Page 33 of Whispers of the Void (Voidborn Chronicles #1)

My heart drops as I hear the news over the comms system. They came for me. I’m not surprised, but I am sad. This forces me into making a decision at the worst possible time. I believe Raiz that he had no plans to be with that female.

I still trust him.

It just hurt. It hurt so much more than I was expecting. It felt like getting stabbed and then having the knife twisted.

Despite feeling like I’ve known him my entire life, we only just met. Today just served as a wakeup call to not give myself away so easily. Maybe it’s a sign that I should think a little more carefully about what I’m doing instead of jumping straight into things.

Hyva sits down next to me, his shoulder brushing mine and giving me just a little bit of grounding support. He doesn’t ask me any questions, he just stays with me while Raiz picks up a headset and speaks quietly into it. I’m sure he’s giving instructions to Mydax.

“Did you guys think they’d come for me?” I ask Hyva.

“They’d be stupid not to come for you. Honestly, it took them longer than I thought it would.”

“You guys did kidnap me from my bed.”

“That we did. Well, I didn’t encourage the idea. It goes against my oath as a doctor.”

We fall into a comfortable silence. I wonder who came to retrieve me. Am I going to go back with them? I could just walk away. After the horrifying experience of the Bak’hura, I don’t think anyone would blame me.

“How long until we reach the ship?” I ask.

“Forty-seven minutes,” Altis answers.

“Forty-seven minutes to decide your future,” Hyva says quietly. “Tick tock.”

“Stars, Hyva.” I ram my shoulder into his. “But you’re not wrong.”

I want to stay. I look over at Raiz and wonder if I could actually leave him. Just the thought guts me.

But then maybe that’s why I should leave. I can’t go from the structure of the Order to jumping into the arms of the first male that shows interest, right? Even if it feels better than anything I’ve experienced.

Not that I want to return to my life on Oculus Nine. I know that for a fact. Having seen a tiny slice of the galaxy outside the glass walls I was raised within, I know I want more. I want to explore, meet people, see new things. I won’t do that locked away in my library office on the Eye.

Raiz sets the headset down and clenches his jaw. I watch as he paces back and forth several times, both hands raking through his hair as he closes his eyes. He finally stops and crosses to me, kneeling in front of me and placing his hands over my thighs.

“Leave,” he orders Hyva, who gets up and walks to speak with the twins, giving Raiz and I some semblance of privacy. “The choice is yours. They’re going to want to take you back, but you don’t have to go. You can stay with us. We can take you somewhere else, anywhere you want to go. I have enough credits to get you set up anywhere in the galaxy. I’ll give you anything you want or need.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to be happy.”

“What do you want me to do? If I gave you the decision?”

“If it was up to me? You’d never leave my side. We’d spend the rest of our lives together.”

“What if I don’t want to be Lady Aste?”

“Then I’d walk away and leave it to my cousin.”

Stars, I wasn’t expecting that answer. “Why?”

“Because you’re mine.”

He stands and leaves me to spiral. Which I do.

As Vynia pulls into the loading bay of Raiz’s ship, I don’t see one of the Order’s cruisers. Instead, I see a large freighter. It carries deep marks in the hull from what I can only assume are battles with pirates. Our galaxy is generally peaceful as far as interplanetary space goes.

Mydax is standing in front of a small group of the Order’s security team. Two Zeahiri security officers flank him. No one has weapons out, but the atmosphere seems tense.

A flash of gold streaks around the Zeahirian crew, and my breath is knocked free of my lungs when I feel Torre wrap herself around me. My arms embrace her back just as hard. It feels so good to have my best friend back in my arms. My eyes turn glassy as I look up and meet Raiz’s gaze over her shoulder.

“Torre, this is?—”

She drags me away from Raiz and pulls me behind her back protectively. “Stay away from her.” She lifts a blaster, clicking off the safety.

The space echoes with the shuffle of weapons being drawn, and when I look around, I see everyone has their weapon trained on someone else. All except for Raiz who just stares at me.

I put my hand over Torre’s arm and push it down. “Stop. They haven’t hurt me. It’s okay.”

She narrows her eyes. “They kidnapped you.”

“Only because they needed my help.”

“Your help for what? Reading a book?”

Her dismissive tone stings, and I take a step away from her. One of the reasons she and I would never work romantically is her tendency to not take my work seriously. She never saw a use in learning so many languages when universal translators exist.

“Watch how you speak to her, female,” Raiz growls, stepping toward me.

Torre lifts her blaster again. “Get the fuck away from her. Now.”

“How about we all calm down?” A male voice says, stepping out from behind the freighter.

I do a double take at the human male. Maybe it’s because I’ve only seen one other in real life, but he looks so much like the male I saw back on the pleasure planet in the bar. He walks over toward us with both hands up. As he comes closer I see that the holster he wears on his hip is empty. Finally, someone with some damn sense.

He comes to a stop in front of us, and he’s taller than I expected a human male to be. Not as tall as Raiz, obviously, but only an inch or two shorter than Hyva. His hair is a sandy brown color with streaks of gray. Deep lines crinkle from the corners of his dark blue eyes. He looks friendly. Almost familiar in the oddest way.

“Everyone put your weapons away. There’s just been a misunderstanding, Neev is fine and has been well taken care of onboard my ship.” Raiz holds his hand out for me, and I take it with no hesitation.

We link our fingers, and I dart a look at Torre, who looks like I just punched her. “Apparently she’s been so well taken care of that she's forgotten who she is,” Torre snarls the words. “What are you thinking Neev? This isn’t like you.”

“I just trust him. I trust them all. They’ve helped me learn things.” Raiz squeezes my fingers.

“Like how to suck a cock apparently,” Torre says under breath.

“Torre.” One of her commanding officers steps forward and pulls her back. “Speak like that again, and you’ll lose your rank faster than you can blink.”

She doesn’t care; I can see the glint of recklessness in her eyes as she steps toward us again. But instead of speaking to me, she turns to the human male. “Are you just going to let this go on without telling her? After everything you’ve done to keep her safe?”

Everyone’s head swivels to the male who glowers at Torre.

“Who are you?” Raiz asks.

“Captain Timothy Sanders,” he answers Raiz before turning to me. “But you can call me Dad.”