found on…Choria G622?”
Ajos nodded.
“Choria G622,” Aker confirmed, and the intern hurried away to do his bidding.
Meanwhile, Aker injected Keh-reh-nah with a vial as he pressed his fingers at the side of her neck.
“What the hell happened out there?” Xul’s mate, Athena, turned to him.
Ajos’ throat moved.
“A lot.”
Behind him, he heard the door close and he could feel his brother’s stare on his back.
“Do you think she’ll be all right?” Ajos addressed the medic.
Aker shrugged, his fleshy nose twitching a little. “I cannot be positive.” He gave Ajos a sideways glance. “She is near death.”
Something wrung inside Ajos.
That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
His eyes refused to see that reality; his life organ refused to believe it…
“She needs a private room, and I will do everything I can to revive her.”
With that, Aker and the interns around him began pushing the gurney toward an empty room.
Ajos followed behind when he felt someone grasp his arm.
It was Akur.
His brother opened his mouth to say something and then stopped. Releasing him, Akur shook his head before storming out of the med bay.
It felt like ages before the interns brought the medication and Aker administered it.
Grasping her hand, Ajos brought it to his lips and held it there.
She was still hot, burning up.
An infection that could kill her…
He felt so guilty, he didn’t know if he was the cause or not.
Time passed with no change, and he couldn’t be quite sure whether it was minutes or hours that he sat there beside her. He couldn’t move.
Through all this, he stayed by her side. Everything else was like background noise. He hardly noticed the beings that came in and out of the room. The door opened and closed as humans came in to check on her, as members of the Restitution came in to ask him questions about the mission, and as the interns did their rounds.
He didn’t hear when they spoke to him.
He didn’t care.
He’d done this.
His nefre pulsed with a deep pain that was boiling in the pit of his stomach.
He was the reason she was fighting for her life.
Time passed.
How much?
He wasn’t quite sure…and he didn’t really care about the outside world to find out.
He stayed by her side, staring at her face for moments on end.
It looked like she was just asleep. He wished she’d wake up.
It was because of this preoccupation that he saw the first signs of movement.
It was her nose that scrunched up first. Then her fingers moved.
Ajos held his breath.
She was there.
She was back.
Relief shot through him, but he didn’t dare to speak.
Keh-reh-nah groaned and twisted a little as her eyes flicked open and she squinted.
“Wha…”
For the first time in what must be hours, his shoulders sagged a little with relief.
But that was short-lived for another fear bubbled in the pit of his stomach.
How would she react when she realized he was the reason she almost died?
It seemed to take a moment before she realized she was awake and then she tried to sit up, grimacing as her body protested.
“Stay still, Keh-reh-nah.” He used a hand to press her gently against the gurney once more and her eyes flicked to him.
That’s when he found he was holding his breath. Waiting.
“Ajos…” she whispered before her body fell back against the gurney. “I thought…” Her bottom lip quivered a little and she took a deep breath. “It’s so cold. I thought—I thought those bad guys got me again.”
“Never.”
She shivered underneath his hand. “It’s so cold.”
Ajos frowned.
Cold?
She was burning up.
“Please,” she whispered. “I’m so cold.”
She stretched toward him and Ajos’ eyes widened a little. Immediately, his nefre began to pulse, spreading ne
ed throughout him and he almost snarled at himself.
“Please,” she whispered again, as another shiver went through her.
She wanted him to comfort her not qef her but his body didn’t know the difference.
Something else wrung inside him as his instincts moved faster than his thoughts and he climbed atop the gurney to lie by her side.
She didn’t hesitate; she settled against him, but she was still shivering.
She needed his warmth.
Without thinking about it, Ajos began stripping, throwing his garments to the floor below.
“Me too,” she whispered as she tried to remove hers.
He helped her with that, slipping the small tunic from over her head and letting it fall somewhere on the floor. Then he pulled her toward him, settling her against him so she could take from his warmth.
A sigh left her body as she snuggled against his chest.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
He couldn’t answer.
His throat worked but no words came out.
This was…
This was too much for him to process all at once.
It felt…forbidden.
“Where are we?” she asked.
Did she not feel any different? She’d been unconscious for days. “Back at the base,” he managed to answer and as she moved against him some more, her naked skin rubbing against his.
“We made it back? I don’t remember leaving the forest after—” she paused and he felt her stiffen.
After they mated.
Maybe she didn’t remember…
“You went unconscious. I took you back to the ship.”
“Oh,” was all she said.
She snuggled into him some more. “I hope you don’t mind me doing this. You just feel…so good.”
Ajos’ throat moved again. So did she.
What had he gotten himself into?
Life would never be the same after this.
…after she revived fully and came to her senses.
…after she decided to leave him.
Her words came back to him immediately. She wanted to forget him.
He was a warrior, yet that single line could make him crumble.
He tightened his arms around her then, pulling her closer to him.
She was his mate, but she’d never know.
He would always be there for her, but he could never tell her.
This was forbidden for he didn’t deserve any of it.
It seemed…
It seemed the gods had meted out their ultimate punishment.
He was to find the one that completed him…yet, he was to remain incomplete.
As Keh-reh-nah sighed against him, Ajos pulled her even closer.
If this wasn’t the lifetime of torture that he had imagined, he didn’t know what could be.
24
When she woke up, he wasn’t there.
Kerena squinted, her eyes coming into focus.
A fleshy nose moved close to her face and if she had the energy, she’d have shrieked.
“You’re awake,” Aker said, moving from so close to her face.
Kerena lifted her head a little. She felt groggy and her stomach growled.
She was famished.
To add to that, her head felt like she was carrying a ten-ton weight on top of it and her entire body felt like she was encased in a block of ice.
Not to mention the pain.
Her entire body ached.
Fuck!
It didn’t feel that bad when she’d woken up and Ajos was there.
“What the hell is wrong with me?”
It was more a statement than a question, but Aker answered anyway.
“Some kind of infection. One that we are yet to determine how to treat properly.”
Her gaze flicked on a spot of color in the otherwise white room and she focused on it.
The spot of color soon turned into a defined shape and she realized it was the flower from that strange plant.
Ajos must have taken it up when she’d fallen unconscious.
“V’Alen brought it just a few minutes ago. He said it belonged to you,” Aker said, his gaze following hers.
Oh.
So not Ajos then.
Kerena swallowed the lump of disappointment that suddenly formed in her throat.
Aker moved around the room, mumbling things to himself as he looked at a data pad. He reached for a vial with some blue fluid and turned toward her.
Kerena eyed the thing. “What’s that?”
“I call it my ‘reenergizing serum.’” His nose moved and his face scrunched up in such a way, she assumed he was smiling. “It will make you feel much better. Ajos said you were unconscious for three days so you need the energy.”
What?
“Three days?”
Aker grunted. “And another two days since you’ve been in here.”
Had it really been that long? She felt like shit but…five days?!
“Yes.” Aker took up a device that looked like a huge needle and attached it to the vial. “You were in a critical state when you arrived.” He paused. “I am surprised and…thankful that you survived. We have lost enough refugees.”
Her eyes widened at that, and for a moment, she thought he was referring to losing some of the other humans.
“All of your kind are accounted for. Mostly okay.”
Kerena let out a breath. “Mostly?”
Aker took that moment to bury the vial into her arm.
She hissed and his nose moved. “I apologize but surprise seems to work better with these things.”
The injection site stung a little and Kerena watched as the strange blue fluid disappeared into her body.
“You said mostly okay?” She brought it up again. “Are there some women who’re critically ill?”
“Well…” Aker removed the vial and dabbed her skin with what felt like a moist cloth. “Most of the women are fine. We are having trouble connecting with the one that was awake while in stasis. She is still…unresponsive.”
Between the strange feeling now spreading through her body and the brain smog, Aker’s words didn’t connect immediately.
“Wait…” Kerena finally said. “Wait, what? Awake?”
Aker’s nose moved.
“Well, I guess I can tell you. Athena didn’t want to alarm anyone until we found out we could help the female.” He paused as he removed a pen-like device from his pocket. “There is one female that was rescued. She is…numb. She was stuck in stasis but awake, kept alive only by the stasis pod. The Arois, Yce, says her mind is frayed. He cannot even connect with it. I am afraid…” He sighed and if his face could communicate sadness, this must be it. “I am afraid of her chances of survival.”
Kerena blinked, her mouth slightly open in shock.
Her mind immediately went back to the lady she’d seen in the room all alone. The one with the dead eyes.
It had to be her.
The horror of the situation made a hole open up in her chest. She couldn’t imagine how utterly terrified the woman must have been all alone in that dark stasis hold for how many months.
The fact she was even still alive…
“Can I see her?”
Aker’s nose moved.
“We’re restricting contact for now. Only a few people get to speak to her. For obvious reasons.”
Kerena nodded, a sigh making her shoulders heave.
She understood.
The woman’s mind was fragile enough.
As she rubbed the back of her neck, Aker’s nose moved again as he moved the pen-like device in front of her eyes.
“The serum is working,” he said.
So it was.
She was sitting upright now, and it didn’t feel as if her body wanted to fold in two.
“Can you stand?”
“Only one way to find out,” Kerena replied as she slipped off the gurney.
As her feet touched the floor, they felt like jelly
for a few moments before they literally infused with strength.
“Good,” Aker approved. “I need to take you to the lab for some tests. Come with me.”
Kerena nodded and took the first few steps toward the door.
The flower caught her eye again and she took it up.
Five days, and it hadn’t wilted.
She frowned at it as she followed Aker from the room.
“Where the qef is she?!” Ajos roared, not caring about the humans that whimpered at the sound of his voice or the Taiq'ud intern trembling before him.
He’d told them to keep Keh-reh-nah in the room till she recovered, and he HIGHLY doubted she’d recovered already.
He’d tried to keep away.
He’d forced himself to leave the room after she’d stabilized. Keeping out of the med bay had been hard enough. Not to mention, the heat was still upon him.
Just one taste of Keh-reh-nah had not been enough.
He’d known that. He’d even injected triple doses of metcer cells, hoping to quell his need, but it was hardly working.
“Sh—she—” The intern’s nose was trembling so much it looked like a female pleasure device on the Taiq'ud’s face.
Ajos growled and reached for the small male, his anger getting the best of him.
If the little weakling didn’t tell him where they’d taken his mate, he was going to—
“Calm down, brother.” Someone touched his arm and the contact only made his rage grow. Ajos turned his head slowly to glare at the offender and Xul removed his hand from his arm. “She is with my Athena and Aker at the laboratory. They are running some tests on her.”
Ajos dropped the Taiq’ud in his grasp and stalked from the med bay. No one stood in his way, but he could feel all their eyes on his back, and he didn’t qrakking care.
He was seeing red.
He’d told them to take care of her.
He’d trusted them to.
Yet, they were moving her about when she was clearly ill.
When his arms found their way around Aker’s throat, the medic better have a good reason why he couldn’t have run the tests in the med bay.
If they made her relapse…
The walk to the laboratory took ages and as he approached the building, Ajos stopped dead in his tracks, his fists clenching and unclenching.
Rage filled him, steam was probably releasing through his pores.