Page 130 of Wrapped in Their Arms

He’ll torture us.Tortureher.Theneat us.Fuck.Notgonna let that happen.I’llcrash this ship into a star first.

Finally—blessedly—one of the sigils under his palm lit up red.

A channel opened.

There was a burst of static, then?—

“This is theKindredMotherShip, communications officerCommanderRavlispeaking, how canIhelp you?”a crisp voice answered.

Burn exhaled harshly.

“Hello?Areyou?—”

“Shut up and lishen,”Burnslurred.

Gods.Hiswords weren’t even coming out right.Histongue twisted everything sideways.Awave of humiliation shot through him—what if they thought he was drunk?Whatif they dismissed him?

No.Fuckno.Theyhave to hear me.Theyhave to understand or we’re dead.

“I’m…in…trouble,” he said slowly, forcing each word out like lifting boulders.“Bad…trouble.”

There was a pause.

“Who is this?”the warrior on the other side sounded suspicious—annoyed.“Isthis some kind of joke?”

“No joke!”Burnexclaimed, voice cracking as another wave of dizziness washed over him.“NameisBurn…BurnsBrightly.Twin…Kindred.”Heswallowed hard.“Captured…by pirash…Imean pirates.Soldto a…aTrollosh…Imean aTrollox.Stolehis fucking ship…need…need you to folsh…fold spash.”

His vision blurred again—stars streaking sideways in messy trails.Hisstomach lurched.

“Are you being serious?”the officer demanded sharply.“Youwant us to fold space for aTrolloxship?”

“If you don’t…I’llbe…dead,”Burnmanaged, gripping the steering yoke so tight his knuckles turned white.“Allmy friensh…dead.Please…need…help…”

His throat tightened.

Noelle can’t die.Brightcan’t die.Don’tlet me fuck this up…gods, don’t let me fail them…

“I can barely…barely work the controls,” he muttered, voice fading.“Please…been…drugged…”

His words were devolving into slush.Hedidn’t even know if they were intelligible anymore.

The officer on the line barked something—too fast forBurn’slagging brain to process.

Then—

Like a miracle—a crimson gash tore open the space directly in front of the shuttle.Ajagged, glowing slit, horizontal and humming with raw power.TheFold.

Burn could have cried with relief.

Holy fuck, they opened it—they actually opened it—thank the gods—now get us through—get us through before?—

His grip slipped on the yoke.Hisarms felt like water.Theshimmering red portal blurred, doubled, then tripled in his vision.

He fought it.Forcedevery ounce of strength left in him into one last motion…one last push.

With a hoarse sound, he shoved the steering yoke forward.

The shuttle lurched violently, engines roaring as it shot toward theFold.