Page 95 of Dark's Savior

Aly stared at him, rage seeping through her whole body, making her shake. "Give you?" she said, in quiet disbelief.

He stepped closer, and Aly flinched but did not move back. His face came close to hers, studying her. "There is nothing you can give. And I am not bound to save you."

Aly shook her head, feeling the sting of tears she refused to let fall. "No," she said. "But you could, knowing that it is right."

Nezka's hand came up, slow yet quick enough she barely had time to react. He touched the side of her bare arm, sharp fingers lightly pressing against her skin. It could have been a sensual touch if he had trailed his hand down like Korzien often did, but he did not, choosing to keep his fingers in place for a few seconds before lifting them away. "Right or no, it doesn't matter. I can't save you."

He turned from her then, and Aly watched him go before calling out to him once more. "If you loved someone, if you truly loved someone and knew they were to be taken away, never to be seen again, how would you cope? How would you survive?" She didn't know why she said it, just that she needed to argue, to make him understand.

Nezka turned back to her. "I don't love anyone. So, I think I'll survive just fine."

Aly's hands clenched into fists. "Then I hope someday you do. I hope someday you know how it feels to love someone and have them taken from you. And that you feel the pain. A pain like nothing ever felt before." She didn't raise her voice as she said it. She whispered it, hoping it sank in deep, moved him somehow.

But his expression didn't change. If anything, he seemed to give her a mocking sort of smile.

"And we will fight. We will fight you. Every step of the way." Before she lost her senses, before the rage consumed her, she turned from him and didn't look back.

Chapter Thirty-three

The hunters left the next day. As the sun rose, Aly looked out her window, watching the ships leave the planet. A servant brought her morning meal, but she couldn't eat it, her stomach still set in knots.

She dressed and went out looking for her crew instead. She walked around, avoiding any nillium she could, until she found a small pavilion with Sarah inside, sitting alone with one of the few oracles kept in the house, her baby sleeping next to her in a pile of pillows.

"How is he?" Aly asked, looking down at the child that looked more nillium and less human each day.

"He had a better sleep than usual," Sarah replied, rubbing his belly. The oracle, in the usual white garment, bowed her head as Aly came to sit herself down beside them.

"What's the bot for?" she asked.

Sarah looked back at the oracle. "Just a precaution for the baby. She checks his status every day to make sure his vitals are good and there aren't any health problems."

Aly watched the child sleep for a long moment before turning her eyes back to Sarah. "Will you tell me what happened to you?"

Sarah didn't look up at her. She smiled down at her baby, brushing his hand with her finger. She didn't say anything for a long while, and Aly thought maybe she wouldn't, until she finally said, "They kept me at the facility. I didn't even know you guys had gone. They hadn't told me. I stayed there for some time. Then Marzin came and..."

"He..." Aly tried to ready herself. "He forced himself on you?"

Sarah’s brows knitted together, and she shook her head. "No. He stayed with me. He kept me company and...I just felt drawn to him, somehow. I can't really explain it."

Aly knew. She closed her eyes and remembered the first time seeing Ryziel.

"So, well, one thing led to another and after," Sarah said, wiping her face, "after, he left, and when I was told I was pregnant, he came back but only briefly. He was cold after that."

Aly cast her eyes down. "I'm sorry."

Sarah laughed softly. "I begged him to stay, but he wouldn't. I begged him to take me with him, and he wouldn't. I carried the baby, the oracles constantly monitoring me, then," Sarah shrugged, "I gave birth, and only a day later, they came for me. That's when I was brought here. They waited a couple more weeks before they decided the baby was strong enough, then they brought you guys."

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Aly said, completely honest.

"I'm not. I'm upset about Marzin but...I have this baby now." She took Aly's hand and looked at her. "We can survive this. It doesn't have to be so bad. It was devastating at first, but you begin to accept it and, really, it's not so bad."

Aly shook her head, unwilling to believe Sarah meant that or that she understood exactly what was happening to them. All Sarah saw was her child, and somehow, that made her content, regardless of the circumstances.

Aly went to voice her thoughts when another wave of nausea hit her. She bent over with a moan, clutching her stomach.

Sarah's hand gripped her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Aly licked her lips and tried to sit up. "My stomach...just been bothering me."

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