Page 76 of Sheltered in the Storm

“I do not believe her,” N’Mora said, their voice harsh. “You are a murderer and a liar, Vos Turek. You do not deserve a true mate.”

“Perhaps I do not.” I took a step closer, calculating how quickly I could get to N’Mora. But I did not know where the detonator for the bomb was, and until I did, I could not risk an attack. “But my Callaismy true mate and I love her. If you wish to avenge your parent, I offer you my throat instead.”

Despite her condition, Calla bristled, her eyes fiery. “No. The hells you will.”

“It is not your throat I want.” N’Mora raised one of their clawed hands behind Calla’s head. Even at my fastest, they could snap her neck before I could reach them. “I want you to live with your pain the way I have lived with mine.”

“Vos.” Calla sagged and then fell to her knees, no longer able to stand. “My love, I told them to get behind me so you would talk to them. They deserve to hear the story of how their parent died.”

Nothing had tasted as bitter and sweet as finally hearing the wordsmy lovefrom my Calla while my body was full of the scent of her blood and her life hung in the balance.

My Calla looked up at me, her gaze pleading. “N’Vors gave you hope. You can give their child peace.”

N’Mora made a strange sound then—a kind of chittering song. The last time I had heard it, I was lying on my belly in an air duct on Bordia, and N’Vors was speaking to their child, not knowing only minutes later they would die shielding them. Ithought perhaps this was a comforting sound, though who N’Mora wished to comfort, I did not know.

It was at least an opportunity to ask for the thing I wanted most.

I forced my tentacles to lower themselves and sheath their claws. “May I hold my mate? Please. She is hurting.”

“You may.” N’Mora raised their other clawed hand, revealing a small red disk. The detonator. “But do not attempt to take her and flee or remove the device, Vos Turek. I will give no further warning.”

Moving slowly so N’Mora would not think I planned to attack, I went to my Calla and gathered her in my tentacles. Gods, she was so cold and pale, and she shivered violently. My rage threatened to consume me, but instead I focused on wrapping her in warmth and comfort. And I cooed.

With her head on my shoulder, she gave me a fleeting smile. “Thanks for listening to me this time, my Vos.”

For a beat, I did not understand. Then I recalled our exchange in the garden earlier today—a lifetime ago, it seemed—when I had been lost in thought and not heard her talking.

I pressed a kiss to her hair. “My love, rest. I will protect you.”

“I know.” The words were barely audible. Her eyes drifted closed. When I pressed my fingertips against her wrist, I found her pulse weak but steady.

With my hand cupping my Calla’s face, I looked up at N’Mora. “If she dies, so do you,” I said.

N’Mora inclined their head. “I do not think she will, Vos Turek. Your mate’s will is stronger than yours or mine.” They settled onto the dirt floor, their legs bent beneath their bulk. “I am owed a story. Tell me of the day my parent died.”

The monster within me wanted to rend N’Mora into the smallest pieces, but my Calla’s life depended on me acquiescing to the Kurutan’s demand. And so I put my monster back in its cage and told N’Mora every detail I could recall.

When I spoke of the moment N’Mora, as a child, had asked me “La ka na?” the Kurutan made the chittering song again.

“I remembered your eyes,” N’Mora said after a very long silence. “They shone like starlight when you said yes. I recall thinking that you must be divine, because no eyes I had ever seen had shone like that.”

My Calla had said my eyes reminded her of starlight as well. I had always considered their glow to be part of my monstrous self, but perhaps I had been mistaken.

“I am sorry for lying to you. I did not intend to do so.” I adjusted my hold on Calla so her breath warmed my chest over my primary heart. The sensation reassured me. “Had I known what it was you asked, I would have said no.”

“But perhapsthatwould have been a lie.” N’Mora rose on all four legs and stretched, their joints popping. They dropped the detonation disk on the dirt beside us. “I believe your story, Vos Turek. You may remove the device from your mate.”

Given my Calla’s pallor, that statement did not offer me as much reassurance as it might. “She may bleed to death if I do. She has lost too much blood already.”

“If she is your true mate, you can heal her with your blood, can you not?”

I stared at the Kurutan. How would they know such a thing? I had not known of this myself until recently.

“No,” I said, feigning confusion. “That is not possible.”

N’Mora made a low grating sound. “There is no need to lie to me, Vos Turek. I know much of your physiology. I made study of you my adult profession. I suppose now I must find another.”

Would they seek their parent’s true killer, or seek peace instead? Would one lead to the other? I did not know what I would do were I in N’Mora’s place. The choice would certainly be a difficult one.

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