“You’re going to have to take a stronger tone with her,” her mother instructed.
“I do not wish to frighten the child.”
The female burst into laughter. “Their father is an Atlan. They’ve never lived anywhere but The Colony. Trust me, it takes a lot more than you to scare either one of them.”
Danika bolted to her feet, her arm barely holding the child to her. The little girl squealed and released my mate. Moving swiftly, I handed the child to one of the other females, lifted Danika into my arms, and then walked away from the gardens without looking back.
Cradled to my chest, Danika’s entire body shook as if she were freezing to death.
“I am here. No one will hurt you.”
“Put me down.” Panic in the words. Terror. She sounded lost. Alone.
“I have you. You are safe.”
“No one is ever safe.”
“You are protected now. I give you my word.”
She was shaking her head, her mind a blur. It was as if my words did not register. “I can’t. I can’t.”
“Cannot do what, mate?”
“Protect them. I can’t protect them.”
Along with her confession, our connection through the collars flooded my mind with anguish and guilt. Danika’s emotions swelled inside me to eclipse any pain I’d been feeling on my own. I wished, in that moment, that I was connected to her mind as I was to Varin’s so I could know what she was thinking about. Remembering. What she was afraid of. I would destroy worlds for her, yet she gave me no enemy to fight. No target for my protective rage.
I was helpless.
Helpless as I’d been when they tortured Varin. Helpless as I’d been when they’d ravaged his mind by torturing me.
I did not care for the feeling, never wanted to feel this way again. I needed to protect my mate more than I needed air to breathe or blood in my veins.
“This is not acceptable.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I’m fine. You can put me down now.” The chaos of her mind remained unsettled. Her body had not relaxed, her breathing ragged and irregular. She clutched at her chest as if her heart struggled to beat. Tears flowed down her cheeks, yet she seemed completely unaware of their existence. Her eyes remained closed tightly, as if she never wanted to open them again.
“You are lying to me, mate. You are suffering.”
“I’m sorry.” She took a slow, deep breath. Let it out. Again. Opened her eyes and tried to smile at me. The effort was courageous but pathetic. She was terrified. Hurting.
And she apologized to me?
I needed somewhere to take her, somewhere that would calm her. Soothe her.
“I will take you back to our quarters.”
“No.” Her sudden outburst made me pause and look down into her face. There was that false smile again. “Just put me down. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. I promise.”
“I can feel you. Do not forget.”
“I just…no walls. I can’t feel closed in. I need space, that’s all.” Her gaze moved from my face to the ceiling. She shuddered.
Crippling anxiety wrapped itself around my heart and lungs, squeezing until I struggled to remain calm as it seemed the walls of the corridor were shrinking, closing in on us. In vain I shook my head, tried to clear the sensation. This dread was not mine, but hers.
“No walls.” Fuck. The Colony base was domed, completely closed in. The outside atmosphere was not hospitable to long-term exposure, and I doubted a tiny human female would survive even a minute exposed on the surface.
For the first time since we’d arrived on The Colony, I reached for Varin with my mind. I’d been trying to block him out, minimize his pain, but our mate was more important than either of us.