Page 26 of The Monster's Daughter

Kage shifts behind me, claws scraping stone. “It’s too easy.”

“Not every rescue is a trap,” I snap, but even to my own ears it sounds like I’m trying to convince myself.

The ramp drops.

And real people step out.

Not spider-things, not empty shells. Humans in battered evac armor, a Vakutan with medic patches sewn crooked on his sleeve, a Brall with a limp and a medbag slung over one shoulder. All wear the insignia I know too well—caduceus stylized with three stars. Recovery corps.

My throat tightens.

These are my people. My unit’s cousins. My training school’s rivals. The ones who come after the shooting stops, who patch the bodies and tag the dead.

I should feel relief.

Instead, my stomach twists.

Because standing behind me, looming like a stormcloud, is Kage.

And suddenly I don’t feel like their people anymore.

“Medic down!” one of them shouts, jogging toward me. “Two medics! Bring stretchers!”

“I’m fine,” I say quickly, scrambling down the rocks. “We’re fine?—”

Then hands are on me, steadying me, pulling me away from Kage. Too many hands. My pulse spikes.

“Easy,” another says. “We’ve got you. We’ll get you out of here.”

Kage growls low, his frills flaring, claws flexing. The medics freeze but don’t let me go.

“He’s with me,” I bark, jerking free.

“He’s a combatant,” someone snaps. “He’s a threat?—”

“He saved my life,” I lie, voice sharp enough to cut. “He’s defected.”

A murmur ripples through them. The Vakutan medic frowns. “Defected?”

“Yes,” I say, doubling down, heat rising in my face. “He’s not a soldier. He’s a civilian caught in the wrong place. He helped me. Without him I’d be dead right now.”

“That thing?” the Brall mutters.

“That thing,” I snap. “He’s with me.”

The commander steps forward—a tall human woman with lines around her eyes and a scar across her jaw. She studies me, then looks at Kage. “There’ll be a tribunal when we reach the fleet. Defection or not, he’s dangerous.”

My mouth goes dry. “We’re not going to the fleet,” I say, but it comes out too soft.

She arches a brow. “You’re still under Alliance protocol, Medic Senjak. You don’t get to decide that.”

I glance back at Kage. His silver eyes meet mine, steady and grim. He knows. I know.

We can’t win this one. Not by talking.

I lean toward him, voice a whisper. “We run at nightfall.”

His nostrils flare, but he nods once, slow.