Page 14 of Sy

Her fingers paused over the control panel. “Prison?”

“Mmhmm.” His attention wasn’t on her, his red eyes scanning the tree line again. “The southern fortress was Izaean-only. Any warrior who showed signs of turning feral was sent north. Contained. Controlled.”

The Hell-V’s diagnostic readings scrolled across her screen, but she barely saw them as she looked up. He had red eyes. The security briefing they’d had when they arrived said that Izaeans had normal eyes, and ferals had red eyes. “But you’re…”

“Feral?” His laugh was empty. “Yes. Things have changed recently about what it means to be feral.” He shook his head. “Let’s just say new information has come to light.”

She adjusted the driver’s trajectory while processing his words. “What kind of information?”

“Still emerging.” His voice hardened. “But what we do know suggests that the division between Izaean and feral isn’t as clear-cut as we were led to believe. The transformation itself…” He flexed his hand, and for a moment, Ashley thought she saw something shift beneath his skin. “It’s not a disease or a defect. It’s more like… something else.”

She glanced at the tree line where the three ferals had been. They’d vanished now, melted back into the forest. “Is that why you’re here instead of in the north? Because of this new information?”

The Hell-V’s warning system pinged, drawing her attention back to it. Her mind raced with questions as she adjusted the impact parameters. Above them, she could hear Lila’s laugh, followed by what sounded like Kal’s voice explaining somethingabout the landscape she was sketching. It was the most she’d heard her daughter speak in years. She generally didn’t open up easily to new people.

“Not just that. After the battle for the fortress in the south.” His deep voice wrapped around her. God, he had a voice just made for holo-sex work. “The decision was made to move everyone up here. This position is more easily defensible.”

She glanced at him, noting the tenseness in his shoulders. The sun caught his skin when he turned his head, highlighting silvery scars she hadn’t noticed before. How many of those had he earned in that fight?

“Defensible against what?” The Hell-V’s warning system pinged again, and she quickly adjusted the impact depth, grateful for the distraction. The dense material they’d detected earlier seemed to be spread across the construction zone at varying depths.

The silence stretched long enough that she thought he wouldn’t answer. When he did, his voice was lower, meant only for her ears. “Some things in this galaxy make ferals look tame by comparison.”

A chill ran down her spine despite the growing heat of the day. The way he said it, without drama or emphasis, somehow made it worse. It was like he was stating an obvious fact… water was wet, space was cold, and the monsters in the dark would make these transformed warriors seem like little bunny rabbits.

The Hell-V’s stabilizers whined as they adjusted to the new parameters she’d put in. She looked up at Sy, her throat suddenly tight. What had she gotten herself into? More importantly, what had she gotten Lila into?

She’d researched before accepting this contract… or thought she had. The official reports had mentioned nothing about ferals, let alone threats that made them look tame. Her gaze drifted to the tree line where those transformed warriors haddisappeared and then up to the watch tower where Lila sat sketching before looking back at Sy.

He caught the direction of her gaze, and his expression softened as he moved closer. So close that she could feel the heat of his skin against hers, even through her coveralls.

“Don’t worry,” he rumbled in a low voice. “I won’t let anything happen to you or your daughter. You have my word on that.”

The absolute certainty in his tone made her breath catch. But before she could respond, he turned and stalked away, his long strides eating up the distance across the muddy ground. She watched his broad back retreat, noting how the other aliens automatically moved out of his path.

“Okaaay… good talk,” she muttered, shaking her head. Then the Hell-V’s warning system pinged again, drawing her attention back to the present.

Right.

Work.

She had a job to do… mysterious threats and hellishly handsome alien warriors would just have to wait.

Lila tracedanother line in her sketchbook, glancing up at the alien landscape spread out before the watchtower. The morning sun cast long shadows across the construction site below, where her mom directed workers with her usual focused intensity. A warm breeze ruffled the pages, carrying unfamiliar scents from the dense forest beyond.

Movement at the corner of her eye made her pause. Two Izaean teenagers hovered near the base of the tower, trying to look like no-nonsense guards as well as seeming casualwhenever they thought she was looking. They were failing at both. Her heart skipped. She’d seen them in the mess hall yesterday, but up close they were… kind of intimidating.

The shorter one, Kal, had spoken to her mom at dinner last night. He had broad shoulders that made him look like he spent all day working out. His dark blond hair kept falling forward into his eyes.

They weren’t human. She knew that. Even though her mom didn’t think she had, she’d pored over all the documents they’d been given about the planet they were going to. Who wouldn’t with alien berserker warriors around? It was so cool, like something out of a holo-movie.

She fidgeted with her pencil, sneaking another glance at the two Izaean boys. Her heart fluttered as they started climbing the metal stairs to her perch. The clanging of their boots on the steps seemed impossibly loud.

Hunching over her sketchbook, she pretended to be absorbed in her drawing. What was she supposed to say to alien boys? Regular boys were hard enough to talk to, but these two were built like athletes, all carved muscles and impossible height. Not the kind of boys who would be interested in a science nerd like her.

Kal reached the landing first, hovering at the edge like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Up close, his shoulders seemed even broader, stretching the fabric of his top. That nervous habit of pushing back his dark blond quiff made him seem more… normal somehow. Less intimidating than the adults.

“Hey,” she managed, her voice coming out croakier than she meant it to. Great, she sounded like a frog.

---