Page 76 of Rescued

But her thanks and praise did nothing to lessen her mentor’s disapproval.

“If you’re going to go find that useless human that nearly sucked you dry, you can save yourself the trouble,” she snapped. “He hasn’t even put his nose in the door once, the whole time you were at death’s gate!”

Lan’ara felt the words like a stab in the heart, but she couldn’t give up. She needed to find Nate and see what was going on. What if he’d been triggered again somehow and was wandering around in a combat-fueled rage?

She didn’t think it was probable—she had felt his psyche mending as he sucked the Healing Nectar from her breasts—but there was always the possibility that he hadn’t healed completely. She wanted to check on him and make sure he was all right.

Besides, I miss him—I love him, she thought desperately, as she sat on the side of the bed and drew on a loose white gown. I need to know that he’s well and safe.

The fact that he hadn’t come to visit her hurt, but not knowing if her fated mate was all right was worse.

“I tell you, child—he’s no good for you!” Tante Na’lla lectured as Lan’ara rose on unsteady feet and swayed for a moment, waiting to see if her legs would hold her.

“Nate is the one the Goddess set apart for me,” she said quietly, trying to remain calm. “He is the one I dreamed of—the one I must heal.”

“You already healed him as much as you can!” Tante Na’lla cried. “He drained you to the point of death when you made the Healing Nectar for him! And what thanks do you get for it? None! He abandoned you in your hour of need—leaving me to nurse you alone. What kind of faithless male acts in such a way?”

Lan’ara had no answers for her.

“I only know I need to speak to him and make certain he’s all right,” she said. She took a few steps towards the door and the world spun so that she had to catch the doorframe of the hut.

“Look at you! You’re weak as a baby—come back to bed!” Tante Na’lla caught her by the arm and tried to steer her back to the low sleeping platform and the soft mattress but Lan’ara pulled away.

“No! I can’t spend any more time in bed.” She sighed and looked at the wrinkled face that was peering anxiously into hers. “I’m sorry, Tante Na’lla, but you know that as many good feelings as you poured into me, what I mainly need are the positive emotions of my fated mate. Please—let me go seek him.”

“That one has no positive emotions to give,” her mentor said, frowning. “I’m afraid he’ll only weaken you further, child!”

“Nate has many strong positive emotions,” Lan’ara protested. In fact, if he hadn’t been feeling such intense desire for her the night he’d sucked the Healing Nectar from her breasts, she probably would have died. The positive emotions he had been exuding had been just enough to keep her head above the waves, even as she was being depleted.

“I see I can’t stop you from going, but I must say I think this is a bad idea,” her mentor said. “He’s no good for you, child. Please be careful!”

“Nate is good for me—and I’ll be fine,” Lan’ara said with more certainty than she felt. She opened the door of the hut and drew in a deep breath of fresh air. It smelled of the inland sea and the sweet glow blossoms that grew in the caverns.

The warm, comforting, familiar scents seemed to bring her new strength and she straightened her back and lifted her chin. She didn’t care what her mentor said—she loved Nate and she needed to find him and make certain he was all right.

And she wasn’t going to let anyone or anything stop her from going to him.

FORTY

NATE

Nate saw her coming long before she reached him. He was sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cavern that led to the Outermost Lake, eating his fourth pw’alla fruit of the day. Since moving out of the hut they’d been staying in together, he’d been camping rough on the beach and eating whatever he could find growing in the nearby tropical vegetation.

Luckily, he had plenty of experience roughing it—that was basically how he’d been living for the past five years as he and his squad waged a never-ending campaign of guerilla warfare against the invading Scourge. At least he didn’t have to fight here—Lan’ara’s home world was a peaceful planet and the natives were friendly.

He’d asked a few of them what was poisonous and which plants and fruits to avoid and had found, to his surprise, that none of them were toxic. Apparently the whole planet was “in harmony” as several of the natives had told him, which meant that any kind of fruits or vegetables he could find could be eaten—either raw or cooked.

Nate had supplemented his vegetarian diet by catching and roasting fish—the inland sea was full of them. So sleeping on the beach and foraging for food hadn’t been difficult at all—what had been difficult was never seeing Lan’ara. At least twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening—he’d gone to the hut and knocked on the door to check on her.

But it was always the wrinkled old woman who answered with a scowl on her wizened green face. And she always shooed Nate away, saying that his “toxic negative emotions” would hurt Lan’ara. So he wasn’t allowed to see her—not even for a moment.

Nate wanted to protest that he had a lot of positive emotions to give too. He cared deeply for the Kindred woman who had claimed he was her “fated mate.”

But the night of her collapse he had come to a harsh realization—he might be falling in love with Lan’ara, but he was no damn good for her. The old woman kept talking about his negative emotions and after the past five years and his time before that in the Seals, there was no doubt he had plenty of them.

Plus, there was no guarantee that he might not have another break with reality. It was true that he was feeling better and more clear-headed than he had at any time since before the Scourge had invaded the Earth and also true that nothing had triggered him in the past week, but that didn’t mean it would never happen again. And next time…

Next time I might kill her, Nate thought warily, as he watched her approach. She was walking slowly, as though she was still weak. He wanted desperately to run over and sweep her into his arms and carry her as he had in the forest of the Singing Trees. But he didn’t dare—what if his negative emotions hurt her when he got close? So instead of running to her, he cleaned his hands of the sticky pw’alla fruit juice in the little stream at his feet and then stood and waited for her to get to him.

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