The staring contest lasted just a few seconds before he smiled. “Our mate, Harper, is also from Earth. I am Styx, Cormac’s brother. This is Blade.”
Oh. Oops.“Nice to meet you. I’m Abigail Gregg. But you can call me Abby.”
“Welcome to Styx legion, Abby. And welcome to my family.”
Family? I had a whole family now?
Styx nodded his head and looked at Cormac. “Fuck, brother. You had me worried.” He moved forward and grabbed Cormac—gore and all—in a tight embrace. “By the gods, it’s good to see you.”
Cormac looked dazed. Surprised? I couldn’t tell exactly what was going on in his head. I decided I’d ask him later.
Blade stepped forward to introduce himself. He was like a mythical being, oddly beautiful with gray eyes that looked like polished steel. He turned back and yelled over his shoulder. “All right, Harper. It’s safe.”
And there in the doorway was a woman. From Earth. Just like me. Blonde. She was a lot taller than me and a lot curvier, and she had green eyes instead of blue, but the mere sight of her made me tear up. She ran toward me and hugged me like we had been best friends for years and years.
“Oh my god! Another Earth girl! Ivy is going to be so excited.”
“Who’s Ivy?”
“Now there will be three of us! And you’re my sister! Well, sister-in-law, but that’s sisters, right?” She squeezed me until I couldn’t breathe, then let go just as abruptly. “Okay. Where is he?” She turned to me with a quick explanation. “I was a nurse back home. Now I’m one of the legion’s experts with these bad boys.” She waved a larger green wand than the one I’d been using. That one would heal a larger area much faster.
Thank god, because Ruk did not look good. At all. And his chest was rattling with every breath as if he had fluid—or blood—in his lungs.
Harper zeroed in on him at once and dropped to her knees. Her quick, efficient inspection of his body left me absolutely convinced she’d told the truth. Medical personnel had an almost brutal way of looking at things like Ruk’s wounds. She tried to get him to speak, looked in his eyes and pressed on his body in multiple places as we all watched in silence.
“What the hell did you do to yourself?” Her whispered question was full of worry, which made me nervous. She looked at her mates. “He needs a ReGen pod. I can keep him breathing, but I can’t save him. Not with this.” She lifted the large green device to show her mates and then turned back to her patient. “Is there a pod on this ship?”
“No.” Enzo walked into the space and the cargo area—full of five standing alien warriors—suddenly felt like a coat closet. “We have completed our inspection. The ship is in excellent condition, but there is no medical station.”
Styx frowned. “Of course not. Their fighters are expendable. They will just make more. Fucking bastards.”
“Well, we need to find one, or he’s going to die,” Harper insisted.
I walked up to stand beside her. “I have this one. It’s small, but it might help.”
She indicated that I should take up a position near Ruk’s head. “Good. Just keep it on his head. If we’re lucky, it will be able to help with his brain bleed.”
“Brain bleed?” Not good. Not good at all. I held my green wand over his head with absolute conviction. I was not moving a muscle, not if I was the only thing stopping his brain injury from killing him.
17
Cormac, Rogue 5, Styx Legion, Medical Center
Three days Ruk had been unconscious in the ReGen pod. Three days my mate sat by his side until I came to retrieve her. The other members of the legion did not know what to think about my quiet little human, nor about the Hyperion on Rogue 5. The legions of Rogue 5 were descendants of the Hyperion bloodlines. Some of us, like me, would occasionally visit the planet. The Hyperions, however, never came to this moon.
Until we’d brought Ruk home and placed him in that pod. I had no idea what he was going to want to do when he woke up. We had sent word to his clan, filling them in on what had happened.
His father and the other warriors were hunting for a traitor.
As was I.
Abby glanced up when I entered the room. As always, she held out her hand to me and I fought disbelief that she was really mine. “He still isn’t awake. All the Atlans are out.”
“Much to my brother’s chagrin.”
Abby grinned up at me. “Stirring up trouble, are they?”
“You could say that.” Styx and the others weren’t having an issue with the Atlans so much as with the willing females of Styx legion who had not yet chosen a mate. The Atlans had set up a repair bay to tear apart and rebuild the Hive ship they’d taken. I didn’t know exactly what they were doing, nor did I care. They had helped save Abby’s life. They could take ten ships if they wanted to.