Page 45 of Stars in Umbra
Disoriented, Rina slumped hard onto the tiles behind her, her head bouncing against the unyielding stone edge.
Stars burst in her vision, hot and blinding.
She tried to push herself up, but her limbs betrayed her, buckling under her weight. Through the chaos, she saw Mo coming for her.
He was a storm, shoving men aside with a terrifying single-mindedness until he dropped to one knee at her side.
His hands, warm, massive, insistent, cupped her jaw, tilting her face up to his. ‘Rina. Don’t move.’
His voice was raw with fury, pulsing with a command that was all alpha, all possessiveness.
‘I’m fine,’ she groaned, the words slurring together. ‘It’s just my head. Mo, I’m OK -.’
‘Quiet.’ His command was a blade, slicing through her protest. ‘You don’t get a say in this. I’m taking over here, Colonel.’
Medical drones whirred down from the ceiling, scanning beams flickering across her body.
One beeped: ‘No fractures or internal bleeding, nor any concussion detected.’
‘See, I’m fine,’ she murmured.
Mo didn’t relent.
‘She’s not,’ he snapped at the drone, as though he could browbeat machinery into submission. ‘Rerun it.’
‘Mo,’ she rasped, pushing at his chest. ‘It’s nothing. I’ve a plenary session in a few minutes.’
His hand flattened against her sternum, pinning her with one palm, and the possessiveness in his stare burned hotter than the protests raging outside.
‘You’re not walking anywhere. You’ll rest. You’ll listen. You’ll let me keep you alive.’
She opened her mouth to argue, a retort on her tongue, but he scooped her up before she could get the words out.
‘I’m taking you to the med bay.’
He lifted her against his chest. The world tilted as he carried her, his jaw set, his eyes daring anyone to challenge him.
Behind him, the fray was under control as a massive shield descended over the lobby, keeping the shouting protesters at bay.
In the med clinic, she argued again, she wasn’t bleeding, wasn’t broken, wasn’t fragile. But he was immovable, his brooding, roiling energy pressing down on her like a force field.
Finally, with a frustrated groan, she relented.
‘An hour. Just one hour.’
She slumped back on the surface of a hover cot and closed her eyes.
Mo didn’t move from her side the entire time.
He sat near her bed, arms folded across his chest, his gaze never leaving her, his energy roiling, a storm waiting to be unleashed.
When the medics finally released her, she smoothed her jacket, re-tied her hair, and announced she was returning to her session. Mo stalked beside her, her fearsome escort to the plenary hall, his silence more oppressive than any lecture.
She slowed at the doorway and reassured him again. ‘I’m fine.’
He didn’t answer. His eyes just flamed.
‘Fokk, Mo,’ she murmured. ‘Are you going to stare a hole through me all day?’
