it start?”
“An hour or so…” Rue answered for Jessie. “The first time she mentioned her stomach was just after you left us here in the command center. Right before Shuddre arrived.”
“It felt a little weird earlier, but it didn’t hurt until then,” Jessie agreed with a pained nod. “I thought I’d just ate too much. Now it feels like my stomach is tearing itself apart.”
“Should we call the healers?” Rue wrung her hands nervously behind Matrix. “Or I could go and get some bread from the kitchens. That might help, maybe. Bread is basically the same as crackers, and that’s what I always get for the Goose when her stomach hurts.”
“No food,” Jessie groaned. The mention of eating anything at all made her want to puke.
“You are sure that the symptoms started before Shuddre arrived?” he asked, his expression thoughtful.
“Yeah,” she answered with a grimace as a particularly wicked cramp bisected her middle. “I started feeling wonky not long after we left the dining hall.”
“Do you think?” Rue looked at Matrix with an excited smile on her face.
“Possibly,” he answered with a nod. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Wanna fill me in?” she groaned, clutching her stomach. Jessie folded over in the chair and prayed for the pain to stop. The hurt was beginning to ache so deep it was making her nauseous. “Never mind that. I need a trashcan.”
“You don’t need a trashcan, my friend,” Rue answered with a little clap, the happiness on her face making Jessie wonder what the hell had happened to her friend.
“Why are you smiling at my pain?” she asked.
“Because I know what the cure is.”
Jessie glared at Rue, feeling too sick to figure out whatever guessing game her friend wanted her to play.
“You’re in heat, Jessie.” Matrix helped her to her feet. “May I carry you?”
“I’m in what? Don’t—” she began to protest as he put his arms underneath her to lift. She really hoped he wasn’t underestimating her weight. The last thing she wanted piled on top of the physical pain and discomfort she was enduring was the embarrassment of him not being able to carry her.
“Trust, honey,” Rue urged her with a pat on the shoulder. “Let him carry you. I don’t think you’re going to make it far on your own feet.”
“K,” she mumbled, holding out her arms like a child. Her entire body was beginning to ache. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to your mate,” Matrix answered as he picked her up easily.
Chapter Nine
Toren paced back and forth. His legs quickly ate up the length of his living space.
He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but he knew for sure that something was wrong.
Not only would his stomach not calm down, but he was now so restless he hadn’t been able to sit still long enough to put his boots on. Instead, he was marching back and forth barefoot while fighting the urge to run the tunnels in search of—well, he didn’t even know what it was he felt the need to look for.
“What’s wrong with you?” he groaned, his hands on his head as he tried to figure out why he wasn’t able to calm down. Had he forgotten something at his mining pod? He’d checked all the connections, hadn’t he?
“Toren?”
Toren whipped around at the sound of his name to see Shuddre standing in his doorway with a curious look on his face. “Are you well? I’ve been knocking for a while now.”
“Oh,” he said with surprise. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t been paying any attention to anything around him. “I didn’t hear it.”
“I can see that.” Shuddre walked in and closed the door behind him.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, noticing for the first time the grim look on his friend’s face.
“Can we talk?”
“You want to talk?” he asked, stunned to see Shuddre in the process of making himself comfortable. Toren was more than stunned. He was shocked. His friend hated talking. He hated it so much that there were quite a few instances where he grunted instead of using words. The change was strange enough to make him worry for a moment that he was hallucinating. “You want to talk…” he repeated in an effort to make sure he’d heard him right the first time.
“Yes.” Shuddre dropped his large frame onto the small couch that looked even smaller now with the giant Djaromir on it. “It’s about the females—”
“What about them?” Toren interrupted before he could stop himself. He’d been unable