“I’ve got nothing to say,” I said, yawning for good measure. “I just wanna sleep.”
“You’re not sleeping, and you fucking know it,” Echo quipped. “Your breathing isn’t even, and your body is too tense. I’m not stupid enough not to see what’s right in front of me.”
The cranky twin is more perceptive than I gave her credit for.
I opened my eyes and looked directly at Echo who was standing up next to her bed with her hands balled into fists at her side. Envi was sitting on her bed, but she kept flicking her eyes back and forth between Echo and myself like we were going to come to blows at any second.
“Sit down, Echo,” I said as firmly as I could. “I’m not interested in arguing.”
“Are you sure?” she tilted her head. “You seem like your fixing for a fight to me.”
“I’m positive.”
“Well, tough. Get your ass up,” she all but growled. “I told you not to scare my sister again.”
“I’m not scared.” Envi jumped to her feet. “Lay off, Echo. I’m not scared.”
“Bullshit,” Echo snapped, still focused on me as I sat upright on my bed. “You’ve been walking on eggshells since that big Maji fellow brought her back here a few hours ago, and I’m not having you scared of the Maji and certainly not from this bitch.”
Unwillingly, I stood from my bed, knowing exactly where this was heading. Envi and Echo were only twenty years old, Envi mentioned it during one of her many ramblings, but that three-year age gap between us as well have been three decades. I was wise enough to know when to avoid a fight. Heck, I made running and hiding my entire life, but it seemed the twins didn’t.
“Think about this,” I said, flexing my fingers. “We don’t have to fight.”
“When you scare and disrespect my blood, we do.”
I was surprised at how quickly Echo moved. She stood on Envi’s bed and literally jumped at me with her arms extended. Envi was screaming hysterically before Echo even crashed into me, but as soon as her body hit mine and we flew backwards onto my bed, her volume increased.
“Help!” she screeched just as pain exploded across my face, and the metallic twang of blood filled my mouth. “Somebody help!”
All bets were off as I focused on Echo, who was straddling me with her arm raised and hand fisted as she threw another punch at my face. Venting my anger, confusion, and helplessness from the past three days, I unleashed it on Echo.
With a grunt, I rolled us over and pinned her under me before she could hit me again. I quickly slammed my fist into her face. I ignored the pain that shot up my arm and delivered two more quick punches, hitting Echo’s jaw twice. I used my free hand to tangle in her hair, so I could keep her head still. I rasped in pain when her knee smashed into my side, knocking the air out of me. I applied all my weight on her to keep her from using her limbs as weapons, but the crazy bitch switched things up and head butted me. I saw stars for a few seconds before I turned to the side and rammed my elbow into her temple, dazing her.
Envi’s panicked screams broke through my clouded mind as my head was yanked back by my hair. The force of it pulled me off of Echo and resulted in me hitting the floor with a mighty thud. I groaned in pain but opened my eyes to focus on the twins. Envi was the one who had pulled me away, but it was only so she could get me off of her sister. I knew that the second Envi went to Echo’s aid instead of jumping on me.
I looked to my right when the door to the room opened and two male Maji hustled inside. I knew there would be no more fighting, so I closed my eyes and let my head fall back to the floor. I gripped my left side and silently cursed when pain pulsed with each breath I took. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Echo had broken a couple of my ribs. The pain from it overwhelmed the throbbing on my face.
I heard rushed talking when Envi stopped screaming; she was still pretty hysterical as she shouted at the males, though. I opened my eyes and saw a familiar face was hovering over mine, and I tried my best to smile without wincing.
“Hey, Vorah.”
He touched my face, and I hissed in pain which only caused his face to scrunch up in what appeared to be anger. “You fought bravely, Nova,” he said with a firm nod. “You fought with honour; your opponents did not.”
“Thanks,” I hissed as I moved. “I guess.”
“You’re a fierce female,” Vorah continued.
He looked at me with so much admiration that I honestly felt gutted we couldn’t go on a date to see if we liked one another. Kol, prince dick, made sure of that with his orders.
“I can’t be your intended,” I rasped, gripping my side. “Kol forbid it.”
Vorah’s shoulders slumped. “I know. My prince requested an audience with me not long after our first meeting.”
Worry surged through me, and it was only then that I noticed the discolouration to different parts of Vorah’s face. His right eye was a much darker shade of blue, so was his nose and jaw. It looked almost navy in contrast to his blue skin.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I asked, swallowing down the blood that filled my mouth. “Please, tell me that he didn’t hurt you.”
Vorah didn’t respond to me, but his expressive face answered for him. Kol had harmed Vorah for doing what the Maji were supposed to do—seek human females to be their wives.
“I’m going to kick his ass!”
Vorah smiled. “You truly are a mighty female.”
“I don’t feel very mighty right now,” I admitted. “This hurts so bad.”
He frowned. “You were attacked without honour and could not defend yourself when the small female grabbed you from behind. Do not feel bad.”
I blinked a couple of times. “How did you know Envi pulled my hair?”
Vorah pointed up at the white ceiling. “Motion capture.”
I widened my eyes. “There’s a camera in here?”
“Of course.” Vorah answered. “How can we make sure human females are safe if we cannot see them?”
I didn’t know how to answer that, so I remained mute.
“Are you angry?” Vorah asked me, his soft blue eyes scanning my face. “You look angry.”
“I’m not angry,” I assured him. “It just would’ve been nice to know about the cameras.”
Vorah bobbed his head in understanding. “We don’t track our females back home; it is only aboard the Ebony to protect human females until both Maji and humans are known to the other. And to make sure you humans play nice.”
I understood the need for security, but it’d have been nice to be informed. Years of survival and the need to know every single little thing about my surroundings meant it was hard for me to hand over the reins to someone else where my safety was concerned, but I’d have to if I wanted to fit in with the Maji.
“It’s okay, Vorah.” I winced when my ribs screamed in protest of my breathing. “I just need to get to the medical bay. Is Surkah still working?”
“I’m unaware of my princess’s schedule,” he said, his face flushing dark blue.
I wanted to smile at how he reacted to my question about Surkah, but I couldn’t because black dots began to spot my vision.