Font Size
Line Height

Page 2 of Trusting Warik (Hissa Warrior #9)

Chapter 2

Warik

Hidden in the shadows, Warik watched Nisha walk by with the barely functioning droid squeaking along beside her. The old droid wobbled a little as it moved, giving a comedic effect as the sensor cluster on top swiveled back and forth.

“Where could he have gone? The ship isn’t that big!” she muttered. He noticed that she often talked as if there was someone with her. He shouldn’t find it endearing.

Guilt made him wish he could rewind time and take back his unkind words. He wasn’t normally so mean to anyone, not even those he distrusted.

When he’d first started gathering and analyzing information, he’d been full of hope. Over the last few years, he’d recovered almost a hundred Decanted human women sold into slavery. Not a single one of them ever gave him a second look. He watched other warriors pair up with these women. Saw mating marks appear around the women’s necks. There were even babies now. Healthy and beautiful human-Hissa hybrids.

Part of him was overjoyed to know that his species wasn’t going to die out. They weren’t going to be the same as before the Great Death, but all species adapted if they wanted to survive.

The other part of him had gone cold. It was the only way he could keep doing his job. He’d come to terms with never finding a mate.

Or at least he thought he had.

When they didn’t think he could hear, the other Hissa whispered that he had no emotions. If only they could see how he acted around Nisha, they’d take it all back. It was torture to be around this human. She was beautiful, smart, and lived by a strong sense of justice he admired. She even smelled good.

She was perfect in every way, except perhaps her eagerness to rush into danger.

Every moment he was around her, the coldness he’d worked so hard to build started to thaw. That made him unreasonably angry, and he took it out on Nisha.

“I know, I know,” Nisha said. She was far enough down the hall now that he couldn’t see her anymore, only hear her talking and the squeak of the droid. “But I want to talk to him now. What if we run into a debris field and have to spend the rest of the trip frantically repairing the ship? I’d never get a chance to really talk to him.”

Leaving his hidden spot, he followed the two. She probably wanted to tell him what a bastard he was. He should make himself known and accept whatever insults she hurled at him.

It wasn’t her fault he was developing feelings.

“I’m not being dramatic, it could happen,” she said, continuing to have a conversation with the air. Or perhaps she was talking to the droid now. They’d been on the ship for several days, and he’d worked hard on not being around her. She had to be lonely. Repairing the droid must’ve been her way of creating company.

He’d only meant to check on her, not frighten her. Then she’d slapped back with an insult, and he’d realized how mean he was acting toward her. It made him want to run away in shame. Which he’d kind of done.

When had he become such a coward?

Her footsteps suddenly stopped. “Wait, what?”

He didn’t have time to move before she retraced her steps to find him right behind her, only hidden by the slight bend of the corridor. It was almost as if someone had told her that he was there.

Instead of frowning, she looked relieved to see him. “I’ve been looking for you.”

As she stepped closer, he tried hard not to be drawn in by her delicate scent. “I’m here, what do you need?”

“There are eleven droid units in there,” she said, pointing behind him to the work room. “I know I can get four of them to work. We can use them to help take over the station when we get there.”

None of that was what he expected. “Help?”

She nodded her head. “I know they’re not battle droids, but it doesn’t take much for a droid to cause trouble. I could program them to do things like being a shield. Or they could disassemble stuff.” Her expression lit up. “A few of them are duct droids, we could send them out to mess up sensors. We might be able to make it look like an entire army is invading!”

He’d been studying plans for the last few days, worrying about how he was going to take over an entire station by himself. He knew the staff was minimal, but it only took one moment of bad luck, and he could be injured or dead. He was shocked to find Nisha had been forming plans of her own.

“That’s not a bad idea,” he murmured.

Nisha tilted her head and gave him a wry smile. “Don’t sound so shocked.”

Guilt spiked through Warik. It didn't show on his face or his scale pattern, since he’d learned absolute control long ago. His locked down emotions were screaming at him to tell her he admired her skills and hard work, but he couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. He couldn’t be that vulnerable.

“What can I do to help?” he asked instead.

She blinked in surprise. “Help?”

“Yes, help.” He pointed to the droid next to her. “I don’t know how to fix them, but I can follow instructions. These droids could be the difference between an easy capture of the station and a protracted and uncertain battle.”

A happy, welcoming smile unfurled. “Together, we might be able to get eight of them running enough to be useful.” She tilted her head as if listening to someone, then shook her head. “Seven, not eight. I forgot that one of them is completely missing the instrument cluster transmitter. That won’t be any good to us.”

“Seven is a good number,” he murmured. Suddenly, all he wanted was to spend time with her even though it wreaked havoc with his control.

The droid next to Nisha squeaked forward. He was forced to step out of its way because it wasn’t going to stop. As it was, the thing managed to run over his foot as it passed by.

Nisha giggled. “I think Sh–uh, the droid is ready to go back to the workstation.”

The thing must have faulty proximity sensors, otherwise, all its programming would keep it from touching him in any way.

The way Nisha found the droid’s action funny and spoke of it as if it had independent thought reminded Warik again about all the time she was forced to spend alone. He was used to being alone, but no one else should have to endure solitude.

Nisha followed the droid, and Warik fell in step next to her. They walked in silence, and he noticed her forcing a smile off her face several times.

“Do I amuse you?” he asked, working hard on keeping his tone gentle. He didn’t want it to sound accusatory.

“Not you, exactly,” she said. “The whole situation is a little funny.”

That was a curious answer. “In what way?”

“I don’t really know you, you don’t know me, and we’re going to a place where we don’t know what to expect,” she explained. “If I didn’t find it funny, I’d be petrified.”

He stopped in his tracks. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear the future.

She continued for a step but halted and turned around with a curious expression. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re not in danger,” he said. “I’ve been going over plan after plan and in every single one, I drop you off at a safe place before reaching the station-ship. I promise no harm will come to you.”

By the time he’d finished speaking, the droid had also turned around and wheeled back to stand next to Nisha. She must have done some kind of special programming because the thing was acting more like a loyal minari than a droid.

Nisha crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going with you. You can’t go in alone.”

“I won’t be alone, I’ll have your droids with me,” he answered and gestured to the one next to her.

Nisha shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. You need me. I might not be a fighter, but I know tech. While you’re fighting, I can work on getting into their system and disabling things. I can guide the droids and do all kinds of other things to cause chaos. I’m already working on something that will give me control once it gets into their system.”

The thought of her close to battle terrified him. It made him draw on the cold control that never failed him. “No. I will be dropping you someplace else, even if I have to carry you off this ship. I’m bigger and stronger than you, don’t test me.”

Far from being intimidated by his words, Nisha’s shoulders went back, and her chin lifted. “No one intimidates me! Size means nothing in this universe, not when I have her at my side.”

She reached out and patted the droid at her side. One of the vid captures on the droid's sensor cluster fell off and landed with a loud crack on the hard metal floor.

“Damn, sorry about that,” Nisha muttered as she leaned over and picked it up.

“What were you saying about having a droid at your side?” he taunted as Nisha winced and dropped the vid capture again. “What have you done?”

Warik covered the short distance between them and grabbed her hand. Nisha tried to pull free, but he easily held her. There was a small cut dripping blood on her first finger.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I cut myself all the time.”

Judging from all the old scars on her fingers and palm, she spoke the truth. What was wrong with this human that she injured herself so much?

“Do you not wish to live?” he asked, worried that loneliness might have driven her to a desperate state.

His question was met with a confused stare. “What?”

“You’ve been injuring yourself repeatedly. Is it due to stress or a desire to end your existence?” he pressed. That would explain why she was so adamant about going into battle even though she had no training.

It would take some time, but once they were back on Hissa, he was sure a mind mender could help her work through her self-destructive behavior.

“You think I’m trying to commit suicide?” she asked, then started laughing. “I mean, that’s sweet of you to worry, but no, I’m not planning to off myself. The things I work on are always full of sharp corners or broken bits, so I get nicked on a regular basis. This is just another one to add to the collection.”

She tried to pull her hand free again, but he refused to let go. If she was this casual about piercing her skin and drawing blood, what other injuries was she hiding?

“Do you have wounds anywhere else?” he asked, letting his eyes slide up and down her body. “Humans are delicate. Small cuts can lead to large problems.”

“I promise, I’m not that delicate,” she said with an annoyed huff.

“I want to run a scanner over you anyway,” he declared and let go of her hand.

“I don’t need—” she started to say, but her words ended in a gasp when he picked her up and started walking to the small med room on the ship.

By the moons, she felt good cradled against his chest. He knew this was an unreasonable action, but his growing alarm at seeing her blood couldn’t be calmed, even by his notoriously strong willpower. The thought that there might be something worse lurking in her body made him feel a little crazy.

Getting to carry her helped calm him down. It was almost as if his body craved to hold her tightly to him. Something deep in his chest settled and warmed, a sensation he hadn’t felt since he’d lost his entire family to the Great Death.

What would he do to be able to keep this human in his life? Nearly anything—and that was a problem. He had a job to do for his people and couldn’t afford to be distracted by Nisha.

The only thing worse than getting to hold her for this short time was knowing he’d probably never get to do it again.

“Warik, put me down!” she demanded as thoughts and emotions swirled through his head. “A scratch on my finger isn’t a good reason to carry me.”

“We’ll get to the med room faster if I carry you,” he said, keeping his eyes on the corridor in front of him. If he looked down, he might stop and do something irrevocable, like press his lips to hers.

Warik’s data bracelet pinged, then Rakin’s voice came out. “I’m getting an alert that you’re moving fast. What’s wrong?”

“I’m taking Nisha to med bay,” Warik answered.

“Is it serious?” Rakin asked, sounding worried. “I can meet you there.”

“Only because this human refuses to look after herself,” Warik grumbled. “Keep working on contacting Steadfast or Ardent.” The last thing he needed was Rakin taking up space in the small med bay while he treated Nisha.

“Understood,” Rakin answered, sounding amused now. “Contact me if you require assistance.”

“I look after myself just fine!” Nisha objected. “And I don’t need the med room. I have skin sealant in the shop.”

The sounds of frantic squeaking made Warik look over to find the droid working hard to keep up with his long strides.

“Skin sealant could trap foreign particles in the wound,” he said, already envisioning her finger swelling with infection. Did she have no sense of self-preservation!

“I would’ve washed it out,” she said as he walked into the med room. “But since we're here, never mind.”

He didn’t want to set her down on the exam table, but he would need his hands free to use the scanner, cleanser, and skin sealant. The moment he let go, she tried to slide off the table.

“Stay,” he barked.

Freezing in place, she glared at him. “Don’t order me around like that.”

Realizing he was being too harsh; he stepped back and dipped his head a little. “Please let me treat your finger and use the scanner on you. It’s important to me to know you are well.”

Her expression relaxed back into her normal pleasant expression. “I guess we’re already here and… do you smell fire?”

She looked down, and he followed her gaze to see smoke billowing from under the droid. The droid’s sensor cluster whirled in a fast circle as if it was panicked and then it took off for the misting hood used for species that needed to spend time in high humidity.

“Crap!” Nisha cursed as she jumped off the table and rushed to follow the droid. Unsure what they were doing, Warik watched as the droid wheeled jerkily under the hood, and Nisha slapped the controls to the device. The hood fell down, covering the droid and the maximum amount of water sprayed down. A few sparks shot from the droid, then the indicator lights went out, and the entire droid went still.

Nisha looked up at Warik with a half grin. “I guess this one’s going to take a little more work.”