Page 42 of Reaper

“She is,” Reaper said, laughing while helping me out of the bath.

After drying me, dressing me, and leading me to the breakfast table in his room, Reaper told me to stay put while he fetched some food. It surprised me how ravenous I felt when he returned and uncovered the plate filled with a mountain of food, including a piece of steak and mashed potatoes. I squealed with delight and ate so fast I barely had time to enjoy the flavor. By the time I finished eating, I was groggy from exhaustion and a food coma.

It pissed me off, too, because I’d been itching to push our relationship a little further. That wouldn’t happen in my current state. Reaper carried me to bed, and I snuggled against him, intent on rectifying the situation in the morning. However, I never got to finish that thought. No sooner did I close my eyes than sleep swept me away.

The next morning, Reaper woke me before the sun had fully risen. But it wasn’t to play naughty; Stran had informed him that the slightly older Creckels had unfolded. My frustration at having my plans once more thwarted vanished in an instant, replaced by joy and hope that all of the hibernating Creckels would eventually be saved. All the adults—more than fifty of them—still slept. However, assuming they followed the same pattern as the ‘teenagers,’ they could start unfolding in a couple more days.

Reaper and I did quick work of getting dressed, then hurried out of our quarters. However, as we approached the Infirmary, I felt compelled to stop and have a quick look at Terrence to make sure he was still fine. Whatever crimes he had committed, his fate would be judged by others. My duty, as someone with some medical knowledge, was to relieve his pain to the best of my ability.

Even though a sterile chamber protected Terrence, Reaper stayed at the entrance of the Infirmary as Jessica hadn’t given him clearance yet to come back inside. To my relief, the man’s vital signs on the monitor looked strong and steady. However, the tinge of his undamaged skin seemed a little off. Then again, the temporary fix to my optical aid didn’t allow me to see colors perfectly. And looking at Terrence through the glass dome of his chamber undoubtedly further messed with that accuracy. As his vitals looked great, I decided not to risk messing with the sterile chamber. I’d wait for Jessica’s verdict when she woke up.

We headed down to the basement. Everyone else in the crew still slept. It touched me deeply that Stran had reached out to me through Reaper to come look after his people. My insecurities were silly seeing how the Vanguard team had been so supportive of me, always appreciative of my slightest accomplishment, and encouraging me whenever I felt uncertain or self-conscious. Still, I loved feeling special, like I had something unique to offer that made me wanted—needed even—above others.

Stran greeted us with an ecstatic sparkle in his beautiful, dark-blue dragon eyes. He bumped my hand with his snout then went to stand near the two dozen Creckels that had unfolded. On my way to them, I glanced at the multiple rows of adults still balled up. They no longer looked mummified, their scales becoming increasingly defined. My heart swelled with joy as I looked back at Stran.

“They’re coming along nicely, too,” I said to him, before scratching him behind the ear. “Soon, they’ll wake up as well. It’s all thanks to you.”

Stran purr-growled, tapping his broad, flat tail on the stone floor. He projected the image of a sun growing out of his chest and engulfing me. I crouched down and hugged him. He gently rubbed his cheek against mine.

“I love you, too, Stran,” I said, giving him a gentle squeeze.

“Hey, I’m getting jealous over here,” Reaper said in a playfully grumpy voice.

I laughed while Stran stuck out his long reptilian tongue, letting it loll on the left side of his jaw in a typical gesture of Creckle mockery.

“Don’t be jealous, silly man. I love you, too, in a different way.” My face immediately heated the minute the words came out of my mouth. I hadn’t meant to speak such words just yet. But the pleased expression settling on Reaper’s face doused some of the awkwardness I felt. “Now make yourself useful and bring us a pair of syringes so that we can get to work on these young ones,” I added, to change the subject.

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Reaper said in a teasing tone.

He picked up the syringes on the medical station we’d set up in the room as well as some vials of stimulant from the cooling unit we’d also brought down here to be easily accessible. My mate helped me inject the Creckels with deraxamine before starting to carry them outside so they could soak in some sun. Halfway through, Doom joined us. The two Warriors and Stran—who carried them on his wide tail—transported in no time all twenty-seven teenagers to sit in the sun. To keep them safe, we’d settled them beside the unfolded babies, which next to where the modified Creckels slept or rested at night.

“We need to stop and feed you,” Reaper said when I moved on to massage a fourth teenager. “If Jessica finds out I’ve let you work on an empty stomach for two hours since waking up, she’s going to rip my scales off, one by one, then pour salt on the wounds so they don’t grow back.”

Doom snorted while I chuckled. “Thanks for saying that out loud,” Doom said while glaring at Reaper, without stopping his massage of one of the Creckels. “Now that I know, Jessica will mess me up, too, if she finds out.”

“You’re welcome! I’m always happy to share,” Reaper said teasingly. “Come on, woman. You need proper sustenance,” he added, extending a hand towards me.

I rose to my feet, realizing my stomach did feel a little hollow. Just as I was taking his hand, both Doom’s and Reaper’s heads jerked to the left. I turned to see what had drawn their attention to find Martin running from his ship towards us, closely followed by Jasper. Doom stood up as well, a slight frown marring his scaly forehead while waiting for the Coalition team leader to reach us.

“Rickon is gone,” Martin said without preamble.

Chapter 16

Reaper

We all gaped at Martin in disbelief. My eyes flicked towards Jasper who looked mighty uncomfortable, like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Once again, the thought that we should have kicked moral principles to the side and allowed Reklig to read the minds of The Albatross’ crew returned with a vengeance.

“Rickon was supposed to run ship-wide diagnostics last night,” Martin continued. “When I got up this morning and realized he hadn’t done his tasks, I went to ask him why. He’s never failed to perform an assignment before. He didn’t answer his com. In fact, it stated that he was out of reach. I checked his room, everything is gone. Same with whatever was left of Terrence’s stuff. And one of our shuttles is missing.”

Doom cursed under his breath. “When did he leave?” he asked.

“According to the ship’s logs, the shuttle left at 1:36 AM,” Martin said, looking almost overwhelmed.

“Wouldn’t the Creckels have heard the take off?” Janelle asked, glancing at Brees and the other Creckels lurking around the babies and the teens still unfolding.

Brees and Grol shook their heads.

“What of the babies?” I asked, a cold sense of dread descending over me at the thought of Terrence’s containers with the embryos.

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