Page 18 of Needed in the Night (The Fortusian Mates, #2)

MIKAS

I expected Nubo to confront me about the market trip, demanding answers about the time Isla and I had spent out of sight of the spy he had sent to watch us, but he did not.

In fact, I saw very little of him for the next two days.

He emerged only to meet with a few new vendors and bark orders at me about inconsequential things like how I had rearranged the shelves behind the bar to feature recent additions to our beverage offerings.

Rather than relieve my worry, my uneasiness and need to protect Isla grew by the hour.

Day and night, my spines prickled and my skin itched as if a thousand Muravii fang beetle larva were crawling over me.

Nothing lessened my tension—no drink, no music, not even my basking stone.

I had to choke down food. No matter what I tried to eat, it tasted like dust.

Only when I was behind the bar and Isla was onstage or sitting on her chair across from me were my hours tolerable.

I spoke to her kindly and served her jampas and brandy as always, but I felt certain she saw my hands tremble sometimes.

She kept up the ruse too that nothing had changed between us and smiled when we spoke, but worry lurked in her violet gaze.

At night, alone in my apartment with Isla out of my sight, my chest felt tight and I struggled to breathe.

The mere thought of losing Isla filled me with rage and threatened to unleash something dreadful and monstrous within myself I had glimpsed only a handful of times in my life, on the battlefield and in my darkest dreams.

I did not want Isla to see that part of me. I could withstand anything else from her, even disappointment or anger, though my stomach churned at the prospect. But if she ever looked on me with fear, I did not think my hearts could take it.

Other than Nubo’s conspicuous and very sudden preference for staying in his office, I had not seen or heard anything that led me to think danger was imminent, but every fiber of my being rang out like bells.

I did not know what had triggered my most primal instincts, but something had. Perhaps Nubo had finally satisfied himself about Isla’s background, or some other danger lurked just out of sight. Regardless of the reason, I must get us away now , somehow.

Isla did not yet know the depths of my love and devotion, but she did want us to get away from Nubo. She had said so, or she had very nearly said so. Now instead of merely dream, I could plan.

The safest choice would be to leave Fortusia. To do that, we would have to get from Zaa’ga to one of the city’s spaceports and aboard an off-planet cruiser, which would be very difficult given Nubo’s surveillance. For extra security, we would also need new identities.

Using a secure transmission via my wristcomm, I contacted an old friend from my Corps days to begin that process. The price of two completely new identities so well-crafted they would pass scrutiny was exorbitant, but the value outweighed the cost—at least, to me. I considered it an investment.

Isla loved Fortusia, as did I. My hearts ached at the prospect of leaving, even if Isla were with me.

But there were many beautiful worlds in Alliance space and more beyond its borders.

Surely we could find another planet that would fill our hearts with as much joy as this one.

It was only a matter of choosing a destination.

On the third day since the market trip, about a half hour before I planned to leave my apartment for my shift, something tapped on my window. I jumped to my feet from my sofa, where I had been trying unsuccessfully to focus on reading about Engareni perfumes, and snarled, my spines flaring.

A shadowy winged form perched on the tiny ledge. Sunlight glinted on a pair of large eyes—the only part of the creature that was more than a silhouette.

I strode to the window. “Brae?” The window was soundproof, but he should be able to read my lips.

The shadowbat balanced on one clawed foot and raised the other to give me a little wave. Why was he at my window? Had something happened to Isla? My never-ending uneasiness turned to dread.

I used my wristcomm to open the window. Once Brae slipped inside, I closed it again.

Still in his shadow form, he flew through my entire apartment—living area, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, as if checking to make sure I was alone—and then landed on the back of my sofa. He turned solid then, and from black and gray to bright blue and purple.

“Is Isla all right?” I demanded, without bothering with a greeting.

He studied me. “She’s fine,” he replied finally, and I started to breathe again.

I had never spoken to a shadowbat before. His voice was scratchy and sibilant, but clear enough that I could understand him easily.

“But she won’t be if we don’t get out of here soon,” he added, and my gut wrenched. “If she’s your mate, you need to do what’s right for her.”

I stood frozen, my hearts pounding in my ears. How did he know? How long had he known? And most importantly…

“Does she know?” I rasped.

“No.” He stretched his wings and wiggled more deeply into the sofa’s plush backrest, as if making a kind of temporary nest for himself.

“She finds it difficult to see what’s in her own heart because of everything she’s been through.

I won’t say any more about that because Isla’s secrets are hers to tell when she’s ready.

It’s not that she doesn’t want your love or devotion.

She does, very much. And she deserves it. She cares about you deeply.”

“As a friend.” I did not intend for my voice to sound so hollow, but it did.

Again, Brae eyed me, as if debating what to say.

“That is what she tells herself,” he said. “But when she speaks of you, I see her change. She worries about you constantly, and she says your name in her sleep. If you tell her I told you that, you will regret it very much.”

I found myself short of breath again, but for an entirely different reason.

His eyes glowed. “I love Isla. So if you hurt her in any way, or let her come to harm, I swear on all the gods above and below I will make sure you suffer for it.”

“You do not need to worry,” I said, without rancor because he spoke out of devotion to Isla. “I love her with all my hearts and soul.”

I had never spoken those words aloud. Giving voice to my most profound secret made my skin tingle and hearts race.

“Then you’d better tell her so and get her away from here.” Brae’s stare was intense. “You’ve sensed it too, haven’t you? Something in the air. Something closing in.”

“Yes.” My chest rumbled. “What do you know about it?”

“Nothing more than you do,” he said, which was a disappointment. “I’ve been keeping watch and listening in whenever and wherever I can, and I’ll continue to do so, but?—”

“I will protect her,” I stated.

He made a chuffing sound. “Isla needs someone to stand beside her, not in front of her. If you’re smart, you’ll remember that.”

I frowned. “Why would she not wish to be protected?”

“I didn’t say she doesn’t want to be protected,” he countered. “I said she wants someone to fight beside her, and someone to fight beside. If she’s your true mate, isn’t that what you want too?”

Stunned, I stared at Brae. A Pallasian shadowbat understood the physiology of true mates that well?

I thought of the confrontation between Isla and the Hardanian.

The way she faced him had thrilled and satisfied—and yes, aroused—me as much or more than anything else about my mate.

Truly, in my hearts and soul I did not want to stand in front of her and fight her battles for her. I wanted to do as Brae described.

“Yes, that is what I want,” I said quietly. “It would be my greatest honor and privilege to fight at her side.”

“Then do it.” He rose and stretched his wings.

“I don’t keep any secrets from Isla. You can tell her we spoke today when the time is right.

Soon, she’ll ask you to go with her back to Madame Ycari’s shop to pick up her perfume.

Start planning now what you’re going to say to her when you get there, and what you’re going to do to get us the hells away from here. ”

I had been planning my future with Isla from the moment we had met.

“I will,” I said .

“Good.” He glanced at the window. “If you wouldn’t mind…?”

I activated the window. Brae took to the air, faded to a shadow, and flew out of my apartment, disappearing from sight before I could reach the window.

My shift was due to start in minutes. But rather than close the window immediately and leave, I let the breeze and sunshine caress my skin and the familiar scents of Onat’ras fill my nose and lungs.

Yes, Fortusia was my homeworld, but Isla was my home.

If she accepted me as her mate, I would be her home as well, though human physiology was not the same as mine.

I would provide her with deep contentment and security and love.

It was not a pink waterfall or a towering oth’canto tree, but it would be good.

Finally, the time forced me to finish getting ready for work and leave my apartment.

Mindful of Nubo’s surveillance and the looming threat neither Brae nor I could identify yet, I forced myself to keep my expression neutral and not reveal either the effervescent feeling in my hearts or that I was keeping a much closer watch on my surroundings than usual.

Passing Isla’s door without pausing required focus too. I pictured her on the other side of the wall, reading or listening to music, or resting, or maybe practicing ahead of her shift later tonight.

Finish her perfume , I willed Madame Ycari. Summon us to your shop so I can open my hearts.