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Cazir splutters something about not knowing she was my mate. Inside, I feel as destroyed as the forest behind him.
He frantically aims his cannon at me and fires. I sprint toward him, easily dodging his careless shot with what looks like a weapon too heavy for his slender frame to wield with any tact.
I slash at his shield. My blade cuts through, scoring his armor. He stumbles, drops the cannon, and swings a rifle at me.
The Novark fires. I block the bullet with help from my racing core and MONA, which still defends our position from overhead.
“We had a deal!” The Novark shouts. He’s a pale, humanoid alien with spiked skin so fine that it prickles like a thousand tiny splinters anytime a human comes in contact with one.
“I can’t fucking do this right now, Cleytuk!” Cazir shouts as he tries to fire at me again. I knock his gun away with a foot, take another step, and shove him back with a boot to his chest. He stumbles and falls.
The Novark lifts his rifle at me, then seems to think otherwise and points it at Cazir. “We had a deal. You get into the vault, we provide secure transport. But someone stepped in between us, didn’t they?”
Cazir lifts a hand as he gets to his feet. “I got into the vault. My sister wasn’t here in the camp. She was somewhere else. I had to pick her up and return!”
“You betrayed us!” Cleytuk shouts. “Now the Isonians think we are killing the children! The Nebs found us both, and it’s turned into a fucking war!”
Cazir looks up at the sky that shimmers with fragmenting ships and weapons fire.
“You didn’t tell me it was a refugee planet!” Cleytuk is pissed.
“It’s not,” her brother insists as he gets up. “She transports goods to and from here.”
“Children.” I lift the tip of a sword to his throat, eager to slit it, fury burning me inside. But I know I must listen, try to get out of the rat everything I can before I end him.
His eyes widen as my sword pierces his shield, tearing a pulsating slit near his neck.
“I see you have your father’s apathy for all life but your own,” I add.
“What do you know of my father?” he challenges with a snotty scowl.
“Zariah just put this very blade through his heart.” I twist it just enough that he can see the blood in a glint of sunlight.
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” he says.
Cleytuk points his rifle at me. “Let him go, he belongs to us.”
I sigh through my nose and look down at him. “The feds have the treasure in custody. They surrounded the planet before we left. He’s only here because of his portal trick. Do you want to deal with the feds?” I ask.
Cleytuk sucks on a tooth. Then he turns and walks away. “He’s your problem now.”
Zariah’s brother swats my blade aside and tries to reach for me, thinking I’m distracted. But I’ve been listening to his pulse, the way it ratcheted up as Cleytuk left. I slip my other blade between us and guide him back. “Any last words?”
He lifts his hands as if he’s innocent. But he just killed my pregnant mate. I am more than happy to gut him like an omenotau. When I have my revenge, then my core will cool, and I will meet my end with him.
Behind me, a ship sets down in the field, bearing Sol Federation logos.
“They are here to take custody of Zariah’s brother,” MONA says through my wristband.
“You do not deserve to live,” I say quietly. “You killed my mate and our two children.”
His face contorts with disgust. “Why did she pick you?”
A feminine grunt from the bushes makes me look up. Leaves dance, and Zariah—covered in ash and burns—stumbles out of the brush. “Elix is far more of a man than you, fuckstick. You wouldn’t understand.”
Hope fills me. “Zariah?”
Her brother slaps my blade away again and lifts a gun. But he is not fast enough.
My core pulses with energy, and the buzzing and burning meadow around us slows. I block his shot without looking away from her beautiful face. Dirt slings into the air behind me.
Her eyes shine with worry as she steps toward me. But I am not afraid anymore. I have her. And I have the strength to silence her brother.
I grab him by his dishonorable cloak, pull him toward me, and head-butt him hard. His nose crunches, and blood coats his mouth. He collapses, hands over his face, and writhes in agony, groaning.
Zariah hurries toward me. When she sees her brother, she chuckles in shock.
More federal ships fill the sky, along with forces from other planets nearby. The Nebs and Novarks tuck tail and leave of their own accord in different directions. The ghostfleet, that I assume are the Isonians, stays behind.
A radiant male in gold armor hikes up the hillside with three federal agents.
I draw Zariah close, kiss her to reassure myself she is okay, then keep her behind me as they approach.
“Elix,” the agent says. “I’m not surprised to see you here. It seems you are everywhere these days.”
“I go where I am needed,” I tell Tenac. “That’s her brother. Novarks had a trade deal with him. That’s why they were here. He just portal-jumped to another world.”
“Ooh, boy the charges are rackin’ up for you.” Two of Tenac’s crew haul Cazir up on his feet. “Got a nice, clean cage just for your kind of exotic animal. You’re going to love it.”
The Isonian stays beside us. He rests his glowing hands on his hips, watching Cazir wriggle in the fed’s grasp. “We apologize for the initial portal capture.”
“That was you?” Zariah asks.
He dips his head, large blue-white eyes taking only a brief glance at her before focusing on me. “I meant no disrespect to you or your mate. We were trying to contact you because of the situation developing here.”
“But you shot at us,” I say, growing angry. “You wrecked my ship. We almost died.”
He hooks a thumb toward her brother. “That was him. We’d picked up the call from Ihna. She and her people had recently helped us. We share ideas and medical advancements often. But we do not speak all the languages you do, Zariah. We could not translate Ihna’s messages completely.
“We came to assist because we knew her voice. Your brother, it seems, interfered with the communication. He wanted you to show up when he was ready. Except he wasn’t—the first time. We would’ve come after you to assist however we could, but we didn’t have a way to see where you went. The portal wisp was gone too fast.”
The male motions to me. “Rare to meet another luminescent species. I would like to get to know you. I am General Viriden of Isonia. We are new to the federation.”
“Elix.” I hesitantly offer him my hand.
He obliges. “Strange greeting custom of humans, but one I’m starting to like.”
A blonde woman makes her way past Tempest toward us. “Zariah!”
My mate turns around. “Ihna!”
“I’m glad you’re okay, but we need your help.”
“What’s going on up there?” Tenac asks.
“Hello, sir. I am Ihna, medical outreach.” She extends a hand and shakes Tenac’s. “I’m glad you are here to see this. We have an unexpected visitor in this refugee camp. And we need to find these children new homes. Those who ran the camp are all dead, sir.”
He sighs and motions for her to lead.
Zariah lags as we climb the hill. “Sorry, I’m just feeling really tired.”
I eagerly pick her up and carry her the rest of the way to the cave. “After this, I am mandating rest for you three.”
She lays her head on my shoulder. Relief sweeps over me until all I feel and know is her against me.
“Teol, Gashnaar, Aurelius, and Keo have the others on your ship, Zariah,” Ihna says. “Except one.”
We stop in front of a dark passageway, and Zariah motions for me to let her down. I set her feet on the ground, and she listens.
“Hear that?” she asks me.
A light scratching sound echoes out from the dark cave.
“Animal?” I ask.
She shakes her head and leads us inside. “That is communication. Listen to the pattern. It’s like a Morse code their species uses.”
“Which species?” Tenac asks.
She glares at him. “If you do anything but accept this child like any other, you will only train them to believe they are an outcast. How do we unite two different species?”
“Show them what they have in common,” I offer.
Zariah squeezes my hand, then sits cross-legged on the ground. She picks up a rock and taps it on the floor in a pattern I don’t understand.
After a moment, a set of glinting silver eyes peers out. They slink back when they see all of us.
She tilts her head and clicks and pops her tongue.
“Gyama?” the boy says.
She nods. “Gyama. Safe.”
The boy hesitantly crawls out and stands. He’s half Zariah’s size, dark charcoal in color, and barely distinguishable against the cave rock. She slowly takes his hand and kisses his palm. He sniffs her face and then points up at me. “Ukoto?”
She nods again and gets up, taking his hand in hers. “Ukoto, dia. Mate, yes.”
The boy reaches a hand toward me. I kneel while the others watch. His fingers find the amulet beneath my shirt.
The pale green stone glows at his touch.
“How is he doing that?” Tenac slides back half a step.
“My mother gave me this as a boy,” I say. “It reacts to specific energy levels, something I still don’t quite understand. But she said it symbolizes hope.”
“Hard to believe a Neb child could bring hope,” Tenac remarks.
“That’s ezarsnthine,” Viriden remarks. “It’s found on my homeworld, common in a lot of our technologies. It’s customary to gift a piece to someone who has saved the life of one of our own.”
“Perhaps my people were not so distant from other species as we once thought,” I say, doing my best to smile at the small face that looks up at me.
Viriden rests a hand on my shoulder. “Anyone who protects the future is welcome on our ship. We will share what we know.”
When Tenac reaches for the boy, Zariah picks him up and holds him against her like he is her child. “He does not trust you. Remember what I said.”
Tenac nods. “I will see what I can do.”
My core heats as I study her holding the boy. I imagine he is ours, and I suddenly cannot wait to meet our children. The light from my body and that of Viriden’s guides the others out of the tunnel.
“Turned on?” Zariah quietly asks me.
“I think my core ignites when I find my purpose,” I offer. “That is you, that is fighting for us, and that is protecting others, including children.”
“Of the enemy?” Tenac studies us but walks beside me without fear.
Zariah gives us a warning look as we leave the cave and descend the trail toward the ships. “He is no enemy to us. He is a child. After war, there are many orphans and broken families on both sides. He will only learn to hate if he is taught to hate, like Cazir.
“I learned a lot of languages during my time in a refugee camp. But more than that, I learned that kindness can be more powerful than words or gold or food. What would our future look like if we could focus on that?”