“Taisha!” I roar. “Where are you? Taisha!”
I run into the wreckage, throwing aside the beams that once made up the walls and framed the ceiling.
“Taisha, where are you?”
Veck, I don’t see her anywhere. My brave little human. My female.
A rumble sounds and another wall collapses.
“Taisha!”
I hear a soft moan and hurtle over the metal and plaster to get to it.
Where could she be?
“Taisha? Where are you?”
“Drayk!” It’s a thin sound that seems to come from under the floor.
I peer through the smoke and flames, but see nothing.
“Drayk. Under here.”
“Where are you, Taisha?” I lift up a fallen cabinet. Oh veck.
She’s lying trapped beneath it. She’s so still, with her eyes closed, and I flash back to that awful scene on Fonquin, where she allowed the comm and discs to burn in her hands so she could save the mission. My sweet, brave female.
With a roar, I heave it away from her fragile body and scoop her into my arms. “Not again,” I moan. “Tell me you’re all right.”
Her eyelids flutter. “I’m all right,” she chokes.
“No you’re not,” I contradict, walking as swiftly as I can out of the rubble. “Veck, Taisha. Tell me where it hurts.”
She coughs. “No, really. I’m all right. I was just scared. Being trapped reminded me of nearly dying on your ship. But I knew you’d come for me.”
“Of course I came for you.” I touch her hair, brushing a curl from her face. Cup her cheek “Veck—you’re bleeding. I have to get you to a med bay.”
“I’m really fine. Just this.” She touches her bleeding temple and winces. “But it’s just a scratch. I want to go home.”
Home.
Something twists in my chest. She called my domicile home.
That’s what humans do—they bond. Settle in. Get close. I’ve been resisting her bond, and for what reason? My career?
I thought I lost her this planet rotation and the feeling was unbearable.
If she’d died, I wouldn’t be able to go on. Everything I thought was so important—honor, job, even the greater Zandian good—none of it matters.
Nothing is as important as this beautiful female in my arms.
“I’ll take you home, little human,” I promise, heading for my hovercraft. “I’ll take you straight home.”
She tucks her face against my neck, nestling into me, and I feel like everything is right in the world.
Taisha
Drayk carries me into his domicile, but refuses to put me down. After carrying me to the pantry and retrieving a sweet juice packet and a piece of fruit, he sits on the settee with me on his lap, hand-feeding me.