Page 41 of Akur

But, if she was to believe this creature, there might be a way out for him.

It wasn’t her decision. It was his. The Tasqals didn’t want the rebels. They wanted people like her. They wanted humans.

She moved to kneel before him. Setting the blaster down, she took his large hand between both of hers. His skin was still fever-hot against her palms, and she could feel the tension thrumming through him.

“This is your chance,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice steady. “If you believe him, you should take it.”

His fingers tightened around hers almost painfully, bloodstained but strong. “No.”

“Listen to me,” she pressed on, leaning closer. “You’re injured. You need treatment. If he’s telling the truth, this might be our only opportunity to get you out of here.”

“Our?” His voice dropped to a dangerous rumble. That moment in the tunnel, when he’d suddenly turned on her and she’d become aware of just how dangerous he was, it was here again. And yet, she didn’t want to run away. “You meanmyopportunity.”

“Yes.” She squeezed his hand, glancing away now. The murderous look in his eyes, even if it wasn’t meant for her, was making her survival instincts rise. “Youropportunity. Take it. Get to safety. Recover your strength. Don’t throw away this chance because of—” Her throat became tight. “Forget about—”

The movement was so fast she barely registered it. One moment she was kneeling before him, the next her back hit the cold floor with enough force to drive the air from her lungs. Akur’s hand wrapped around her neck, not quite crushing but inexorable, pinning her beneath him. His face hovered inches from hers, golden eyes blazing with an intensity that made her breath catch.

“Forget about you?” he growled, low and dangerous. “Is that what you were going to say, human?”

She tried to swallow but couldn’t quite manage it with his grip on her throat. “Be reasonable—”

“Reasonable?” His laugh was harsh. “Like you were reasonable in the tunnel when I told you to run? When you disobeyed my order and turned back to helpme? Or reasonable when you crawled on hands and knees through darkness just to bring me water so I could heal?” His fingers flexed against her skin.

“This is different,” she whispered, though her conviction wavered at the raw emotion in his eyes.

“No.” He leaned closer until she could feel the heat radiating from his body, until his breath ghosted across her lips. “It isexactlythe same. You’re trying to sacrifice yourself.”

“I am trying tosave you! These creatures, they’re doing all this just to get us humans. They destroyed an entire base, Akur! They killed everyone! I’m only trying to save you! You don’t have to d—” Tears welled in her eyes. “You don’t have to die, too.”

Ever since she’d been pulled into that ship, she’d hidden away from it all. But this was the truth. All the death. So much death. All those beings she’d walked alongside on that base. Dead. Dead because this species was obsessed with hers.

Nobody else had to die.

“I’m just. Trying. To save you.” A tear ran down, one she couldn’t stop, and with that single tear, it felt like all the rest threatened to fall.

“And who will saveyou?” His voice dropped even lower, becoming something intimate and fierce. “Who will stand between you and them once I’m gone? Who will ensure you survive until I can return?” He dropped his sword, and his free hand came up to traceher jaw, the gesture at odds with the steel in his tone. “Or do you think I could live with myself, knowing I abandoned you here?”

What? What was he talking about? Was his sense of duty so strong that he would sacrifice himself for a stranger? It must be. She already knew he was insane. He dove through space to save her. If that’s not insanity, then she didn’t know what was.

“You don’t even know me! You don’t have to care. Just forget about me.”

He pressed her harder into the floor the moment she uttered the words, his entire body pressing into hers, filling her with his heat. “No.”

“Fuck! You stupid stubborn—”

She was sure he grunted out a laugh.

“I will not let them win. I pledged it. You will leave here alive, even if I have to die to make it happen.”

“Don’t youdare!” She twisted beneath him, anger and fear and grief tangling into something wild in her chest. Her fist connected with his injured side, and she felt him flinch. “Don’t you dare make promises like that!”

She struck again, knowing she was hurting him, hating herself for it even as she couldn’t stop. The pressure of the past days—the deaths, the terror, the guilt—it all came pouring out in a flood she couldn’t contain. Meredith was gone. Probably dead. That silent woman. All the other humans she’d met in this living nightmare.

“You don’t get to die for me!” Another hit, weaker this time, the jolt causing pain to shoot through even her wounds. “I won’t let you! I won’t—”

His hand shot out, catching both her wrists and pinning them above her head. The movement pressed him fully against her, and she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest, the tremor in his muscles from pain or restraint, or both.

“Stop.” His voice was rough, strained. “You’ll tear my wounds.”

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