Page 17

“Artek,” a low voice responded, the tones rough and threaded with a raw edge of pain.

“Are you finally going to let me leave this damn place?” There was a beat of silence, followed by, “Who are you hiding? What the blazing stars is going on?” Artek’s back twitched in front of me, and I saw the way his scales shivered and raised, a whispering noise filling the air.

I held my breath as I waited to see what my Shaman would do.

We weren’t touching right now; his sigils weren’t lit.

Would he lay claim to me in front of this Naga brethren?

Would he try to hide me? That didn’t seem like an option, as I was going on this journey with them.

He couldn’t hide me on this tiny sled during a two-day trek.

The silence stretched uncomfortably, and I wondered if I should break it.

If I stood up, I could see over Artek’s shoulder—show myself to this stranger.

I was almost ready to do so when Artek finally moved, just slightly, but enough that now Khawla and I could look at each other.

I drew in a shocked gasp at my first proper look at the other male.

No wonder Artek didn’t want him to travel yet; bandages covered so much of him, and the ones across his belly were stained with red, as if he’d bled into them.

Most shocking was the bandage that covered his head and one eye, hiding the right one.

That wound hadn’t bled through the pristine white, but it tightened over the eye socket in a way that wasn’t natural.

How damaged was that eye? The left one worked just fine, blinking, a silvery membrane sliding in from the side before opening again.

Then it widened, and he flicked out a long, split tongue.

“A human,” he hissed, and I wasn’t sure if it was hostility or pure surprise.

Artek lifted the tip of his tail, waving it in the air between him and his patient.

“Yes, and this human is the one you owe thanks to. She convinced me there’s a way to take you home.

” The tip flicked toward the sled I was on, and now it was definitely hostility that made Khawla bare his fangs and hiss in fury.

“I am not getting on a carrier. I will make the trek on my own,” he said.

But the amethyst glow of his one working eye softened as it came back to look at me, his head cocking at an angle as he appraised me.

Then he offered a slight nod, his sharp chin horn jutting dangerously toward his vulnerable throat.

The thank you Artek said he owed me. “Female, are you from Haven?”

Artek shifted again, definitely trying to hover protectively in front of me.

He was the one acting hostile, arms out wide, scales raised along his shoulders.

I didn’t know what to think. Was Khawla a threat to me?

In his injured state, that hardly seemed likely.

Was Artek acting possessive rather than protective?

Was that it? I shouldn’t like that, but I really did.

He was such a dichotomy: enlightened, educated, and feral barbarian.

“No,” I said, answering Khawla’s question.

“I’m from Earth,” I added, aware that it wouldn’t mean anything to him, but it was the only answer that seemed right.

“I’m Nala,” I continued, and I would have stuck out my hand for him to shake, if not for the distance.

Artek didn’t appear willing to let me cross it, and Khawla didn’t seem capable, he was upright, but that was about all that could be said.

“Khawla,” he answered but his confused expression told me he might not have understood much else I’d said.

Then he began talking rapidly to Artek, arguing that he could make the journey himself and didn’t need any help.

In the end, it was the fact that he ran out of breath and sat panting on the side of the bed that made him concede.

Artek had stayed firm throughout, not budging once, but he seemed to falter for a moment when it was finally time to get Khawla onto the supply-packed sled.

He turned to me, and I flung my legs over the edge, ready to jump down.

His expression was dark and disapproving, and I froze in place.

Was this when he reached out to touch me?

That would show Khawla that I was his mate.

Was he ready to reveal that? I hoped so.

Even though we hadn’t expressed it to each other yet, I’d implied that I knew that night we first kissed, but we hadn’t made any commitments. Not yet.

“You shouldn’t be walking either,” he said to me, and he reached out with his hands, picking me up and setting me on his feet.

His sigils flared, and he lingered in the touch, his hands on my hips long enough to ensure that Khawla saw it too.

The dark-colored male did not comment, just hissed as he heaved himself over the edge of the nest he was on and swayed onto the thick base of his tail.

Artek became all business then, finally switching into the caretaker role I knew he played so well.

Helping Khawla onto the sled, he gave the male a checkup with his handheld healing device.

A jeweled band of gold with rings that sat against his palm and wrist, glowing brightly as he worked over Khawla’s eyes and abdomen, where the worst wounds were located.

Once Khawla was situated, I pulled on my new winter coat, wriggled my toes in the boots Artek had probably also made, and began following them out the door.

We ran into Zap in the greenhouse, and I ducked to pet her and scratch her behind her cute round ears.

She purred, butted her head a few times against Artek’s tail, and then jogged off to curl up on one of the pillows in the seating area.

Artek chuckled. “Watch the place for me while we’re gone, yeah?

” So Zap wasn’t coming. I guess that made sense; it would just be a lot of walking, and at her age, with her limp, she probably just wanted to nap all day.

“Her collar keys her to the doors, she can come and go as she pleases,” Artek explained as we reached the large door at the edge of the greenhouse.

I’d seen it before, but hadn’t dared to open it yet.

“And it also protects her from predators.” I appreciated that he offered the information to assure me his pet would be safe while we were gone.

I got the impression that he didn’t feed her—that she scavenged her food on her own—so she was self-sufficient.

When I nodded at him to show I understood, he twisted to open the door, and I was blasted in the face with cold winter air.

Sweat had been gathering at the back of my neck from the heat of the greenhouse and my warm coat, and it felt like that turned to ice in a heartbeat.

Shit, that was cold. I hadn’t expected it to be that icy.

The sled went through first, and Khawla didn’t seem to care one bit about the temperature, nor did Artek.

Neither male was wearing much; Khawla had only his bandages—that was it.

The grass felt sharp and crisp beneath my boots, the ground frozen solid.

It felt like I was taking my first true breaths of alien air, as if stepping out of a bubble and onto the strange planet that Serant was.

As a cartographer, I’d seen and learned so much about the many alien worlds in the Alpha Quadrant, where Earth was located, but I’d never been part of any of it.

I’d known the foliage was all purples, but it was different to see the forest in winter without the glass dome barrier.

Tall gray trees with no leaves, ‘evergreens’ with purple needles, and a smell that faintly reminded me of pine trees and cinnamon.

Without the glass separating us, the skies seemed brighter too, and the mountains sharper and more defined.

One peak was especially impressive, and when I asked about it, I was told that was Ahoshaga, where Haven was located.

“And what is that big thing in the sky? Is that a huge bird?” I asked, my hand above my eyes to shield them from the violet sun and get a better look at what I saw.

Artek and Khawla both jerked around to look where I was pointing, their heads stuck close together and equally confused.

Khawla squinted with his one good eye, then groaned as if this were bad news, while my handsome Shaman shook his head, his expression turning very grim.

Worried, I looked back at the dark spot in the sky, clearly some kind of bird winging in our direction.

It was much bigger already, and now I was beginning to question exactly how big it was.

“That’s not a bird,” Artek said. Then he turned to Khawla and casually remarked, “You think if we hurry, they’ll fail to spot us under the trees?

” He gestured with his hand at the gray spires of the bare trees and the much more feathery not-pines.

They barely provided adequate cover. His response was beginning to freak me out.

Was that huge bird thing a predator? Were we in danger?

When I looked up again, it was getting so big I could start to make out a long neck and tail, the wings like giant sails.

The creature glittered like gold. Was that…

? Khawla laughed dryly. “I don’t think the trees will help us, my friend.

Maybe they will give me a ride, yes?” Give him a ride?

Now I was back to being confused, but neither male moved, staying in place as if they were waiting for the inevitable. Artek certainly looked resigned now.