Page 53 of Orange Tundra
That hope had crumbled. Now I was mated to someone else entirely.
And yet, I couldn't deny what I still felt about Zirc. Nothing had changed even if I'd met my Manasty mate.
A mechanical whirring cut through the night, interrupting my spiral of self-recrimination. Both our heads snapped up as something small and metallic descended toward our camp, its crystalline wings catching the moonlight.
A droid critter. Advanced tech, the kind used for high-priority, ultra-secure communications.
The droid landed heavily between us, its mechanical chest heaving with simulated breathing patterns. A message tube was secured to its central core, but what made my blood run cold was the thin red line wrapped around the tube—a bio-lock keyed to specific genetic markers.
Coone reached it first, his smaller frame giving him the advantage, but the moment his fingers touched the red filament, it sparked and repelled his hand. "Fuck," he hissed, nursing singed fingertips. "It's keyed to someone specific."
I watched his face as realization dawned, saw genuine shock and something that looked like betrayal flash across his features. "Coone? What is it?"
"This droid..." His voice was tight with controlled emotion. "See how it's following me?" He walked around and, true enough, it was following him. "It's tied into my blood signature network. Only a handful of people have access to that—people I trusted with my life." His golden eyes met mine, pupils dilated with a mixture of fear and fury. "Someone either betrayed me, or this is from one of my oldest allies."
The droid suddenly emitted a soft chime, and I noticed the message tube was glowing faintly. Text appeared along its surface in flowing script:For Roqs of the Silver Tribe. Blood-sealed. Priority Alpha.
"It's addressed to me," I said, moving closer.
"Say what now?" Coone moved closer as well. We looked at each other, the tension from before forgotten as we realized what this meant. Someone knew to look for Coone because whoever sent this knew I would be around.
After using one of his nifty tools to scan it, Coone gave me a grim nod to open it.
The moment my fingers touched the tube, the bio-lock disengaged with a soft click, and the red filament dissolved. I extracted the scroll, but as soon as it was free, the droid critter began to smoke.
"Self-destruct sequence," Coone said grimly, grabbing my arm and pulling me back. "Whoever sent this doesn't want any trace left behind."
The droid collapsed into a pile of ash and melted circuitry, leaving nothing but the message in my hands. I unrolled the scroll with trembling fingers, and what I read made my heart stop.
Roqs—
I have him. The Silver Beast is alive but injured. Meet me at the Tundra's Pit three days from now. Come alone, or bring only the Spy. More than that and they'll know something is up.
I can get him out, but I need your help.
—Your mate
PS. Whatever you do, do not bringherhere.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I slowly opened my hands to read the scroll again. When I looked up to find Coone, I saw he was poking at the droid with his sensor.
"What is it?" he demanded, moving closer.
He was staring at the droid's remains, his expression a mixture of shock and calculation. "Someone breached my most secure network. Someone who knows my deepest operational protocols." His voice was deadly quiet. "Either I've been compromised for months, or this message comes from someone I trust implicitly."
I didn't need to read the contents of the scroll. I had it memorized in my heart.
Your mate.
The scroll crunched as I crushed it with my fingers.
His face burned into my memory from countless dreams and waking fantasies. Emerald-green fur streaked with white and gray. The distinctive scar that bisected his face from temple to jaw.
Trill.
