Page 10 of Kazmyr: Molten for Her (Consumed by the Alien Heat #2)

KAZMYR

The enhancer thrummed to life beneath Jenna's skin, its activation sending a sympathetic vibration through the Heartforge's core that set me blazing like molten rivers.

The ship trembled, systems struggling to compensate as Silvyr's creation awakened fully.

I pulled Jenna against my chest, feeling her fragile human form against mine as the resonance built between us, her genetic signature amplifying into a beacon that would draw our hunters straight to us.

She'd chosen this. chosen to become bait.

and every scar etched across my obsidian skin burned with the need to shield her from what was coming.

"Status?" I demanded, my voice rumbling through the command chamber as the ship's consoles flickered beneath my touch. The ember-veins running through the obsidian walls pulsed erratically, matching my heart's frantic rhythm.

"Enhancer at sixty percent capacity and climbing," Silvyr announced, his projection dancing with barely contained excitement.

Streams of code cascaded from his form as he manipulated the enhancer's output.

"The unbonded signature is already broadcasting across three sectors.

They'll feel it like an itch they can't scratch. "

Jenna pressed against me, her body shaking in sync with the enhancer. Her skin lost color, and she started sweating, though I'd made the chamber cool to pull heat away.

"You're burning up," she whispered, her fingers tracing one particularly bright scar that curled around my forearm.

I was. The enhancer's resonance fed something primal in me, something that recognized the signal as what it was…

an advertisement of her availability, a declaration to the galaxy that she remained unclaimed.

The ember marks responded with possessive fury, blazing bright enough to cast shadows across her face.

"I'm fine," I lied, forcing the heat back, trying to bank the fire that threatened to consume me from within. "How do you feel?"

"Like I'm being pulled apart and put back together with every pulse." She offered a weak smile that did nothing to mask her discomfort. "But I've had worse hangovers."

That Earth humor again, sharp as flint even when she trembled. I tightened my arm around her waist, supporting more of her weight as the enhancer's pulse intensified.

"You don't need to endure this," I murmured against her hair, low enough that only she could hear. "We can find another way."

She pulled back just enough to glare up at me, that stubborn fire flashing in her eyes. "We've been through this. The plan works because of me, because I'm unbonded. Don't start this argument again."

"It's not an argument." I swallowed the roar building in my chest, the urge to simply carry her away from this danger. "It's a concern."

"It's control," she corrected, but there was less heat in her words than before. "I'm pushing myself because I need to. I'd rather burn with purpose than live as someone else's prey."

The truth in her words stung. She saw the heart of it… why she needed to be the one to take this risk, why running would never be enough. The Voraxx, Asset P, the entire trafficking network… they had turned her into quarry. This was her way of becoming the hunter instead.

Maya moved past us toward the sensor array, her hand brushing my arm as she passed. "Remember what you promised," she said quietly, her scientist's eyes measuring the reaction between Jenna and me with careful precision. "Always chosen, never coerced."

I nodded stiffly, the words a reminder of the vow I'd made not just to Jenna but to myself.

My culture had taught me protection meant control, that a warrior shielded his mate through strength and will.

Earth humans understood protection differently…

as support, as respect for choice, even when that choice led toward danger.

"Enhancer at eighty percent," Silvyr announced, his projection expanding throughout the chamber, fracturing into multiple instances that monitored different systems simultaneously. "The resonance is starting to affect ship systems. Nothing critical yet, but expect fluctuations."

As if on cue, the lights dimmed, then flared brightly before stabilizing. The consoles beneath my hands sputtered, readouts flickering between languages as the Heartforge struggled to maintain cohesion against the enhancer's disruptive field.

Silvyr's voice rerouted through the communication relay, his deep tones distorted by static. "Reality's systems are experiencing interference. We are compensating, but the effect is stronger than anticipated."

Jenna's grip on my arm tightened, her nails digging into my flesh. I looked down to find her face drawn, eyes wide but determined.

"What does that mean?" she demanded, her voice steady despite the tremor that had overtaken her body.

Silvyr's projection moved closer, code-streams rippling with what might have been concern. "It means you're broadcasting at full power already. Your genetic signature is practically screaming across the void."

A new alarm sounded, sharp and insistent. Maya spun toward the long-range scanners, her practiced calm slipping for just a moment.

"Multiple signatures dropping from warp," she announced. "Voraxx configuration, hunter-class vessels. Six—no, eight ships."

"They're early," Vylit's voice filled the room as he took over the screens. "The convoy isn't due for another four hours."

Silvyr's projection split into multiple instances, each monitoring a different aspect of the approaching threat. "They weren't waiting for the convoy," he concluded, streams of data flowing through his translucent form. "They were already hunting in this sector."

The tactical display lit up with hostile markers, eight Voraxx ships arranging themselves in a familiar pattern. The same accelerant spread that Jenna had identified during our first encounter. My ember marks flared hot with recognition.

"They're boxing us in," I growled, feeling the heat phase building at the base of my skull. "Preparing to herd us toward the asteroid belt at sector seven."

Jenna's body suddenly went rigid against mine, a small cry escaping her lips as the enhancer pulsed stronger. The filament beneath her skin glowed visible now, a network of light spreading from her throat down her chest like luminous veins.

"Jenna!" I caught her as her knees buckled, sweeping her into my arms without thinking.

"I'm okay," she gasped, though clearly she wasn't. "Just... stronger than expected."

The moss hammock on the far side of the chamber pulsed invitingly, sensing her distress. I carried her toward it, ignoring Maya's concerned look and Silvyr's rapid analysis of the enhancer's unexpected behavior.

"The hammock will help ground you," I explained, lowering her onto the living weave. The moss immediately responded, tendrils curling around her limbs with gentle pressure, anchoring her against the enhancer's disruptive resonance.

Jenna didn't resist as the moss cradled her body, her eyes finding mine with startling clarity despite her pain. "Don't you dare deactivate the enhancer," she warned, reading my intention before I could act on it. "We've got them exactly where we want them."

"They have us surrounded," I pointed out, kneeling beside the hammock, one hand covering hers where it rested on the moss. "The plan was to draw them to us, not to be outnumbered and cornered."

"Plans change." Her mouth curved into that defiant smile I'd come to both admire and fear. "Now we're the irresistible prize they can't ignore."

The tactical display confirmed her assessment. The Voraxx ships had slowed their approach, maintaining distance while tightening their formation. They were cautious, too cautious for simple pirates. Something about our signal had made them hesitate.

"They're scanning us," Vylit announced, his webbed fingers flying across the sensor array. "Deep-spectrum analysis of Jenna's genetic signature."

Silvyr's primary projection expanded, a grimace spreading across his code-streaked features. "They're looking for verification before they commit. Smart. They want to be sure she's truly unbonded before they risk a capture attempt."

"Can they tell?" Jenna's voice came weaker now, the enhancer's toll becoming more evident.

"They can detect the chemical markers," Vylit confirmed. "But they can't determine the stability of the match or your willingness to bond. That's what makes unbonded pairs so valuable… the potential remains open."

Jenna's hand turned beneath mine, her fingers intertwining with my much larger ones. The moss hammock thrummed beneath us, responding to the contact. Her eyes held mine, something unspoken passing between us.

"I trust you," she whispered, the words so quiet that only I could hear them.

Those three words shattered whatever resistance remained in me. My marks blazed with sudden, fierce heat, patterns shifting across my obsidian skin in complex declarations of protection, of devotion, of... something I hadn't dared name even to myself.

"And I you," I answered in my native tongue, the ancient words carrying weight beyond their simple translation. I switched back to common language, my voice rough with emotion. "I will hold you through this. Protect you. Burn for you if necessary."

The Heartforge trembled suddenly, a warning klaxon piercing the moment. On the tactical display, the Voraxx ships had moved in unison, firing a coordinated volley that struck our shields with precision.

"They're testing our defenses," I snarled, rising to my feet though I kept my hand linked with Jenna's. "Reality, what's your status?"

"Shields at ninety-three percent," Silvyr reported. "We are repositioning to provide overlapping coverage."

Through the viewscreen, I watched as Silvyr's crystalline vessel slid alongside the Heartforge, its defense grid activating to create a barrier between us and three of the Voraxx ships. A strategic position that left both vessels protected while maintaining our mobility.

The enhancer pulsed again, stronger than before.

Jenna gasped, her back arching against the moss hammock which tightened its hold, supporting her through the surge.

The filaments beneath her skin glowed bright enough to shine through her clothing now, a beacon of genetic potential that had drawn our hunters straight to us.

"Signal at maximum intensity," Silvyr announced, his projection splitting into a dozen instances that danced around the chamber, monitoring systems, analyzing the Voraxx response, tracking the enhancer's effect on Jenna's physiology.

"And we have confirmation—they're watching.

Not just the ships around us, but someone else.

The signal's being relayed through a quantum channel. "

"Asset P," Vylit breathed, looking up from his console. "They're reporting directly to Asset P."

Silvyr's primary projection coalesced before us, his usual chaotic energy replaced by predatory focus. "They're here. And watching." His code-streaked face split into a grin that held no humor. "Just as we planned."

Another volley from the Voraxx ships rocked the Heartforge, the impact vibrating through the obsidian floors and walls. The ember-veins running through the ship pulsed in response, drawing on my heat to strengthen the shields where they'd been struck.

I tightened my grip on Jenna's hand, my marks blazing like magma rivers across my skin. The plan had changed, but the goal remained the same—draw Asset P into the open, force them to reveal themselves by dangling the bait they couldn't resist.

Jenna squeezed back, her eyes fever-bright but focused. Even now, trembling in the moss hammock as the enhancer wracked her body with pulses of genetic amplification, she remained unbroken. Unbowed.

"Tell Silvyr to trace that quantum channel," she ordered, her voice steadier than I expected. "If Asset P is watching, we need to find out from where."

I relayed her command, pride surging through my marks as Silvyr's projections scrambled to comply. She wasn't just enduring this, she was fighting back, using her position as bait to turn the trap against our hunters.

"The real battle has only just begun," I murmured, bringing her hand to my chest where my heart pounded beneath blazing scars. "But we face it together."

Her smile was fierce despite her pain. "Not as predator and prey," she agreed. "But as hunters with a common target."

Outside, the Voraxx ships tightened their formation, preparing for another, stronger assault.

The Reality's crystalline form gleamed beside us, its defenses aligned with the Heartforge's in perfect synchronicity.

And somewhere beyond them all, Asset P watched through quantum relays, drawn by the siren call of Jenna's unbonded genetic signature, unaware that they were being hunted in turn.