Thomar, Three Hours Later, Medical Station
Helion, the Prillon commander, doctor, whatever the fuck he was, had better back away from my mate or he was going to be crushed into a bloody pulp.
Danika sat on an exam table in medical as both Doctor Surnen and Doctor Helion scanned, poked, prodded, took blood samples and spoke in medical terms I didn’t understand.
Danika didn’t protest when I pulled her into my lap and held her through all of it. She was so sensitive to me, so attuned to my needs. If I’d had to watch them hurt her from across the room, I would have lost control.
Gods, if only I wasn’t so fucked up. So broken. I was a lost cause. Poison to everything and everyone I touched. First I’d ruined Varin’s life. Now I had infected the most beautiful, pure, precious thing I’d ever known. My female. My mate.
Mine.
“Thomar, stop fretting. I’m fine. I’m going to be fine.”
Danika tried to reassure me. Failed. The entire situation had me on edge. What the fuck was a Nexus unit doing inside my mate’s head? Why was she hearing voices? And why had her collar acted like Hive technology rather than Prillon. The mating collar was standard issue. Mass produced. The same type my people had used for hundreds of years. It should have been safe.
Instead of safety from her mates, our female had Hive integrations infiltrating her body, her skull. Her vision and hearing and pain sensors had been affected. My enemy could strike at her from afar. And I was responsible. The thought made me ill.
I never should have agreed to claim Danika. Never. I should have walked away and ended my life so Varin could find a second and live out the rest of his days in peace with Danika next to him.
I’d been weak. Selfish. Unable to resist indulging myself for a few days, touching her soft skin, fucking her, listening to her cries of pleasure. The rush had been indescribable after so many months of hell. The gentleness of her spirit had been a balm I sorely needed. She loved us now. I knew Varin felt the truth of her emotions through our collars as clearly as I. My death would cause her distress.
Now she would suffer. Varin would suffer. I could have prevented all of this from happening if I’d been strong enough to—
“Damn it, Thomar. I said knock it off. I’m trying to decipher doctor speak and I can’t with you moping about in my head.” Danika softened her scolding tone by lifting my hand to her lips and planting a kiss on my skin.
“I do not mope.”
Danika burst into feminine laughter and I was once again amazed at her resiliency. Her strength. “You do. You’re a regular drama king.” She smiled at me and squeezed my hand. Of course, I pulled her closer to me at once.
“Think happy thoughts, okay?”
“I am not happy. This situation is not acceptable. You will not be going anywhere with the strike team.”
“I’m going. And so are you.”
“No. You will remain here. Safe.”
“I’m going. You can stay here if you want to. Your choice.” She looked around for our second. “Where’s Varin?”
“I do not know.” He had disappeared somewhere along the way from the star dome to the medical station.
As if on cue, the medical station doors slid open and Varin walked in, his arms loaded with weapons and gear. “This should be everything we need.”
Doctor Helion, who, until this point, had said no more than a handful of words since his arrival on The Colony, looked at Varin and scowled. “Where did you acquire those weapons?”
Varin raised a brow and crossed his arms across his chest. “I made them.”
“Those are not standard issue.”
Varin snorted in disgust. “Of course not.”
Moving slowly, I stood and gently placed Danika on the medical bed so I could approach Varin. He reached down and tossed me our favorite battle armor and an ion rifle that would take out a charging Atlan with one shot. This gear was the reason we’d been able to break free from the Hive base. We’d been the Hive’s prisoners, but we’d been learning, too. Watching. Studying.
I grabbed the rifle out of the air and moved it behind me, out of reach, when Helion made a grab for it.
“There was no mention of these weapons or armor adaptations in your debriefing reports.” Helion looked mad as an Atlan in beast mode. Good. Now he knew how I felt about him putting my mate in danger.
“No one asked the right questions and we didn’t feel like talking,” Varin said.