Page 54 of Akur

The heat was becoming unbearable.

Akur stared at the map the Tasqal had left, but the holo image blurred before his eyes. His skin felt too tight, every breath drawing in air that seemed to scorch his lungs. The metcer cells had helped, but their effect was already fading. Quickly. Far too quickly.

And now this. This new truth that made him want to tear his own skin off.

His gaze shifted to where Constance moved around the room, gathering supplies left by the Tasqal, her movements precise and measured as she sorted through what might be useful. She hadn’t looked at him since their “friend” left. Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe now that she knew that he—proud as he was, was linked by blood to one of those things—she saw him differently.

Shum’ai and Tasqal. The very thought made bile rise in his throat.

“These could be useful.” Her voice cut through his dark thoughts. She held up what looked like compact ration packs. “If we’re heading into the barren lands—”

“We’re not.” The words came out harsher than intended, and he saw her stiffen slightly.

“We have to.” She turned to face him fully, and there was steel in her spine. “You heard what he said. One of the others is out there.Meredithis out there.”

“And the other human is in the citadel,” he growled. “The place we actually know how to reach.” He gestured at the map with one hand while the other curled into a fist, claws digging into his palm. The pain helped. A little.

“So we just abandon Meredith?” Constance’s eyes flashed. “Leave her to die in the wasteland?”

“She won’t. E’lot is out there. He will find her.” He pushed off from the wall he’d been leaning against, trying to ignore how the room spun slightly.

“Funny you didn’t mention this E’lot before. I thought you came alone.”

He exhaled, forcing himself to focus on one breath at a time. “It was just the two of us… He and I. I went after you. He…he went after one of the other shuttles.”

“And you think he’ll find her?”

“He will.”

She huffed out a breath. It was clear she wasn’t as confident in E’lot as he was. “He will fight for that female, as hard as I have fought for you,” he said. He didn’t even know why he was trying to soothe her fears. There were greater things at stake here. “The citadel is our priority. That orb—”

“The orb doesn’t matter if they get what they want, anyway!” She took a step toward him, either not noticing or not caring how his muscles locked up at her approach. “They only needonehuman, remember? If they can’t use the silent woman, they’ll use whoever they find first. Including Meredith.” She was glaring at him, all fire and spice. Shouldn’t that turn him off? It didn’t. Qrakking heat. The temptation to lean in and take her lips again almost made him lick his own. “I thought we both knew we weren’t taking everything that Tasqal said as truth. He could be leading us into a trap.”

Of course, not. But the trouble was— “How do we decide which part is the lie? The citadel…or the barren lands?”

The obvious effect of his words was clear. Constance blinked, her brows furrowing slightly. There it was, that glitch in her spark. The moment she realized just how cunning their foe was.

“You mean he could have baited us with the wastelands, knowing we’d head there in defiance?”

He could praise her, but that would make him look at the other good parts of this female. Her tenacity. Her bravery.Her.

Ignoring her was best, especially when he was in this state.

“We are rebels. That is what we do. We rebel.”

She turned from him then, pacing as she bit her thumb. The act looked painful, but she didn’t wince. “We still have to try. I think he was telling the truth. There was no need for him to save us. No need for him to come here to warn us. It’s a lot of trouble to be part of some elaborate ruse. Some game. As you said, that’s not really the Tasqals’ style.”

The sound of his laugh was low in his throat. “You underestimate these brutes, bright eyes.”

She swallowed hard, pacing even harder. “They only needonehuman, Akur.”

But qrak, she was right. He’d been so focused on getting to the citadel, on leaving this place and finding V’Alen to warn him about that orb, that he wasn’t thinking about that crucial detail. They didn’t need all the humans. Just one.

Just her.

The thought sent another wave of heat through him, this one having nothing to do with his condition. The idea of them using her, taking her flesh or breaking into her mind to find the path back to her world…

A growl built in his chest, and he had to turn away, had to put distance between him and her before he did something stupid. His nefre burned in protest, sending pulses of awareness down his spine and straight to that organ nestled in his pouch, pulses that were so intense it made his vision blur at the edges.

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