Page 95 of Saved By the Alien Hybrid
This was the reason Laura had gotten herself far enough along in the mission on the Leto to blow up hundreds of innocent souls. Her stupid misplaced empathy. And here she was, once again struggling not to give the benefit of doubt to someone she knew had proven themselves untrustworthy. She didn’t learn—and if she didn’t learn, she wasn’t fit to lead.
Blowing out a sigh, she forced the spiral of self-doubt out of her mind. She couldn’t afford to think like that, not now. It was too late for regret. Her crew—and they wereallher crew now—had spoken, and she owed them her best foot forward.
“Boo!”
She let out an involuntary and deeply undignified shriek as Nyx burst out from behind the transport she’d been walking past.
Nyx threw back her head and laughed so loud that the room boomed with the mocking echo of it. “Jumpy much?”
“Don’t you have someone else to annoy?” Cordelia asked wearily.
“Sure, but I picked you, cause you’re my favorite.” Nyx batted her eyelashes, her hands clasped together under her chin. “Plus,you’ve been acting weird as hell. The others sent me to ask what your problem is—you know, with the barely sleeping and the snapping at everyone and all. And the whole—” She pretended to rip her shirt and bulged her muscles up unsettlingly around her neck in the world’s most mortifying impression of the Hulk.
“There is no way that you got nominated for that responsibility.”
Nyx looked wounded. “Why would you say that, Commander? I’m theCommunicationsOfficer. It’s literally in my job description.”
Cordelia snorted at that gross misrepresentation of her skill set.
“Nyx!” Pandora was standing at the end of the hall in front of them, panting as she leaned against the wall with one hand. Her eyes narrowed on Nyx as she stormed over to join them. “We told you not to say anything yet!”
Nyx rocked back on her heels, her hands behind her back as she studied the polished ceiling. “Hm? I guess I didn’t hear that part.”
Cordelia sighed, leaning against the cool stone wall and crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m that bad, huh?”
Pandora’s expression softened. “Of course not, Commander. We’re only worried about you. And… Rentir has been in a bad way, as well. He keeps visiting the medbay.”
Cordelia straightened. “The medbay? Why?”
Pandora rubbed the back of her neck, looking sheepish. “I’m not sure I should say. It’s a violation of his privacy.”
“We’re on a freaking alien planet,” Nyx said. “Who the hell’s gonna sue you for violating HIPAA?”
Pandora pursed her lips, clasping her hands together in front of her. “All the same. You’ll have to speak to him yourself, Commander.”
Cordelia cursed under her breath, rubbing the throbbing pain at her temple with the heel of her palm.
It was probably nothing. Haerune worked in the medbay, and they were basically brothers. He was probably just going in to kick around ideas about how to breach theGidalan.
But that look on Pandora’s face, the concern in her eyes…
With another curse, she turned and headed for the medbay.
CHAPTER 39
“There’snothing else I can do,” Haerune said, his tail lashing. “Elten spoke of withdrawal from the mating bond, as you know. I’m certain that is what this must be.”
“Then just sedate me,” he grated, knuckles white as he gripped the edge of the medpod.
He was alternately thrumming with violence and battered to weakness by smothering waves of fatigue. It felt like his body was at war with itself, and his mind wasn’t faring any better. He swung wildly between anger and despair, hardly able to focus on anything else.
“I can’t keep sedating you,” Haerune said with exasperation. “You’ve had twice the safe dosage today, already.”
“I don’t care,” he spat, that irrational anger rising again. “Give me five times the dose if you must, but make this stop.”
Before I do something I regret.
Haerune seemed to hear the plea even though he hadn’t spoken it aloud. His expression softened with pity, and that only irritated Rentir more.
