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I stop short as soon as I see who is laid out on the bed. My speed increases as I take up a spot beside Altis while Hyva runs a scanner over her body. A bunch of numbers flash on his screen, but I don’t know what they mean.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Vynia told me Neev had mentioned a headache earlier, so I decided to go give her some of the medicine you gave me for mine,” Altis says to us. “I knocked, but no one answered, so I look in just to check and found her sweating on the bed. She was crying but wouldn’t wake up.”

“Do you know what’s happening?” I ask Hyva.

“No. It doesn’t make sense. Everything is normal aside from her brain wave pattern and heart rate spikes. I can’t get her to wake up.”

“Could it be from a headache?”

“I don’t know. My scope of practice on humans is quite limited.”

She whimpers and thrashes on the bed. Tears stream from the corners of her closed eyes. I look at Hyva and see the helplessness I feel mirrored back at me in his gaze.

“You could mind walk,” he says quietly.

“No.” My answer is quick and firm. The thought of entering her subconscious without her consent makes me ill.

“I know you feel it’s intrusive when you haven’t been given permission to enter someone’s mind, but something iswronghere. If I can’t get her heart rate under control, she could die.”

This feels like it would be akin to forcing myself on a female. Would this even work on a human? What if I do something that damages her while I’m in there? Not to mention, once a channel is formed, it’s so much easier for me to do it again.

Hyva grips my shoulder. “It’s the only shot we have unless we find a human somewhere in the outer belt of this shit hole system. One with medical knowledge.”

Fuck.

“Get me a chair,” I say to him quietly. While he clears out the med bay and grabs a chair from his office, I lean down over Neev. “Please forgive me for what I’m about to do,” I say quietly, wiping one of the tears from her hot skin.

I slowly lower myself down into the chair Hyva sets behind me. My fingers glide into her hair, settling just behind her ear. I shouldn’t take notice of how soft it is, but I can’t help thinking that it’s even more beautiful up close. And stars, she smells of my soap, which makes parts of me stir in ways I’ve never experienced.

I close my eyes and search for a way inside her mind. Her mind is frantic; she’s scared of something. It drives me to push harder, to find a pathway in. To save her. I weave my way through the barrier of her mind and halt at what I find.

* * *

Everything is white in every direction. There’s only an endless expanse stretched before me, empty of anything except a small form curled in a ball in the distance. I run toward it, my instincts screaming that it’s Neev.

As I come closer, I realize I’m correct. Her eyes are closed tight, and she rocks back and forth, tucked into a ball with her hands over her ears. I drop to my knees beside her and say her name, but she doesn’t acknowledge my presence at all. I try again.

Should I touch her?

The question is answered as soon as I notice her trembling. There is no way I can’t reach out to her. Slowly I reach forward and put my hands on her shaking shoulders.

She jumps at the contact and lifts her head. Confusion colors her gaze at the sight of me. She looks around as though she’s trying to figure out why I’m sitting in front of her.

I don’t move, and, stars, her skin is so soft beneath my rough palms. I wonder if her skin is actually this smooth or if it’s just some weird mind walking trick. She wraps her hands around my wrists and slides them up my forearms.

“Are you real?”

“Yes.”

“How are you here? In my mind?”

“I can mind walk. It’s a gift of my bloodline.”

The fact that she knows she’s inside her own mind is interesting. I wasn’t sure how she’d react or what I’d find. She almost seems grateful or at the very least relieved to see me.

“Do you hear them?” she asks, still clinging to me.