Page 62 of May the Stars Have Mercy
“The Lyssavirus.”
“Someone infected the Brexzkit, or at least some of them. They said they don’t hunger like that, that they’re insatiable. If Buddy is right, then a regular Brexzkit is like a one night pest. They drop in, feed off your surplus, then leave before you wake up. And maybe the infected are driven mad by the Lyssavirus, they’re taking bodies that won’t fight back, and they just freak out and lose control like rabies.”
Xexis nodded solemnly, folding all his arms around him. Then his gaze hardened as he glared at her. “If Buddy is right?”
“Buddy,” she wheezed, glancing to the drone. “You’re not lying, I’m not infected anymore, right?”
His text filled the screen.
Aphrodite Kerso is no longer infected.
She sighed shortly before she was wrenched away from the wall. Xexis flattened her to the floor, her back pressed into the cool metal. She swallowed over her tongue as he inhaled sharply. He let it out slowly, jabbing a forefinger in her face. “My mate does not get to decide when she dies.We die of old age or on the hunt, no other way!”
His words were dark, but she could hear the wound in them. It was the second time he was furious with her, and just as it did the first time, it nearly ripped her heart out. Finger wavering, he glared at her with his pincers curled in agony. The same curl she’d seen on Reevar’s face when he’d been stabbed. Her chest panged as she nodded slowly. He growled, pushing off her. “And do noteverthreaten me with your death again.”
“Xexis,” She whispered.
“No! My mate is fated to be by my side for all of our lives. You do not get to ignore fate just because you are human. You are Mphronatch now, and you will be Mphronatch until our younglings fill the station to the brim or we are replaced. I will not have you leave me a moment before we’ve returned home and have retired from the hunt. Youwillbe by my side until a pyre is lit in our name, Aphrodite Kerso, am I clear?” He sat back on his calves, glaring down at her.
She nodded again sloppily, tears pouring down her face and whimpering, “Crystal clear.”
“Good, I hate repeating myself.” He dropped back down over her, on his hands and knees. Hovering over her, their foreheads pressed together. She weakly looped her arms around him and held him close to her. Xexis spoke with a heavy rasp, “I would destroy the stars just to keep you by my side. Do not tell me that we are not capable of anything, for I will defy your logic if it means keeping your heart beating.”
Aphrodite pressed a kiss to the space above his mouth, then to the bridge between his eyes. She kissed up his forehead before lingering with her lips against the top of his head. “Xexis, I would stop at nothing to keepyourheart beating.”
She didn’t mention that if it meant removing herself from the picture, then she’d do so without regret. There were no stars without Xexis.
They lay in silence, only the hum of the engine and Buddy’s soft, mechanical whirling in the air. Eventually, Xexis pulled her with him out of the laboratory and onto the command deck. He sat in the pilot’s chair with her in their lap. They watched the stars whizz past them as the ship flew through space. The ship was set to autopilot in hyperspace, and the pilot had an alarm set.If they’re anything like Max, they have it hung from the ceiling of their room so they can’t accidentally turn it off.She smiled weakly at the thought.
“Xexis, I’m sorry for what I said. I know it hurt you,” she whispered, shifting in the seat. Her back to the arm of the chair, she looked at his face.
“My mate is fearless, even in the face of her own death.” Xexis stared out into the stars, his hands gripping her tight.
“I thought that’s what you liked about me,” she teased. Cupping his chin, she brought him to face her fully. “I never want to hurt you, and I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you, as you have forgiven me many times.” He held a warm expression, but his pincers still told Aphrodite he was hurt. She’d have to make it up to him. Aphrodite snuggled down into his lap more, laying her head against his shoulder. He stroked her arm absent mindedly.
Aphrodite let her gaze travel the command deck. As the silence ate at her, she pulled out her data pad and opened to the book they had been reading. “You know…if you wanted…Xnasis would never know we finished the book.”
Xexis snickered, “Xnasis would sense it.” His finger pressed against the pad and selected the contemporary romance book she had been reading a while ago. “How about this one, you never finished.”
“But you were asleep for that?” She shot him a teasing look. He shrugged non-chalantly. Aphrodite wiggled to get comfortable and continued where she left off. Xexis curled around her, closing his eyes and she felt him drift as she read. The memories of the Brexzkit sat at the back of her mind.Funny, where they just were.She didn’t stop reading for fear that Xexis would wake. But she replayed the dream over behind her eyes.They were reaching out to her.
…Buddy said we found you, Aphrodite Kerso the Brexzkit and the Zrexeit…
She would need to continue to think on it, but something was lingering just off the tip of her tongue about them. There was something just not right about how they all came to her for aid.
Chapter Thirty-Six:
Theshipcameoutof hyper drive an hour after Aphrodite finished reading. She’d been watching the stars whizz by up until the pilot’s alarm went off. Somehow, she woke Xexis in time before the pilot came rocketing out of their cubby hole. They were slinking back to the bunks as the ship woke up to the engines cutting to regular speed. Aphrodite had her flight suit in hand when Xexis called everyone to attention.
“Hunters will scan; I need researchers here on the ship to evaluate those scans and tell us where to look when we return. Rexna and Aphrodite will be in armor and protect researchers.” He began to bark out coordinate patterns for the pack to scan. Then his attention returned to Aphrodite. “I need you to keep me updated with what they find. I also need Buddy to keep consistent scans around the ship. If they plot an ambush—”
“They’d come for the ship, yeah,” she sighed.
He cupped her face, pressing their foreheads together. “My mate is worried.”
“I’m missing something; there’s something bugging me, and I don’t know what about all this.” She melted into his touch.
