Bossy. Arrogant. Rude. Intelligent. Kind. Dedicated. Monstrous. Devious. Mine.
There are many ways to describe my mate, but mine is my favorite of all.
My mate.
There is no denying it now.
He’s as much mine as I am his.
I find Kevin in the isolation pod we’ve designated for his room. It’s easier to keep him in the Medical Bay where we can keep an eye on him and treat his injuries—various and numerous. Even us prisoners were treated better, not much, but better. And I thought we had it bad.
He curls into a tight little ball on the cot affixed to one of the pod walls when he sees me in the doorway. “What do you want?” he asks. Whatever appreciation he felt at our rescue is gone. He trembles underneath the thin blanket we provided.
Holding up my hands, I say, “I’m not here to hurt you. I came to check on you to see if you need anything. Food, more medicine, some company. Whatever.”
“I don’t want anything.” True to Avrell’s word, tears begin to leak from Kevin’s eyes. “I just want to be left alone.”
“Do you have a family on Earth II?” I ask gently.
His lip wobbles. He says he’s thirteen, but the anguish on his face makes him look much younger. It’s a stark contrast to the lingering despair in his gaze. “No,” he spits out. “Do you?”
“My family is here.”
“You mean those monsters?” He shivers and I swear I can hear his teeth chattering from where I’m standing. “He killed people. You all did.”
“You don’t have to be afraid of him—or us. We don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then what do you want from me?” His gaze hardens. “I won’t belong to anyone again. I refuse.”
“We don’t want anything from you, only for you to get better. Those men you were with, they were trying to kill us. Avrell was only protecting us. He won’t hurt you.”
“If you don’t want anything from me, then why didn’t you kill me like the others? Why are you keeping me here?”
I want to go to his side, but I remember what it was like to be him, so I keep my distance for now. Maybe when he feels more comfortable again, he won’t shy away from the hugs he so desperately needs. “There’s no reason to kill you, Kevin. We’re keeping you because you need medical attention and Avrell is a doctor. He’s going to treat your injuries and we’ll get you fed. Our people are being attacked by more men from Earth II, so we’ll have to go to them soon, but after that, I’m sure our commander, Breccan, will help you get to wherever you want to go.”
“What will he require in return?” Kevin asks acidly.
“Nothing. We aren’t in the business of taking advantage of children.”
Kevin snorts and says, “Then what are you in the business of?”
I think for a moment and say, “Come with me if you want to find out.”
Turning on my heel, I head back to the main labs where Avrell is diligently bent over magnascopes and samples muttering to himself. A few moments later, I hear the tell-tale sound of tentative footsteps and hide my responding smile. He may be frightened, but he’s also very, very brave. He’d have to be to survive in this world—or on Earth II.
Avrell looks up when I stop by his side. “Everything okay with The-Kevin-Named-Kevin, stormy one?” he asks. Before all of this, hearing him call me stormy one would have made me rage and seethe like one of those awful geostorms. Now, it makes my insides glow.
“It’s just Kevin,” I correct him. “And I wanted to explain to him what it is we’re doing here and why it’s important.”
“Yeah, why aren’t you with your family if they’re being attacked by the freaks from Earth II?” Kevin asks.
Avrell speaks before I can. “Do you have diseases on your planet?”
Kevin gives me a look like he’s asking if Avrell is for real. “Yeah,” he says.
“Well, we have a terrible disease on Mortuus called The Rades. It’s deadly. We must find the cure before we can return to our true home safely. It’s imperative we find this cure so our people can survive after the battle with the Kev—I mean with those from Earth II.”
“And you’re going to cure it yourself?” Kevin takes a step closer, the suspicion and wariness clearing from his expression. His arms are still crossed firmly over his chest, but his face turns up to Avrell’s.
“Too rekking right we are. I’m close. As soon as we do, we’re going back to our people at the Facility.”
“What’s the Facility?”
“Our home. We’ve lived there since the humans left this planet a long time ago. It’s safe, secure. We’ve got plenty of supplies. We’re strong there.”
“How many of you are there?”
Avrell doesn’t seem annoyed by the questions. In fact, he seems as intrigued by the boy as Kevin is by him and patiently answers his questions. It makes me think of him talking about our future son AJ and what kind of father he’ll be to our children.
After a while, Avrell says, “Why don’t you help me?”
“Really?” Kevin asks. “What can I do?”
“I can use an assistant. Zoe talks back too much. She’s the distracting sort.”
Kevin grins fully for the first time since we brought him inside the prison. “You mean it?”
He says it with such hope, such innocence that it nearly brings a tear to my eye. Avrell probably didn’t consider how to respond to the boy to instantly make him comfortable. It came naturally. Maybe he’s only antagonistic to me. Of course he is.
Pride warms my stomach and I choke out, “Speaking of the Facility, I’m going to go help Julie on comms to see if we can get ahold of them.”
The boys have their heads bowed over the magnascope and are deep in conversation.
He’s going to make such an amazing father.
“Thank God you’re here. I’m exhausted. You mind taking over for a while?”
Julie pushes away from the control panel and digs her fingers into her eyes. “I haven’t been able to get anyone on the line. I’ve been trying for hours. Now that we have the ship, you guys can travel back to help them. But I didn’t want to suggest you leave until I was sure it’s safe back there for you.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, ignoring the fact that she’s still set on staying here.
“Never mind, it’s nothing, I’m sure.” Yawning, she gets to her feet. “I’m gonna hit the hay.”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“I want to make sure there’s still a Facility left for you to go back to.” She gives me a sad smile, then leaves.
Instead of dwelling on her comment, I take her place at the control panel and put on a pair of headphones. I follow Sayer’s instructions to hail the Facility, but I don’t get a response for a long time. Longer than I’d like. It’s no wonder Julie was feeling hopeless.
It doesn’t matter. Once Avrell is ready with the cure, we’re going back to the Facility, answer or not. We’ve already been away from them long enough.
“Facility, this is Zoe hailing from Exilium. Is anyone there? Please respond.”