Page 25 of Human Reclaimed (Cyborg Planet Alpha #2)

TWENTY-FIVE

TALIA

Rune’s muscles spasmed, his limbs twitching beyond his control in the small interrogation room on the pirate ship. My heart lurched into my throat as his blue eyes—usually so focused and intense—started rolling back in his head.

“Rune!” I screamed, barely recognizing my own voice as I held him against my chest. I kicked Delia’s lifeless body aside with my boot, the blood from her head wound spreading across the metal floor.

His lips parted as if to speak, raw emotion flashing across his face for a moment before his eyes fluttered shut.

“No, no, no,” I whispered, pressing my fingers to his neck. His pulse thumped beneath my fingertips—erratic but present. I slapped his face gently. “Wake up, Commander! That’s an order!”

Nothing. Panic clawed its way up my chest, constricting my lungs. The ship’s warning lights bathed us in pulsing crimson as the emergency systems activated, responding to the captain’s death.

“Think, Talia,” I muttered, hooking my hands under Rune’s armpits. I pulled—and nearly dislocated my shoulders. “God, you’re heavy.”

The flashback hit me like a physical force. Travis’s blood soaking into the mountain snow, his eyes growing distant as I dragged him behind cover, begging him to hold on. “Not too much farther,” I’d promised him, the lie bitter on my tongue.

I blinked back tears, forcing myself back to the present. This wouldn’t end the same way. I wouldn’t let it.

“Come on,” I growled, finding a better grip and throwing all my weight backward. Rune’s body moved a few inches across the floor. “You don’t get to save me and then check out, you stubborn man.”

I dragged him down the corridor, sweat pouring down my face and my muscles screaming in protest. Every few feet I stopped to check his pulse, terror gripping me each time I reached for his neck.

“I did not survive being kidnapped by pirates just to watch you die,” I told his unconscious form as I maneuvered us down the exit ramp.

The jungle’s humid air hit me like a wall as I finally pulled Rune’s body outside. The massive trees loomed overhead, filtering the afternoon sunlight into patterns that danced across his unnaturally pale face.

I reached for his communicator, tapping frantically at the controls. “Damn it!” The device remained silent, its display dark. Whatever virus they’d injected must have fried his systems.

Grabbing him under the arms again, I began the agonizing process of dragging him through the dense underbrush. Thorny vines dug at my pants, and stones crunched under my boots.

“Remember… when you first showed me your oasis?” I panted, talking to keep the panic at bay. “You said… you’d never shown anyone else. That was the moment… I knew… I was in trouble with you.”

A branch snapped somewhere to my left. I dropped Rune and spun, raising Rune’s blaster with both hands.

“Captain Reed!” a familiar deep voice called out.

I nearly collapsed with relief as Aeon emerged from the foliage, his towering figure moving with surprising grace through the dense vegetation. His medical kit was strapped to his back, and his eyes widened at the sight of Rune.

“Thank god,” I breathed.

“Tegan informed me of Commander Rune’s foolhardy rescue mission,” Aeon said, already kneeling beside Rune and checking vital signs with clinical efficiency. “What happened?”

“He took down the four pirates on the ship single-handed,” I explained, my words tumbling out in a rush. “He caught Delia by the throat, but she jabbed him with some kind of needle. The virus tag, I think. I shot her, but not before…” My voice broke.

Aeon nodded grimly, lifting Rune’s eyelids to check his pupils. “His autonomic responses are degrading rapidly.” Without another word, he scooped Rune into his arms as easily as if he were carrying a child.

“Is he going to die?” The question tore from my throat, raw and desperate.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Aeon began moving through the jungle at a pace I struggled to match. “Olivia is working on an antidote. We have something promising that might save all those affected, but…”

“But what?” I demanded, clambering over a fallen log.

Aeon’s expression remained carefully neutral. “We don’t know how long the amnesia will last or if there will be lasting effects on their memory coding or emotional development.”

A cold fist squeezed my heart. “You mean he might forget everything? Everything he’s learned, everything he’s felt?” Everything we’ve shared , I didn’t add aloud.

“It’s a possibility we have to consider.”

I couldn’t imagine Rune losing the warmth that filled his eyes when he looked at me or the gentleness he’d discovered in himself when we were alone. The thought of him becoming a cold tactician again, viewing me as just another resource for Planet Alpha’s defense—it was unbearable.

“No,” I said firmly, picking up my pace even as my lungs burned. “He’ll remember. He has to.”

As we approached the edge of the colony—its sleek, curved buildings rising from the jungle like they’d grown there naturally—I offered a silent prayer to whatever powers might be listening in this strange new world.

Please don’t take him from me. Please let him remember me. Remember us.

Aeon soon burst through the medical bay doors, Rune’s limp body slung over his shoulder as I followed closely behind. My heart clenched at the sight of Rune’s ashen face, his powerful frame now utterly helpless.

“Recovery room three,” Aeon ordered as the medical staff rushed forward. I kept following close behind, my legs feeling like they were moving through quicksand.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. A week ago, I’d woken up in that same room, furious and terrified, plotting my escape from alien kidnappers. Now I’d give anything to see Rune open his eyes in that very space I’d once considered my prison.

“Olivia!” Aeon called out as we entered the recovery room. The soft lighting automatically adjusted to our presence, casting a warm glow over the pristine white surfaces.

She rushed in, her brown hair flying behind her, already pulling vials from her medical bag. “Put him down,” she instructed, her voice calm but urgent. “Talia, there’s a chair by the wall.”

I grabbed it and positioned myself beside Rune’s bed, watching as Olivia swiftly inserted an IV line into his arm. His skin—usually warm and vibrant—looked waxy and cold.

“The antidote is experimental,” she warned, connecting a bag of clear fluid to the IV port. “But it’s the best chance we have.”

I reached for Rune’s hand, surprised by how cold it felt. This man who’d carried me through the water at his secret oasis, who’d pinned me against the wall in his quarters with such heat and passion—now lay still as death.

“What if it doesn’t work?” I whispered.

Olivia’s eyes met mine. “It has to.”

Within minutes, color began returning to Rune’s face. His chest rose and fell in a more regular rhythm, and the monitors above his bed showed stabilizing vitals.

“His body is responding,” Aeon confirmed, checking the readings. “The virus is being neutralized.”

“But will he… remember?” I could not bring myself to finish the thought.

Olivia squeezed my shoulder. “We don’t know yet. The amnesia effects have been unpredictable.”

I nodded, swallowing back tears. What if he woke up and looked at me like a stranger? What if everything we’d built together in this whirlwind week—the passion, the trust, the unexpected love—was erased like footprints in sand?

Minutes stretched into a half hour as I sat vigilantly beside his bed, my hand never leaving his. I’d never been religious, but I found myself praying hard to whatever cosmic forces might be listening.

“Don’t take this away from me,” I whispered.

The door slid open, and Sage stepped in, her tall frame silhouetted against the corridor light. Her blonde ponytail was disheveled, and smudges of soot stained her usually pristine uniform.

“Hey,” she said softly, holding my datapad. “Sorry to interrupt.”

I straightened. “How did the offensive go?”

A smile broke across her face. “Your strategy was brilliant. Both capital ships are space dust now.” She hesitated, glancing at the datapad. “I was looking for your battle plans when I found something. A recording from Rune.”

My breath caught. “A recording?”

“It seemed private.” She placed the datapad in my hands. “I thought you’d want to see it.” She squeezed my arm gently before slipping out, leaving me alone with Rune’s unconscious form and whatever message he’d left behind.

With trembling fingers, I activated the screen. Rune’s face appeared, looking tired but resolute, those piercing blue eyes staring straight into mine.

“Talia, if you’re watching this, then… I didn’t make it back.

” He ran his hand through his hair on the screen.

“I want to say I’m truly sorry for taking you from Earth.

For bringing you into our fight without your consent.

That was wrong, and I knew it even then.

But I’m not sorry for knowing you. And I’m not sorry for a single moment we’ve spent together. ”

He paused for a moment on the screen. “I was designed for war, programmed to lead, to fight, and to strategize. No one ever thought to program me for this—for the way my heart races when you enter a room or how your smile makes everything else fade away. I never imagined feeling this… human… until you.”

His voice was hoarse with emotion. “If I die tomorrow, I’ll die with no regrets because I found something I never thought possible—love.

Real love. The kind worth fighting for. Worth dying for.

I love you, Talia Reed. I love your strength, your brilliance, and your fierce loyalty.

I love how you challenge me, and how you see me as a man, not a weapon.

I would tear apart worlds to keep you safe.

I would give everything I am to protect you and this colony—our home. ”

I paused the recording, taking a steadying breath as tears streamed down my face. Taking a deep breath, I hit play.

“Talia, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. If I don’t make it back… live well. Live free, for me. And know that I died loving you completely.”

A sob escaped me as the recording ended. God, I loved this man—this incredible, complex, and passionate man who’d kidnapped me and then stolen my heart.

A rustling sound from the bed made me jerk my head up. Rune’s eyes fluttered open, disoriented at first but then slowly focusing. My breath caught in my throat as I waited. Would he know me? Would he remember us?

His gaze shifted, landing on my tear-streaked face. For one horrible moment, I saw nothing but confusion in those blue eyes.

Then his brow furrowed. “Talia,” he said, his voice rough, “why are you crying? I told you I wasn’t dying today.”

Relief crashed through me like a tidal wave. I launched myself at him as he struggled to sit up, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders.

“You remember,” I choked out. “You remember me.”

His strong arms encircled me, pulling me half onto the bed. “How could I forget you?” he whispered against my hair. “You’re burned into every part of me.”

I pulled back just enough to look at his face, to see the warmth and recognition in his eyes. “I love you,” I blurted out. “I should have told you before. I was too scared, but I love you, Rune. I have never felt this way about anyone.”

His breathtaking smile lit up his face. “I should have told you sooner, too,” he admitted, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. “I love you, Talia Reed. More than I thought possible.”

He pulled me closer, his lips meeting mine in a kiss so gentle yet so filled with promise that it made fresh tears spill down my cheeks. When we broke apart, his thumb wiped them away.

“No more crying,” he murmured. “We won. You’re safe. The colony is safe.”

“And you’re alive,” I whispered. “You came back to me.”