Page 8 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

"Thank you." She let go of his hand. "I'll just close my eyes until you return. If I fall asleep again, wake me up."

"I will."

Max made his way to the galley where he found Ell-rom heating up a packaged meal. "Your girl is also hungry, I assume."

"Fenella is not my girl, but she's hungry." He pulled a tray out of the refrigerator. "Good thing that Kalugal ordered meals based on the headcount without accounting for the Kra-ell warriors, so we've got plenty extra for the women."

The five pureblooded Kra-ell were probably still bloated from the amount of blood they'd drunk from the humans and immortals they'd killed. They wouldn't even need the artificial blood they'd brought for the trip.

He opened the heating oven and added another tray. "I just hope they don't puke everything up. We have no idea what was done to them." Max leaned against the counter. "They could probably use a shower and a change of clothes, but we don't have anything for them to change into."

The jet had a shower, but the water was limited, so Max had only washed his hands and face to conserve as much as possible for the women, who needed it more. The others had done the same.

Ell-rom pulled out the two heated meal trays and handed them to him. "I'll check with the pilot. Maybe they have something stored for emergencies."

"I doubt that, but it's worth a try."

Kalugal might have kept a change of clothing on board for himself and Jacki, but that wouldn't meet the needs of six women.

Balancing the trays, Max returned to where Kyra and Jasmine were sitting.

"Delivery." He smiled at Kyra as he put the tray on the table next to her seat. "I'm glad to see you are feeling better."

"Thank you." She returned his smile, and his heart skipped a beat. She really had a beautiful smile.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to deliver this to Twelve, whose name is Fenella, by the way."

Kyra's head whipped around. "Where is she?"

He pointed with his free hand. "Two seats down across the aisle."

She leaned over, and when she saw Fenella dozing off in her seat, a sound left her throat that was a cross between a sigh and a sob.

"You should bring Fenella over here," Jasmine suggested. "She can take Ell-rom's seat while she's eating. That way she can hear what I'm about to tell my mother. She doesn't know how she turned immortal either, right?"

Max nodded. "She doesn't, and I'm very thankful to you for offering to explain the birds and the bees to both of them at once. I'm not good at that sort of thing."

"Of course." Jasmine removed the aluminum foil from the dish for her mother. "But you should stick around and help me. You know much more about the clan's history than I do."

"Gladly." He set one tray on Ell-rom's vacated seat, then walked over to Fenella.

When he put his hand on her shoulder, she opened her eyes. "Is the food ready?"

"It is, but I'm moving you to the seat over there so you can share the meal with Kyra."

"Kyra? Who is she?"

"A fellow prisoner. I assumed that the two of you knew each other."

Fenella shook her head. "I didn't know any of the other prisoners."

"Well, she knew you, or rather about you. She insisted on us freeing the prisoner in cell twelve, which was you." He offered her a hand up. "Do you think you can walk over there? It's only a couple of steps away and you can hold on to me for balance."

"I think so." She took his hand, but as soon as she tried to stand, her legs buckled.

He caught her, cursing himself inwardly for even suggesting that she walk on her own. She was in no state to do that. Besides, what she was wearing wasn't suitable even for the relatively warm cabin.

Grabbing the down blanket, he wrapped it around her and lifted her into his arms. "Maybe after you eat something you will have enough energy to walk." He forced a smile, offering reassurance.

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