Page 35 of Sy

Darkness took him.

Heat wrappedaround Ashley like a lover’s embrace, chasing the bone-deep chill from her muscles. She burrowed closer without opening her eyes, savoring the cocoon of warmth that promised safety and comfort. A wall of solid muscle pressed against her back, a heavy arm draped possessively over her waist anchoring her against the large body behind her.

Reality hovered at the edges of her mind, but she pushed it away. Just a few more seconds of peace.

A scent tickled her nose. Not unpleasant, but definitely not human. Like ozone before a storm mixed with something wild and metallic. Sy. The name filtered through her consciousness, dragging with it the memories of why she was here, why everything ached, and why she absolutely shouldn’t be using an alien warrior as her personal heater.

Lila.

The thought of her daughter shattered the last remnants of peace. Her eyes snapped open to find the emergency lights still casting their harsh, unforgiving glow across the cave walls. Shadows writhed in the corners, deep and menacing, whilemoisture dripped somewhere in the darkness with a steady plink, plink, plink.

Every muscle screamed in protest as she tried to move. Hours on the unforgiving rock floor had left her feeling like she’d gone ten rounds with a cargo loader and lost spectacularly. Sharp edges of stone dug into her hip, and her neck had developed a kink that would probably take a week in medbay to work out. But none of that mattered. What mattered was finding Lila, Kal, and Tor.

She pushed away from Sy’s warmth, immediately regretting it as the cave’s chill wrapped around her. Her hair had come loose while she slept, falling in her face in a tangled mess. She shoved it back, grimacing at the gritty feel of dried sweat and dirt on her scalp. God, what she wouldn’t give for a shower right now.

Guilt gnawed at her stomach like acid. Here she was, thinking about creature comforts while Lila was lost somewhere in these godforsaken caves. Some mother she was, falling asleep instead of searching.

A dark trail marked the sleeve of Sy’s shirt where her cheek had rested. Perfect. She’d definitely drooled on him. The thought of apologizing for that particular embarrassment had her turning to face him, only to freeze mid-movement, her blood turning to ice in her veins as he opened his eyes.

He looked the same—all chiseled features and that almost-blond hair pulled back from his face, dark stubble shadowing his jaw. Every alien she’d met seemed to be heart-stoppingly handsome, like they’d all stepped out of some romance vid, but something was different about him now. Something in his blood-red eyes had her heart rate kicking up and her instincts screaming danger with every beat.

She skittered backward, rocks scraping against her palms as she moved. “You’re not Sy.”

The words escaped before she could think about them. She didn’t know how she knew, but this wasn’t Sy. Not the Sy she knew, anyway. This was something else. Something that wore his face but moved with predatory grace as he rose to his feet, fluid and deadly.

Her heart slammed against her ribs as she pushed herself up, keeping her movements slow and careful, like facing down a wild animal that hadn’t quite decided whether to pounce. The emergency lights caught the red in his eyes, making them glow with an eerie intensity that hadn’t been there before. He tracked her every movement, his head tilted slightly as if studying particularly interesting prey.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

This must be what they meant about ferals being different. The warnings she’d dismissed as exaggeration suddenly felt very painfully real. The air grew thick with tension as they faced each other across the small space. Her gaze darted to the nearest tunnel entrance. Could she make it? Did she even know which way led back to the surface?

Not-Sy took a step forward, and her muscles coiled tight enough to snap. She’d worked enough construction sites to know when to trust her instincts, and right now every nerve ending in her body screamed at her to get the hell out of there. This wasn’t the protective warrior who’d insisted on rest stops, who’d shown genuine concern for her well-being. This was something else entirely. Something ancient and deadly.

Another step. His movements were fluid, graceful in a way that seemed wrong for his large frame. No wasted motion, no hesitation. Just the steady advance of a predator that knew its prey couldn’t escape. The cave suddenly felt smaller, the walls pressing in as her options dwindled to nothing.

The sound of her own heartbeat in her ears drowned out the steady drip of water. She could hear her own breathing, too fast,too loud in the confined space. Her back hit rough stone. When had she backed up against the wall? The texture of the rock pressed through her shirt, grounding her in reality even as her mind raced through increasingly desperate escape scenarios.

Move, Ashley. Move now before it’s too late.

Her muscles tensed, ready to bolt for the nearest tunnel. She might not know exactly where it led, but anywhere had to be better than here. The rational part of her brain knew running would probably only trigger his hunting instincts, but rationality was rapidly losing ground to pure survival instinct.

Just as she gathered herself to run, something shifted in his expression. His eyes widened slightly, and he blinked. Just once, but it was enough to make her hesitate.

Recognition flooded his features followed immediately by horror.

“Draanth,” he swore, stumbling back a step. The predatory grace vanished, replaced by the careful movements she recognized. This was her Sy again.

“Ashley…” His voice was rough, strained with self-loathing. Sweat gleamed on his face as he raised his hands, palms out in surrender. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“What the hell was that?” Her voice emerged stronger than the trembling in her limbs suggested, though a tremor lurked beneath the surface like a fault line waiting to crack.

“The Rage.” He swallowed hard, keeping his distance like she was a spooked animal. “It lives in my blood. With ferals… sometimes it takes control.”

Her mind raced, processing this new information like a computer struggling to compile corrupted data. The whispers about symbionts, about how they changed the Izaean, hadn’t prepared her for this reality. “Takes control? Like possession?”

“Not exactly.” He dragged a hand over his face. “It’s more like… it becomes the dominant consciousness. Usually, it justlurks in the background. But sometimes…” He hesitated, his gaze sliding away from hers. “Especially when we’re protecting someone we care about, it surfaces.”

She forced air into her lungs, each breath measured and careful. “So that wasn’t you just now?”

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