Page 36 of Dealing With Drak

Confused but always willing to comply, I squish the small creature’s head in my fist, crushing it to a swift death. I do not see how it could kill me, but I will do anything to relieve the pure terror in her voice.

I drop its slimy corpse onto the ground and take a step toward her when water begins to seep from her eyes.

“An-nana—” I try, taking a step closer to her.

“Why would you do that?” she demands, furious as bigger drops roll down her dark red cheeks.

“I just found him?—”

“You shouldn’t touch things you don’t know about!”

As I approach her, she does not appear to be relieved.

“I am sorry, An?—”

“You scared me, you jerk! You could have died.” She swats at me with the back of her hand, though the strike is not a powerful one.

“I would not have?—”

“You could have,” she emphasizes loudly.

Perhaps An-nana is worried that if I am hurt, she will not be able to return to her sisters. I should tell her that my ship will fly for her if I can not be there, but something tells me that she is not crying because she is scared to be stranded.

She is scared of… losing me?

“You were worried for me,” I realize wondrously. “You care for me, Mean One?”

“Of course, I care about you!” She slaps my chest with both hands now, snarling at me. “Don’t do that again.”

She was screaming and crying for me, with worry of my safety. An-nana does not wish me dead, even if she has tried to make me so in the past. She wishes for me to live.

Without asking for permission, I lift An-nana from her feet and tug her into my chest. She does not threaten to stab me or shoot me with her hu-nim blaster but weeps into my skin, shaking as I embrace her.

“I am okay, An-nana,” I tell her softly, cooing the soft words against her ear. “I will not do it again, but I am okay.”

“Y-you better not,” she cries, continuing to tremble against me.

I start to caress her hair, hoping to calm her down. Seeing An-nana in distress is worse than any pain I have felt in the past. And I have felt many excruciating things.

“No more picking up Urth creatures without your permission,” I say gently. “How about that?”

“I’m so mad at you,” she curses, squeezing me harder.

If this is An-nana’s fury, I will take it.

This hug is beyond lovely.

“I have you,” I reply, gently touching my lips to the top of her head like I have seen Marrec do to his mate. “Nothing will hurt us, An-nana, I swear this to you.”

“Shut up,” she mutters weakly.

She is angry with me, but she does not push me away. And before I put her down, I feel her press her lips against my shoulder. They are soft and warm, and I would fight even more wars if it meant I could feel them once more.

14

Anna

“Sorry,” I mutter, wiping at my face with the back of my sleeves. I don’t know why I’m apologizing for crying when this motherfucker just scared the absolute hell out of me, but I’ve never been one for emotional outbursts.

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