“No,” Terri snapped, panic tightening her throat. Featha’s errands, the egg capsules, Navesha’s secretiveness and harbored grudges. Was it one of them or someone else? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wanted everyone away from her and her daughter. “I need everyone to leave the room.”
Featha looked at her steadily and inclined her head. “We will give you some privacy. I will comm Veral at once. He needs to leave with you tonight. There is no more waiting. This was not an accident.”
With a flick of her fingers, she dismissed the guards. They balked at Featha’s command but at Terri’s pleading look they drew back.
“We will be outside the doors,” Malraha said quietly. “If you need anything…”
“I know,” Terri murmured as she dropped her cheek against Harahna, breathing in the warm smell of her daughter. “Thank you.”
She heard the footsteps as they left, her body tense as she opened her tunic for Harahna’s questing mouth. As her daughter latched on, she relaxed, but it was only when she was certain that there was nothing around except silence that she allowed herself to weep.
28
Ice swept through Veral’s blood as he held his mate close under his arm, escorting her to the flyer prepared to transport them east. Krono clung close to their side, his vibrissae moving through the environment, sampling every energy signature near it. Veral’s vibrissae were doing the same, flooding his processors with information, much of it useless. It did confirm the absence of threats, however, and that was all that mattered at that moment while his body was still flooded with terror.
He had come dangerously close to losing both his mate and offspring. There was nothing casual about this attack. Nothing that was devised to look like an accident. This was a blatant attempt at murder. Whoever the perpetrator was, they were no longer making any effort to hide what they were doing. They were also going to die—painfully.
Larth inclined his head from his position beside the entrance to the vessel, remnants of red sand still clinging to his armor. The male had not made it far into the compound before Veral commed him with new instructions. That his cousin arrived before him and readied the vessel eased some of his tension.
There would be no delays.
Returning the greeting to his mother-kin, he stepped aboard.
The flyer was small and compact, made specifically to carry passengers for short distances. Although rarely favored by many Argurma since it didn’t have space to transport cargo, it was sleek and fast, and less likely to attract notice. That served the households of the Quarnet’safet perfectly.
Since the main cabin connected directly to the piloting station, Veral spotted Dreth immediately in the pilot’s seat. A large dusky dorashnal lay wedged in beside his station, staring back at Veral. The male glanced up from the controls and gave a terse greeting as he set his hand on the control panels, hooking into the systems once more.
Good. Veral was not interested in any sort of pomp and ceremony. He just wanted to get his mate and offspring far away from the compound.
That Dreth ignored the manual controls and tapped directly into the system told Veral something of the male that he did not know. Despite his mother’s grooming, Dreth had received at least intermedial training as a warrior to have specialized enough to earn piloting updates to his system.
“Engines are readied. We are ready to depart, Ahanvala,” Dreth reported.
“Acknowledged,” Veral replied as he made sure his mate was seated and fastened securely, just barely avoiding Krono’s large body in the process.
The dorashnal took a protective position by the females’ side, and Veral brushed his hand over the coiling vibrissae on the beast in a gesture of approval. Krono let out a grunt and stretched out on the ground, ignoring the other dorashnals on the flyer as he was trained. Veral could trust him to protect his mate and offspring.
“Good boy, Krono,” Terri whispered, and the animal tipped one long ear back at her, although his eyes never left Veral’s daughter.
Unaware of her anxious dorashnal guard or the protective stance of her father hovering over her, Harahna looked up at Veral sleepily, one fist propped against her mouth where she had been sucking on it. The metal coils of her symbiont still cocooned her securely to her mother’s chest. It was a wonder that they remained initiated for so long. It had to take an incredible amount of energy that would need to be replaced.
As if responding to his observation, his daughter turned her face into her mother’s chest, nuzzling aside the fabric to latch on to one pink nipple. Veral stroke a hand down Harahna’s vibrissae before brushing a kiss against his mate’s cheek, his mandibles tucked in so not to scrape her with their sharp edges.
A small smile crept onto his mate’s lips despite her obvious physical and emotional exhaustion. He was coming to understand just how much such intense emotions could be detrimental to one’s welfare, and he was not sure if he missed the absence of them or was grateful to be spared that misery. All he knew was the fear that settled inside his core and the anger that pulsed through his processors.
“Rest, anastha,” he ordered quietly.
Her smile widened, and a soft sound of amusement escaped her.
“Only because I’m exhausted and because you asked so sweetly,” she replied as she lay back against the head rest.
Veral slid his hand along the controls of the arm, and the seat tipped at an angle to help her rest more comfortably. His eyes lingered on her, watching as her features softened and her eyelids fluttered tiredly. Within seconds she had dropped off to sleep, and it was only then he realized that he had been crooning to her even as his mandibles purred to ease her into rapid slumber. It was something that he had never thought to use against his mate, since it seemed too much like a violation of another’s will, but in that moment, he wanted nothing more than for her to get the rest she needed and forget for a short time her narrow escape from death.
Harahna also slept, her mouth still working even in her sleep.
Tarik slipped into the seat across from her. It was a bit close, but Krono ignored it and the medic did not so much glance at the animal. That was odd enough, but more so was the absence of his own dorashnal to accompany him into dangerous territory. With rules in the compound to ensure safety, it was not odd for dorashnals to be absent from the main corridors, with certain exceptions where their presence was required. The quarters and private courtyard were spacious enough to give the animals plenty of privacy and freedom to move. But they always accompanied their bonded Argurma outside of the safety of the compound. While there were females who did not bond to a dorashnal, it was rare for a male to be seen absent of one. It always spoke of tragedy.
“Where is your dorashnal, medic?” he inquired.