“Understood…captain.”
My ba’clan bristle a little at the sudden formality in his tone.
We walk the rest of the way in silence, everything about the past few clicks, of Adee’ra, repeating in my mind.
When we arrive at the entrance to my quarters, I pause.
Inside is filled with the beautiful scent of suu’ci and mating—like the small, perfect little hyu’man female I have locked inside.
It is suddenly a bad idea bringing He’rox here.
He clicks behind me, sensing my thoughts.
“I already smell the mating on you. Don’t be stupid. I do not want for any female. I never have.” He pauses. “I never will.”
There is bitterness in the last few words and I am left with no choice but to open the door.
So I do it.
Adee’ra’s sweet scent flows through the air as soon as we step in.
It is a surety. It no longer smells like my quarters anymore. The scent is almost alien. But…I like it.
I thrum low, ignoring He’rox’s presence as I catch sight of her.
She is standing by the feathers, her wide eyes moving from me to He’rox.
“By the gods…” He’rox steps forward. “Impossible.”
Adee’ra’s gaze darts to me. She cannot understand him for he speaks in our tongue.
His ba’clan need more time to assimilate the human language.
Either that, or he doesn’t care to learn it.
“He is surprised,” I translate for her.
“Good surprised? Bad surprised?”
He’rox is standing in front of her now and he is so large, she looks frightfully small beside him.
The size difference catches me off guard.
Is that what she looks like beside me?
He’rox and I are almost the same size.
I am aware she is small, but…
Suddenly, my womb mate’s concerns don’t seem to stem from jealously only.
Possibly, Ga’Var is genuinely concerned about Adee’ra’s safety.
There is no way Adee’ra could take me if we mated.
She is not only too frail. She is too small.
“When did this happen?” He’rox clicks, his gaze moving over Adee’ra’s symbiote-clad body. “Tell me everything.”
ADIRA
They’re discussing me as if I’m not standing right here.
Every now and then, Fer’ro will translate something so I can understand but I can sense he is leaving out a lot and that the conversation is getting heated.
Apparently, these…things that have now covered my entire body don’t usually attach themselves to new lifeforms, not even on their planet.
The ba’clan have always coexisted with the Vullan and the Vullan only.
The medic wants to run tests and Fer’ro is against it.
They argue about this for several minutes, with the white one getting so heated, that his tentacles begin to curl.
“She is fine. Healthy. Unharmed. The ba’clan will not harm her. They would have done so already.” Fer’ro speaks in English and I know he does this for my benefit. But his words chill me.
They would have done so already…
A sliver of fear runs up my spine at those words and the ba’clan on my back bristle as if they can sense what I am feeling.
It’s not the first time they’ve reacted to me…my emotions.
I’ve seen what they can do too. They seem to be able to react, transform themselves on a whim.
I’ve seen them move from dangerous sharp blades to creating a cocoon that we hid beneath.
Fer’ro is right. If they meant to harm me, wouldn’t they have killed me already?
As the two aliens before me argue, sharp clicks echoing in the room, I turn away from them, my gaze on my hands.
Have I somehow caused them to want to live on me like some parasite? What do these things want with me?
What do you want?
It’s a thought, but the ba’clan bristle against me anyway.
For a moment, I pause, not sure if they are reacting to something else or the question I asked in my head.
Do you want to kill me?
There’s a pulse against my chest, over my heart, and my gaze falls to the spot.
It’s a comforting sort of pulse. I don’t know how I know this, but I get the distinct feeling that the answer is no.
Then what do you want? Why come to me?
I do not get any pulses this time. Maybe my question was too complicated.
If you don’t want to kill me, what do you want? I swallow hard and lick my lips. I’m almost scared to project the next question.
Do you intend to harm me in any way?
Nothing.
Do you want to help me?
Pulse.
My chest heaves as I slowly settle on the thought that the ba’clan are communicating with me.
I am speaking, communicating, with a faceless alien entity that has cloaked me entirely.
An entity that wants to help me.
I wonder what they mean by that but, instead of the fear that should be there, I am…calm.
I turn toward Fer’ro and He’rox, about to tell them what I’ve just realized when time slows before me.
My eyes widen. My mouth falls open as air leaves my lungs.
Something is coming toward me through the air.
Something metallic.
Something sharp.
Straight for my chest.
I only have a moment of realization before a wall of black suddenly appears before me, catching the object within it.
My heart stops.
I don’t know what the fuck just happened until I hear a roar and the shield before me falls. The object drops to my feet with a dull sound.
My brain must be slow because everything is happening too quickly.
Realization dawns in the slow seconds that I watch the sudden chaos unfold.
Fer’ro is airborne, his arms around He’rox’s throat as they both slam into the wall.
My gaze drops to the object that had been coming toward me and I realize it’s one of those strange metal instruments I’d seen in the med bay.
It dawns on me then.
He’rox…attacked me. And the ba’clan…they created a wall. They stopped the attack. They saved me.
Fer’ro is all spikes and fire as he throws the other male across the room.
He glances my way, probably to check that I am okay, before he launches himself at He’rox again.
But what is strange is that He’rox isn’t in his battle form at all.
He is staring at me and I’m no pro at reading their expressionless features, but he doesn’t look hostile in the least.
What in the actual hell?
“I was right,” he says, IN ENGLISH.
He’s answered by another roar that echoes against the walls as Fer’ro grasps him once more, lifting him off the ground.
“Don’t you dare speak to her after what you just attempted!”
A large blade forms in Fer’ro’s suit and he plants the tip at the base of He’rox’s neck.
He’rox doesn’t look fazed in the least.
His gaze is still on me and what looks like awe shines in those slitted blue eyes of his.
“Wait,” I whisper.
It is so low, I’m surprised Fer’ro even hears me over his own snarling.
I take a step forward and Fer’ro voice booms. “Don’t come any closer, Adee’ra.” He presses He’rox into the wall some more. “I cannot promise you his blood will not spill on you after I slice him in two.”