Page 51 of The Edge of Dawn

Dark fibers unraveled to admit a scorching blast of solar energy. For once, he was thankful for his optical sightlessness because he wasn’t blinded in the way an ordinary Kordolian would be. Instead, he simply created a mental shield with his ka’qui. This made the heat of the sun far less irritating. “Let’s go,” he told Jade. “I’ll take you to the medical bay.”

“Dragek…” Her lips parted. Her eyelids fluttered. Her cheeks were suffused with human warmth. He couldn’t deny that for all her infernal humanlike chaos, she was rather appealing right now.

“What is it?” His voice came out rougher than he’d expected. It took some getting used to—this ability to physically speak.

She hesitated for a moment, inexplicable thoughts dancing behind a deceptively soft expression. “Um, I just wanted to say… thank you.”

Thank you.

Something happened to him then. His pulse accelerated. At the same time, it felt like a vine had tangled around his black heart, squeezing it.

He’d never done anything worthy of gratitude before.

And he was beginning to wonder if the reason he’d saved her in the first place was far deeper than the fact that she possessed the Talent.

SEVENTEEN

The sleek, dark chair Jade sat in was surprisingly comfortable. It sort of reminded her of a dentist’s chair, only without the painfully bright lights and the vague, anxiety-laden promises of gentle torture.

Surely, this was better than going to the dentist.

She glanced around and saw countless alien monitoring devices and holographic displays. Most of the Kordolian tech stuff glowed blue or blue-greenish. The data was purely alien, rendered in strange characters, some so tiny they appeared as indistinct blurs.

She wondered if Dragek, with his sixth sense, could read them.

Of course he could.

He saw everything, didn’t he?

He probably saw right through her.

He stood next to her: still, silent, unreadable. His presence had been a constant thing ever since he’d pulled her out of that hot, dusty mine. And something about him made her world so blissfully quiet.

Unable to help herself, she looked up.

He was still shirtless.

Damn it.

She put her hand to her mouth, clearing her throat.

Heat rose into her cheeks.

Why was her heart beating so fast?

This feeling… made the throbbing ache in her hand and her foot a little less acute. Actually, the pain wasn’t too bad at all because they’d given her some sort of pain relief medicine—a thick, clear liquid that tasted like grape-flavored bubblegum.

Really, now.

Had the aliens already figured her out to this extent? Because fake grape flavor was one of her guilty pleasures.

So was stealing glances at the Kordolian, apparently. What was she supposed to do, anyway? He possessed the body of a god and rugged alien beauty, and he was in close proximity to her all the damn time.

The fact that he was supremely dangerous made him all the more alluring, even though she knew it was silly of her even to think such a thing.

“The medic has arrived,” he informed her, his tone devoid of emotion.

Jade didn’t even bother to ask him how he knew. She’d witnessed first-hand the true extent of his perception, and it was mind-blowing.

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